Okay, so I've been in San Jose for over a month now and have yet to write a single entry in my blog. I realize this is a little bit ridiculous. It's not because I have nothing to say or nothing interesting is happening, it's more that there is always so much going on that I don't even know where to begin!

What can I say, it's been an amazing experience so far. The YWAM base here has become my new home and I've already made so many new friends. I feel like our lectures each week just keep getting better and better. We started out with Team Dynamics & Biblical Worldview, ran straight into Intimacy with God (there was definitely a lot of crying this week, along with some really awesome revelation of who God is and how much He really loves me), and then headed into Dynamics of Development. This week we have had the topic of Community Health Evangelism. It's been such a great week already, just really learning how, instead of going into communities to give relief and treat their illnesses, we can go into communities to help educate them and prevent the sicknesses from happening in the first place.

It's been amazing to me to really realize how much communities need development. It's not just poor communities that can use development either. We are always lacking in some way and there are always core things that need to be worked out in every community. Development isn't just physical (building houses, schools, clinics, ect.) but also spiritual (poverty-minded, lacking love, ect.). The more we talk about development the more I have a passion for it. It's not just going in and building things and then leaving, it's about transforming communities and teaching people how to empower themselves. How exciting is that!

Anyways, there have been so many cool things happening to me since I've been here. I've really felt so much more confidence in who I am and what I can do. I know that this is where God has called me and I can feel that in the way that I act, talk and think. I just feel like my passion is coming alive and I'm really seeing the things that I love and that I want to use and do in my life. I think one of the biggest experiences I've had is just finally being able to put into words why I do what I do. Why I'm a missionary. Not only because I have a desire to help people, and not only because the Bible calls us to it, but because I've seen the need for it. I've seen malnourished children who are barely staying alive. I've seen people sitting in their own garbage with no hope for tommorow. I've met people who are lonely, who are so drunk they can't see straight, who feel like they aren't important and have no value. I've been told of situations of slavery, child labor, sex trafficking, orphans living on the streets. I've seen photos of faces that are filled with pain and sorrow.

And that is why I have to be a missionary. I know these people. And I know that there are so many more out there. And there is absolutely no way, with that knowledge, that I could live a comfortable life and not try to bring them hope. There's no way I could ever face God, knowing what I know and not having done anything about it.

Maybe some people don't know these kinds of people or have never met them. But just thinking about the fact that it could be my family that was living in one of those situations, it could be my friends that were living on the streets without any food, it could be the people in my church who are living in a community with no sanitation and no hope for the future. I just know that these are real people and people that are just as valuable and need just as much love and attention as the rest of us do. Everyone needs to know this.

Anyways, I just love sharing this with people. I hope you really love it and really get my heart. More news to come...maybe not such intense news next time. :)

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.



Explore. Dream. Discover.



~ Mark Twain ~





I stinkin' love this quote. It's obviously the inspiration for this blog. I've already had many exciting adventures in these 21 years of mine, and I plan on having plenty more. I'm always looking to "sail away from the safe harbor" and do things that challenge me and push me to be more than I thought I could be. That's the plan at least.

I am heading off in about eight days to Costa Rica to do another school with Youth With A Mission (www.ywam.org). The last school I did with them was in Africa, and since I didn't keep much of a journal while I was there, I'm really hoping I'll do better this time. I want to capture all the awesome moments and awesome things that happen while I'm there and also wanting to let others in on what's going on. :) Hopefully this will be an encouragement and also will give me a place to download everything that is going on in my life and rushing through my mind!


5 You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:5-7

Not all who wander are lost. --J.R.R. Tolkien