My Adventures in Georgia part 1

I have been thinking a lot about everything leading up to this, to right now.  Living daily in disability ministry.  Being a full-time missionary.  Living in community.  How did I get here? With a lot of help from God, and those around me.

I started this blog after my time in Georgia so I don't know if I've ever talked about it much.  Let me back up a little further.  I had been on a bunch of mission trips in high school.  I had some great opportunities to travel and serve God, and he opened my eyes to the hurting people around me.  God had given me a heart for each of the places I had been, but one stood out.  I went to Chicago for a week and worked with inner-city kids.  I fell in love with them.  Totally.  Completely.  I was SURE that was what God wanted me to do.  That was my junior year.  There were a lot of things that confirmed it.  I went down to visit Moody Bible Institute in Chicago while my friend was still there and I was sure that was where God wanted me to go.  I was so sure of it, I didn't apply anywhere else.

Then the letter came in the mail.  I wasn't accepted.

What do I do now?  I didn't understand why, but I had to keep going.  I had to do the things that were right in front of me.  I stayed home that year after high school and worked.  I became a youth leader.  I built relationships with people.  I spent time out at Honeyrock Camp(owned by Wheaton College).  My mom has been a cook out there for years.  During the summer of 2006, I spent all of my free time out there(when I wasn't working).  That summer, I met Estie.  My friend, Bethany, was working out at Honeyrock and I met Estie through her.  At this point, I had been to Camp Daniel several times and I told them my crazy fun stories from camp.  Through all of that, Estie told me about her younger sister, Leah.

This is Estie and Bethany

One morning they came up to me and Estie said, 'We have the BEST idea.  You should come and work with my sister and live with my family.'  Estie started telling me more about her family and I was getting excited.  She gave me her mom's email so I wrote to her and we talked on the phone.  Everything fell into place.  God worked out all of the details.  Before I knew it, my stuff was packed and my parents were taking me down to Georgia.