life has led me where?!

So often I want to sit down and try to convey all the emotions I feel, the "adventures" that happen on a daily  basis, and the flat out exciting things that happen. However, more times than not, it is such a struggle to adequately describe all that goes on here and in my head and heart. I experience so many things on a daily basis, and I don't even know where to start. So, when I stumbled upon this, I decided that it would be something I would try. Many of the prompts are dealing with life on a personal level, but I decided to tweak it a little bit so it will be more about life here. I'm not promising to stick to a strict schedule, because let's be honest-life happens. However, I do think these "prompts" will answer many questions people have asked..or it will answer a question you didn't even know you wanted to ask. Just trying to be one step ahead of y'all!

day 1: story of your life in one paragraph. (or, how i ended up in africa)

 I always knew I loved different cultures. I loved language, reading about customs, going and experiencing anything I could that had to do about a people group different than my own. As a child, my parents really encouraged this in me by the lives that they lead. They were always the first people I saw to really reach out to people who had nothing in common with them-all for the sake of showing them Love. As I grew older, I realized I also kind of had a knack for this thing called Spanish. As I prepared for college, I was one of the crazy people who decided I wanted to be a Spanish teacher.

 Another thing that happened in college is I crossed paths with this man.

He was a director of an organization on campus, and he ended up being such an encouragement throughout my college years. One way that he "encouraged" me was suggesting telling me that I needed to get out of my comfort zone. This included spending my summers, both in the US and abroad, sharing with people that they were created for so much more than just "existing." During these summers, and my college years, my love for other people continued to grow. So, when I graduated, I knew I had to go overseas. However, because of the whole "Hey, I'm kind of good at Spanish thing," I started to prepare myself for a couple of years in Mexico. I may also be slightly addicted to any tortilla shaped object covered in cheese with a good side of chips and salsa. Anyways, through a couple of different circumstances, I knew that no matter how much I thought Mexico made sense, my heart was being drawn to West Africa. The only thing I really knew about Africa was The Lion King, so I knew coming here was going to be completely foreign in so many ways. It's so great, though, that the Father knows our hearts better than we ever could. Since coming here, I have fallen in love with the people. I know joy, not just happiness (because I promise my happy state of mind changes often over here), but true joy because I know without a doubt that this is where I'm supposed to be. It's been an incredible journey, and I'm so thankful for the people who have encouraged me in so many ways throughout this time. This has been such a special time in my life, and I know that in the scheme of life this time is short. So, for the next year or so I plan on soaking it all in, while hoping that the Love within me will continually overflow into the friendships that are continuing to form in my life on this side of the world.