My Story

I wanted to be a missionary, but God told me to go to Nursing school, so that’s what I did. And to be honest, it was really difficult, but I kept going and I kept praying, and God gave me favor in my classes, with my teachers, and with my patients. About a year into it, I became very aware of the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do next. Getting a job in the hospital seemed far from ideal, but I also knew it could be dangerous to jump into medical missions without any type of training. So, I started praying with a purpose; I wanted to know what God had for me next. So, from August to December this is what I did: I asked, I prayed, I asked others to pray, AND…NOTHING.

Christmas came along and I was feeling thoroughly discouraged, and honestly, I was starting to freak out. I was feeling the pressure from school to apply for jobs and I just didn’t know what to do. One night I was praying with my sweet friend, Alyssa, and the Lord really spoke to both of us. I don’t remember all of what was said that night, but I do remember a few things. I heard God tell me that He wasn’t going to disappoint me (He didn’t) and I felt peace about the situation for the first time in months. Once we had finished praying and started to share what the Lord had given us, we realized that we had both seen the color white, over and over and in different ways, although we didn’t know what this meant it felt significant.

A few weeks later, I was having coffee with a friend and I heard the Lord telling me to look into medical missions training programs. My thought was, I guess I can try it, but they probably all require some type of experience. When I got home, I jumped on google and started looking. Within 10 or 15 minutes, I found a program through YWAM that sounded amazing. After about an hour of searching, I found the perfect program for me. It is for training medical professionals to use the skills they already have and how to adjust them in a missions setting. This is what my heart had been wanting before I even knew it existed.

That night I sat down with a journal and wrote out my choices: YWAM (Australia) or Nursing Job (Charlotte). The picture above is the actual journal entry I wrote. As I sat looking at the words, I prayed. I prayed that over the next weeks/months God would reveal which life He wanted me to pursue. Then something crazy happened, He answered. He told me that I shouldn’t pray about which one, but that I should pray about how to get to Australia. After radio silence for MONTHS, I got an answer in ONE DAY?

Cue my freak out… Ok this part didn’t last too long, but it felt significant. In one day I went from, "I guess I’ll just stick around in Charlotte and work for a few years and then see what happens", to, "I’m moving to literally the other side of the world in 6 months".

After I calmed down a bit, I started the application process for YWAM. I sent all of my information in, and a few nights later I got a call from my leader. She talked to me about my application and said she would be praying for a few days and would let me know if I was accepted. This is where the vision of white comes into play… After 2 days of waiting I got an email saying that I was accepted. I looked out the window and realized that my two days of waiting were our two snow days here in Charlotte. REALLY?? How great is our God?? God gave me a vision of the day that His promise would be fulfilled. How cool is that??

Over the past few months He has continued to fulfill His promises. I was worried about my Visa getting denied, or having to wait a long time to get it back, and so as I sent it in, I just prayed. The average time for processing Visas is about 60 days, but I turned mine in early, so it was considered “low priority”. I wasn’t expecting to get it before April…I received my granted Visa in 19 days! I met with my pastor a few days after this and talked to him about fundraising and he told me the hardest dollar to raise is the first one. After this meeting I spent the next week planning and preparing and thinking about what he said. Then exactly a week after our meeting, (to the hour) a friend randomly messaged me saying she sent me money for YWAM. I got my first dollar(s) before I even started fundraising! God saw my heart and showed me that He has everything under control. He saw my planning mind and said, you can plan as much as you want, but my plan is the only one that matters. So throughout this next crazy chapter of my life, my goal will always be to keep my eyes on His plan and not mine. It will be difficult, but SOO worth it! I will be updating this blog periodically while I prepare to leave for Australia, and then hopefully every week or so once I get to YWAM. I hope the stories I share are a blessing to all who read them :)