July 23rd… One year ago

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” ~Helen Keller

          “I have put before you an open door that no one can close” ~Revelation 3:8

Every journey has a beginning and every journey comes with expected and unexpected circumstances but little did I know that the journey I was about to embark on would change who I am.

I still remember it as if it were yesterday, leaving Indiana to travel to New York for the beginning of my ministry journey. Meeting other young adults, half of which I never knew, meeting the Global Ministries staff, and being in a state that I had never been to but was bigger than the state that I was coming from. I was about to embark on a 2-year journey that I didn’t know what to expect.

I remember our community living experience where we lived together in a house together for a week, cooked and ate together, and just did life together. An experience that I miss and wish I were apart of once again since there’s something about living together among those your same age and truly doing life together. There may be moments where people get on your nerves and wonder how much longer you can take living with them but you also realize that there is always someone to talk to, hang out with, etc. It’s even better when your living with a group of people that are have been or are about to start a journey that you are on. Living with the other young adult missionaries in the US-2 class made me appreciate having someone to talk to and pray with about what was going on and being around others that truly understood and got what I was going through since we were all on the same journey together and were able to support and encourage each other rather than just say things just because it sounded good. That’s one experience that I miss but am glad that the 2014 class will be embracing with the new modo where at least 2+ people are sent to the same area and will be living in intentional living communities.  After all, Jesus did send the disciples out in pairs.

I also remember the fear, uncertainty, etc that I had 1 week before being commissioned and sent out into ministry. I almost dropped out of the program because I knew that the path that I had chosen would take me from family, friends, and a community that I wouldn’t have to go in search for. I was about to leave the ministry that I had just started to pursue FEMA Corps and be a first responder during natural disaster. However, I knew that God had called me into ministry so I decided to keep moving forward in the ministry journey and now I find myself 1 year into the journey.

There are still things that I miss but at the same time, there is an at peace feeling that God has placed inside me. I realize that I will always miss my friends and family back home but I also believe that we were never meant to stay in one place forever. I also still long for an intentional community and to get better connected with the church and young adults here in Texas.

So, I find myself 1 year into the journey and I wouldn’t change the decision I made since it has truly been one of the best but also challenging and frustrating journeys that I have been on but I still wouldn’t change it for anything. I still believe that I made the right choice 1 year ago when I said yes to entering into this ministry journey.  There’s still one year to go and I look forward to what God has planned for me during this next year and where things will continue to take me.

Thanks for all the support, prayers, conversations, etc that you have all provided since I embarked on this journey 1 year ago today since I couldn’t have done it and wouldn’t be where I am without the support and without my placement site and those that I work with!