Today is my birthday and I’m 23.

I used to think I was old until I came to seminary and everyone is so much older than me and I constantly feel like the baby of the group. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely have my moments like when the girls I discipled all through middle school are now all officially seniors in high school or when my baby brother got his learner’s license and started driving or when the precious little ones that I remember being born are all about start kindergarten in the fall. But I still have a lot of life left to live, I have graduated high school and college, and hope to graduate with my Master’s before too long. I can’t wait to see all that the Lord has in store me.

22 was a crazy year that started at beach with some of my best friends. Not long after, I got a plane in Atlanta and flew to Cape Town, South Africa by myself to work with people I had never met and organization that stole my heart. I wouldn’t trade my time in SA for anything and I really hope to return for a longer period of time because my team, the LSE’s and those kids still hold a big piece of my heart.

My crazy crew from this summer. I miss them so much.

While I was in SA, I got accepted to Southeastern and I got set up to move nine hours from home two weeks after landing back in the states. So, in August my parents and I headed to Wake Forest, NC to move me into seminary housing for the next step of my journey. I came here only knowing Karin and Ethan and I would have been totally lost without them. I meet people at Orientation and spend the first few weeks of school with Morgan, Mary Beth, Brittany, and Amanda. In September, Mary Beth, Amanda and I decided to become roommates for the next semester and moved in before I went home for month.

I spent from the middle of December to middle of January at home working on getting myself healthy both physically and spiritually. I’ve been on this journey for a while and I’m still battling and still fighting even when sometimes I feel like I should be farther along. I know that I’m doing what God has called me to do and I have to honor and glorify Him in all that I say and do.

From January to now has been all about community, building and finding it and getting settled into a church has definitely helped. I have the greatest friends I would be lost without them. So, yeah 22 was crazy year but it was fun one and I couldn’t trade it for the world. I can’t wait to see what 23 holds.

I’m ready for you, 23. Let’s see what you have in store for me!