Journey of Life

In the past I hated moving.
The idea of new people, new surroundings, freaked me out.
I mean I grew up in the same city for 17 years. And there was still constant change, with my parents divorce and going back and forth between them. I just wanted some sense of stability.
Then I moved to Arkansas in high school.
And for the first time I thought, maybe this could be a chance for me to start all over. To be who I want to be.
I was tired of being made fun of and disliked just because I did not fit in with everyone. I was determined to live a set apart life for Christ, whatever that meant.
When I moved to Arkansas, even though I definitely did not fit in with the norm, I felt like for the first time I was accepted for who I was.
They did not judge me for living differently than them and I did not judge them for living differently than me.
That year in Arkansas, I feel like I learned so much. One day can change a person's life, let alone an entire year. It was the beginning of something new.
That was the year that I decided I no longer wanted to be a Pediatrician, but a counselor to the hurting and broken children of the world. That was when I decided to go into Social Work once I was in college.
Then I moved back to Louisiana my senior year and that was rough. I loved it in Arkansas but I just could not remain there.
God had a different path for me to live on.
That year began a journey of self-discovery in the art of self-esteem.
I had to learn to have confidence in who I was in Christ and not look at all my short comings. I could no longer allow what other people said to define me.
It was a long journey, well into college.
My college years were some of the best years of my life and some of the absolute worst. College is more than just getting educated academically. It is figuring out what you believe and why you believe it. It is living what you believe despite what others believe. It is learning and growing, maturing into a person you want to become. Every year I felt like I was learning something different.
And yet I still struggled with similar things each year. It seemed I could not kick certain things but now looking back it is because I did not learn them the first time, or the second time, etc. And I needed to learn them so they weren't going away until I did. Thank God I believe I Finally have learned those specific things. ha ha!
You win some and you lose some in college. In life really.
It is about getting back up when you lose and not letting the defeat get you down. It is about taking all the things you have learned your entire life and learning from them, allowing Christ to mold you, rather than trying to do it on your own. College is a journey and it is only one chapter of life.
It is a foundation, a preparation ground for all that is to come.
As the door is closing on college and a new door is opening, I am not afraid of the change. I am nervous for the unknown, but I am thankful that God has called me to something that I know I cannot do without Him. I am nothing and He is everything. I just hope that I can bring glory to His name in all that I do in Peru.