Well, I have never been much of a writer really. I'm one of those people who really likes journals (I think they're cool) and so I'll buy one and I'll journal in it for a couple of weeks but then I'll stop because I realize...I don't have much to say and the only person who will be reading it is me. And if I can't remember something that I find worthwhile to even be putting in a journal then, well, that's sad. But I decided to start a blog, because what I do write down I want people to read and having a blog is so much easier than passing around a handwritten journal to everyone I know. So...here goes!

I love the Lord! That is the most important thing you should know about me. The second most important thing you should know about me is that the Lord has called me to be a missionary. I don't know when, I don't know with who, I don't know for how long and as far as where, I only know it's somewhere in Latin America. But I am truly content in not knowing because the Lord knows and in His timing I will know too. This all started when the Lord gave me the most amazing opportunity to study at Word of Life Bible Institute in Argentina for a year. It was there that I fell in love with the spanish culture, met lifelong friends and where the Lord put in me the unexpected desire to be a missionary. I experienced so much growth during that year, that I can truly say I came back a completely changed person with different desires and goals. So right now I am on this journey the Lord has paved for me. I don't know what lies ahead but I am not afraid. Isaiah 41:13 "For I the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you 'Fear not, I will help you."

I'm currently studying at APU right now. APU stands for Azusa Pacific University (they really like acronyms here). My first and only semester started in January of this year 2009 and will end in May of this year. Let's just say that the Lord closed the door on APU by means of money. APU has a program through their Office of World Missions called "HIS Years". It's for any student who is willing to commit to doing missions work for at least 2 years after graduating. In turn, this program agrees to help the student pay off their school loans among other things. And at APU that's a big deal because it's not the cheapest place to study. So, I figured "This is awesome! I want to be a missionary anyway and here the Lord is totally providing a way for me to pay for my education without stacking up loans I will spend the rest of my small to no income life paying off!" But...after about 2 months at APU I met with the person who helps get students started in the program and she told me that the program is only for students who go to countries that are in the 10-40 window. The 10-40 window is a region of countries with the highest amount of unreached with the gospel people groups. Not a single country in Central or South America is included in the 10-40 window :/ Mmmm...wasn't sure how I was going to pay to continue going here without taking out alot of loans. So...after many tears and questions and prayer and encouragement the Lord led me to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning one morning applying, so excited to get my application in! Although I applied a few days late, they still accepted my application and now I'm waiting to hear back from them.

If I don't get into Moody, the Lord has brought me to the point where I will be ok with it. If not Moody, the Lord has something better for me. He has proven Himself faithful over and over through this journey of faith I've been on and I have full confidence that He will continue to.

This is where I am at right now. Waiting for these last 2 weeks at APU to finish, waiting to hear back from Moody, waiting on the Lord. This was a pretty big blog...I doubt they will all be this long for those of you who don't like reading. I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to write a new blog but..I have other priorities :] But..this will always be open to ya'll who are interested in growing with me and keeping up with me as I daily take up my cross. SHALOM!