Announcement: I'm Going to Italy!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Tonight I shared with the leadership team and with my worship team about my decision to go to Italy for the summer on a 9-week internship with Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). It is bittersweet as I love my church family and my worship team and will miss them. I have also decided to step down from being the Worship Pastor at church as I feel that entering this new season of life is an opportunity to be used in different capacities. I will still be involved in worship but I will take more of a supporting role as I would like to also develop my skills in playing the guitar. I'm excited for this new season for our team as we are becoming a worship team together, helping one another and relying on the individual strengths of each person on the team. I love Church of the Harvest and I cannot wait to come back home to my church family! I will miss you Church family! xoxo

So how did I decide to go to Italy? Well, there are some dreams that God has placed on my heart about doing short-term missions in different countries and I'm treasuring some of those dreams in my heart right now and waiting on God's perfect timing. A week ago I was spending quiet time with God and I decided to do a study on what my name meant, because we have all heard that we live up to the meaning of our name. My name means "Victory of the People," and I wanted to further research it and see if I could find scriptures that paralleled to that to see if maybe it would give me some more guidance and direction in life. As I was researching, I came upon more definitions of my name: the Goddess of victory and light, and derived from the Greek Goddess of Victory. 1 Corinthians 15:54 says, "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'" I really began to meditate on this verse and research more specifically the meanings of particular words. Perishable: subject to destruction. Imperishable: indestructible. Mortal: subject to death; belonging to the world. Immortality: unending life. I came down to this: my job is to help a lost and dying world to become indestructible and to have unending life through my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ...so once this has happened, the victory will have been won because victory in the salvation of Jesus brings life to all who believe and destroys eternal death.

As I meditated on that verse I began to think of the little boy I sponsor in Brazil, Jeferson De Sousa Dos Santos...I miss the smile on his face and being able to love on him and pour into his life. I began to think of street soccer and how I craved being with those kids in the streets of Brazil, Peru and South Africa playing with the children and seeing their hearts leap at the opportunity to play soccer. I began to think about the life that these children live day-in and day-out and how they have seen things and done things that no child should ever be subject to. They live in conditions that no person should ever have to live in. They deal with life in a way that makes them grow up before their time. But there is one thing that rings true: for those few minutes when they get to kick the soccer ball (or play whatever sport), they are a child again and every other care in the world fades away as they play together. Although their situations may seem utterly hopeless, I want to tell them that they can dream beyond their circumstances and that God is a God that cares about them and loves them immensely. I want to hold them and hug them and pour myself into them because I have the capacity and the passion to do so. I want to watch their faces light up when they score the winning goal. I want them to know that all things are possible through Christ Jesus. I want them to know that they are somebody, they have a name and they are important and valuable, and that God has a huge plan for their life.

As I meditated I was looking out my kitchen window at our backyard and was just thinking and talking to God. I had already made up my mind that I would be staying in Stillwater for the next year or so but as I was looking out the window, it was as if God was beckoning my heart to reach for something more that He had for me. I began to just talk to Him and ask Him what He wanted me to do since I was now uncertain again. I felt a pulling at my heart towards the dreams that I have inside of me and just felt like I needed to reach for more--it was as if I ached and burned inside for something more. I then remembered my mom telling me to check out the Fellowship of Christian Athletes website several months ago for possible job opportunities. I decided to look and I happened to find this trip to Italy. It was 9-weeks in Italy and we will be learning how to do missions within the scope of athletics. I couldn't believe it! It was the country I've always wanted to go to, for the amount of time I've always wanted to be there, learning to do the missions work that I believe I was made for, for an affordable price! I then noticed that the trip was already closed several weeks ago but I thought I'd call just in case to find out. Sure enough, they said that they would take me on the trip if I could get my paperwork to them in time. I prayed over the weekend and shared with my parents, who also prayed about it. I also talked with a good friend of mine, Heather Brown, and began to feel that this was a leap of faith that I needed to take. At first I was a bit apprehensive and was asking God, "Are you sure? Is this okay?" But then my mom reminded me that we have been praying and seeking God for His wisdom and guidance for several years and this trip is everything I've been talking about for the past 2-years. It just seemed too easy, but I had asked God to open the doors for me that were to be open and to shut the ones that needed to be closed. I prayed for clarity and that whatever door He was going to open for me, that it would be easy and I would just be able to walk through it. I believe I got what I asked for! :)

This is a huge step of faith for me though since I'm not 100% sure yet what I'm going to do for a job when I return or where exactly I'm going to live, but I have a subtle peace about it. I know that my God will supply ALL my needs! He has NEVER failed me and He NEVER will! I trust the Lord with ALL my heart and lean not unto my own understanding, but in ALL my ways I acknowledge Him and He ALWAYS directs my paths. My future is bright and I am a daughter of the King...destined for His plan and His purposes. His timing is PERFECT, and he perfects ALL that concerns me. I am extremely excited for this next chapter of my life and I am open to whatever direction God leads me.

Family and friends, please pray for me as I am in Italy over these next 9-weeks. I will be leaving Sunday, May 30th and returning July 28th. I will be updating this blog so be sure to check in to see what I'm up to and what God is doing in my life, and in the lives of those I get the wonderful opportunity to pour into while I am in Italy and other parts of Europe. Please pray for safety, protection, wisdom and guidance. Pray that God speaks to me and shows me the direction I need to go next. Pray that I grow closer to God than I ever have before and that my eyes are opened to the things that breaks God's heart.

I love you all very much! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support! xoxo