not making my own plans anymore

In a mere 12 hours I will be boarding a plane (finally) that will take me to Miami and then onto Port-au-Prince! Some of you may be checking the date thinking "Wait a minute I thought she was leaving today?!" And you would be correct. For awhile now I have had the big day set as July 3rd at 9:40am to leave Tennessee. Though I had not bought my ticket. Because as everything else on this trip, it's been last minute. Yesterday morning (Saturday) I finally got information which enabled me to buy my ticket! I was thrilled! I was even able to get on the flights with Erica, the other intern who is traveling with me. Perfect. Well then I get a call saying that our flight was cancelled and when did I want to change it too. Freak out moment. First thought was that Satan was trying to make it difficult for me to go. Very long story short, after spending all afternoon on the phone with American Airlines, texting Erica, and on the Internet we switched from plane to plane and finally both got on the same flight and set for Haiti. The bummer was it was a day later. Not exactly how I would have planned it.


We emailed our director Sara to let her know the plans. It took almost a day to get the information to her, but finally this afternoon we get an email. As I read the words I instantly knew that the whole stressful day before was all God. Sara said how big a blessing it was that we were coming on Monday instead of this morning.


This whole weekend really reminded me of God's sovereignty. Though I was frustrated and upset that all this was happening God knew the entire time that there was a greater story to be told. I don't know the details that lead up to Sara's email, it doesn't matter. God's plans are sometimes not something that we need to or have to try and make sense of. It's just God. And in the end that is all that we really need to know.

dreams really do come true

My friends peer pressured me into blog writing for their own selfish reasons, but in the end we will all benefit. I will be leaving for Port-au-Prince, Haiti in a couple days and spending 5 weeks there. Much shorther than I had planned, but the Lord always has the upper hand and a great vision for my life. Here is a little background on how I got to this point.

My grandmother (Bettye Summers) had the biggest heart for people of the whole world. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the many places she has gone to do missions all while keeping everything in line back home. She loved her Lord so much, and spent her days just waiting for that day to be with him. So to her it was second nature to just tell the world about this great love. I grew up hearing stories, watching her go places, seeing her live a life soley for Christ. She was the WMU coordinator at church for forever. Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and was Tennessee WMU President. She did everything she could for missions. And it was through her heart that the Lord revealed to me at an early age of 12 years old that international missions was in my future. Now there came a time when Gran could no longer travel out of the country, but that did not stop her from sending others out and trainging them to spread the Good News. She lived out the Great Commission for 65 years, from the time she trusted Christ at age 11 to her joining of the Lord last July at age 76.

I spent many years yearning to leave the country on mission trips to help the helpless and forgotten. But year after year God took away opportunities and shut doors. It was hard to understand, and at times I wondered if international missions was still what he had planned. Then November of 2009, I attended the missions conference at my church in Knoxville, Calvary Baptist, as a summer missionary from a summer stint in Colorado with Campus Crusade. Here Dr. Clint Doiron spoke about his adventures in Haiti and what all was being done there. At that moment I knew I had to go. Then just two short months later the earthquake happened, and my heart was broken and heavy for a country that I had never visited and knew nothing about. I wished with everything I had that God would provide a way for me to go down there, but none came. So I prayed. If I couldn't go then someone who could needed prayers of protection and safety. I began praying for the rescue workers, the government, and the people. This was such a devastating time for this beautiful country.

Next thing I know I hear whispers that Calvary was trying to get worked out a missions trip for the college and church wide for Spring Break 2011. I jumped with joy! It was like a dream come true! At that moment I began talking with my parents about the idea, and talking with other students about the idea of going. Support began coming out of the woodwork and by just a few people I had all my support to go! I spent the last few weeks before going praying that God would really speak to me about what I had only heard whispers about for so long. He really began giving me a heart for Haiti.

It was finally time for the trip! I could almost cry with excitement as it was time to board the plane. I was filled with overwhelming joy and happiness as I began seeing treetops and mountains as the plane landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. They had warned us that when we got off the plane we would be bombarded with people trying to take our bags to help us and drive us to where we needed, but to stay cautious and just say no. As soon as we walked into the big open ware-house look of a room to get bags and things I was completely mesmerized by everything. The people, the way they interacted, the intense difference in culture, I was in love. It felt like home, and I had been there all of 15 minutes. There was never a culture shock, it just seemed natural. As the week went on we did clinics, played with children, went to church, and did all we could for Haiti in those seven days. Before I had been there half of the week I was already trying to find out how I was coming back. It was never a matter of "if" but "when".

This brings me to where I am now. Lo and behold the missionaries there were wanting to start an intern program for college students to come in the summer. What a coincidence! I immediately told Michelle (one of the permanent missionaries there) I will be there, just tell me when! I have spent the last three months really getting everything in line. It has been up and downhill struggle with things leading up to the trip with dates, job, money, and life. Satan really tried to bring me down, but only God can prevail and come out on top. Over abundance of money came in, I stopped working, and the fight with the Lord on when came out perfect. It has really began hitting me how much a sacrifice it is that I am going to do this. But it has made it that much more sweeter knowing that above all else God. And that's really what I needed to be taught this last few months.

So hear I am! Two days before I am flying out I have nothing packed and no plane ticket, but a heart full of love for a desperate country. And that is just how this journey has been. Last minute. They always say God's timing is perfect, so I just roll with what he gives me. I pray that this blog over the next several weeks, can give you an insight to the great things the Lord is doing in Haiti and in my life.

Peter Pan Forever

21....the age of freedom and adulthood. Gag! Who wants to grow up? There is no fun in acting like an adult and crushing your childhood dreams. Those never go away. If you ask most any of my friends they will tell you one of my top movies is Peter Pan. It's not because of the pirates, flying, and swordplay (though those are great bonuses), but because you don't have to grow up. Not only that but when Wendy realizes that it is time for her to leave the nursery, she still believes. She doesn't let her inner-child sense of belief leave her as she learns to mature. You can still have fun, still act silly, and still drink kool-aid as a government recognized adult! :) 

So that's what I did. For my "birthday week" I had the absolute most fun by doing the random-est activities most all spontaneous. While most 21 year-olds in a college town spend the week getting all their illegal drinking in then going out with a bang on the birthday or gambling all their money away, I spent an afternoon playing in a fountain with friends like we were 5, going to a baseball game and losing our way back, having my first surprise birthday party, staying up until the wee hours of the morning chatting with girlfriends and watching chick-flicks like we were in junior high and at the stroke of midnight on my birthday driving to the next time zone to celebrate all over again.

This is how I want to celebrate being 21. Enjoying life as much as I can. Not letting the standards of the world worry me about what is expected of me.  Just because I am now 21 does not mean I have to grow up, does not mean I don't believe, or that I can't have fun. 21 is going to be the best year that I can make it. So join me on this roadtrip as I live the life at 21, and see all the adventures that only I can have!