Fear. How crippling that four letter word can be. We as humans fear so much. We fear the judgment of others and what they might think. We fear storms, bugs, lightning, and rollercoasters. Some fear the dark or the thought of being lonely someday. Many fear the reality of death, loss, and pain. Our whole lives we will go fearing something. As a child you feared the “monsters” that hid in the closet and under the bed. But then you grow up and look back on those monsters with a smile, because you now know how silly that fear you had was, thinking “I would trade getting older for...

Over the past couple of days i have been looking over the idea of love. What does love look like? What does love say? How does love act? Why is it so easy to do and at the same time forget how precious it is. I’m guilty of throwing the word around as though it has no meaning. But the lord has begun to show me what true love is. By true love i don’t mean the kind of love that is in the latest Nicholas Sparks novel. I mean the kind of love that sets you free, the kind of love that doesn’t go away when you mess up, or when you turn away. This revelation of true love started on...

I thought I was being ignored, or left out when it came to conversation with God. I felt as though I was talking and waiting for an answer that would never come. I would get irritated, annoyed, upset and offended. I knew in my mind that He was there and I knew that He was listening and longing to speak with me but my heart disagreed. My heart was hurt and I was angry. I didn’t understand why He wasn’t answering me, I didn’t understand why He was remaining invisible to me. The first weeks of my trip to Jamaica were all but easy. So many things happened. My team divided up in...

As my time in Jamaica is coming to a close, I just wanted to share one of my many experiences here on this island. This was way back during the end of week one. My team caught the last two days of Vacation Bible School in Kingston. On Friday, I became very close with one of the little girls. Her name was Melan and she was four years old. We danced and played throughout the whole day. At the end of the day, each teacher gave a gift to the best student in their class. What the three to five year old students didn’t know was that they all would get gifts, but only the best in the class got...

Sitting back, remembering the times we have had this past month. There’s been laughter and there has been tears. Looking back now, I realize God was with us every step of the way. He was there when I felt like there was absolutely no hope, when the weight of everything was just hanging over me, he was even there when I had all the joy in the world. He has never left and he never will. Jamaica has been the most wonderful yet toughest experience.Coming on this trip my expectations were so high causing me to fall farther. I expected so many things that did not happen. I felt that there was...

I am content. Throughout this trip I’ve been through some hard experiences internally and externally. It’s been a journey and I’ve learned so much. These past few days have been a true blessing and I just wanted to share it. I really know what it’s like to wake up feeling content. I was praying so hard for peace and patience. It all came together on Thursday and Friday. I woke up and it took me awhile but I noticed how content I was. In the moment I couldn’t pin point the word, yes, I was happy and joyful but the word “content” really...