The Best Days in History

We are in the final days of our second week at Xcel Church. Last week we finished up our training and took a tour of a school but this week we actually got to go in and start!

On Tuesday we went and spent the day at a local Secondary School here in Newton Aycliffe. School systems are a little different here. Here is a basic outline of the school years in the UK.

(Year 12 and 13 are also called "College")

So know when I say Primary School or Secondary School you can kind of understand. One thing that I found interesting is that students are allowed to finish school after Year 11 (age 16). They can then go to "college" and choose from a list of courses to study. After college they can then go on to University. So you can understand why I got very confused when talking to a group of young people who told me they were going into college at age 16. lol.

The time has finally come and I am now in Newton Aycliffe sitting in my new office. Of course I got the desk by the window because who could resist glancing out every now and then and seeing green grass and tall trees. It is such a drastic change to the Texas heat and dying grass.

My team and I have started planning for going into schools next week. This week we have meetings with head teachers to establish our schedules. We are so excited for what God is going to do this year. During training, they explained that in the british school system, teaching religion is a requirement. So who better to teach it than missionaries? I could not believe how open schools are to religion. I think about the states and how we pride ourselves on freedom and yet while in training I felt as if someone was going to slap my wrists if I said the word God in schools. It is different but it is a GOOD different.

My team is so great. I don't think I could have asked for a better one. We all get along great and although we are different we all compliment each other and so far are working together very well. I love that no matter how different we are we still have the same goal in mind and we are here for the same purpose. I enjoy getting to know them more and more each day and boy do we have fun!

Wowza it has been a long time since I posted an update. So much has happened and God has been so faithful. Me on the other hand...not so much.

God really rocked my faith a few weeks ago. I received an email stating that my UK Visa had been denied. I got that email on a friday morning after having an incredible morning with some of my favorite people. We went to movie at 10am and had a blast! I thought it was going to be the makings of a great day. I was ready to get some stuff done.

As I was sitting in my car checking my email I got to the one about my visa. Reading the word denied I immediately felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I had to read the words over and over again to make sure that I was seeing it correctly. Immediately I began to cry and text everyone I knew, looking for some kind of encouragement. I needed someone to tell me to calm down and everything was going to be ok. But how was it going to be ok? I had just lost $300 and was running out of time. I started thinking that maybe England was not in the cards for me this year.

I found that person to calm me down when I called my mom. Now for those of you who don't know this my mom is my biggest fan. She helps me with everything. But me moving to the UK for a year has kinda quieted her opinion a little. She is not as excited about this decision as she usually is. But in this moment that I needed her she did something that I did not expect. Any mother hating the idea of her daughter moving halfway across the world for a year might have taken this opportunity to say "Maybe this is God telling you to stay." But no! My mother put her feelings aside, told me to dry my tears and began to pray for me over the phone. She was my rock in that moment. She knew that England was God's plan for me and she was not going to stand in the way.

After crying my eyes out to my mom I then went home to sulk more. My life and plan were over. Everything had been thrown out the window. All I could do was sit and think why would they deny me. I would not know the answer to that question until monday or tuesday. So I had the weekend to wait...and wait...and wait...

It was awful! I believe that God denied my visa to test my faith and boy did I fail. I did not believe that God could or would give me my visa. I started thinking that what was once His plan was now my plan and it was ruined. How was I going to come up with another $300 and how would I be able to get everything done in time.

After waiting some time we found out the reason for me being denied. Paperwork...a silly number was expired and all I needed was a new one. Things were starting to look up. Within that next day my parents had overnighted me my passport, God had provided the $300 and I was on my way to mail off my application once again.

This time I put each paper in the envelope carefully, double checking everything to make sure it was perfect. Then I had my church staff family pray over it and sent it on it's way. I have never been so terrified.

During this time I waited...and prayed...and waited. But what was different this time is that I BELIEVED that God was going to give me my visa. Well...today I received the email. I was so nervous opening it up. My eyes were searching in fear for the word denied but they did not find it. They did however land on the word ISSUED WOOHOO!!!!  I got it folks. I am officially headed to the UK on August 23rd.

I know now why God denied my visa the first time and I will be sure to not ever doubt him again. Thank you to all of my family and friends for the prayers and support. I could not have done any of this without you!

As I sit and think about the journey I am about to go on I can't help but get a little nervous. I have done missions all my life and I started going oversees when I was 15 so that is not what is making me nervous. I think it is the time. I have never been somewhere longer than 3 months. This time I will probably not see my friends or family for a year! That is a scary thought. I know that I will make new friends and that my team will feel like family but I am still nervous at the thought of not being around the people I am used to. But I guess that is what getting out of your comfort zone is all about. I think that is why the song "Oceans" by Hillsong has been wrecking me lately. Every time I hear it my soul just screams. Here are the lyrics. 
                                           

                                           "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"

My best friend Jennifer makes fun of me all the time because I HATE movies with a bad ending.  You know the ones that just stop and don't fill in the rest of the blanks?  I want to know EVERYTHING about the characters lives including their happy ending.  If the boy gets the girl then I want to know did they get married?  Did they have kids?  Are they happy?  Where are they now?  I want no detail left unsaid.  I really hate the ones like Harry Potter when you know they are not making another one and they show you Harry's kid at the end.  WHAT THE HECK??????  Now I want to know which house did he choose?  Is someone trying to kill him all the time?  Does he fall in love?  I just can't handle it.  It actually ruins the whole entire movie for me.

Now before you start thinking that I am crazy hear me out.  I have not always been like this.  I realized that this is something that has just recently been bothering me.  How did I come to this conclusion you ask?  Well I was babysitting the other night and I decided to watch one of my favorite movies...August Rush.  I remember this movie being SOOOO awesome!  I had not seen it in a few years so I did not remember everything...especially the ending.  I sat down, got all cozy and got lost in the music until...THE END!  UGH!!!  That was the worst ending I have seen in a long time.  They just look at each other.  That's it!  Then it's over.

As I sat back in silence I realized that this was one of my favorite movies.  How come the end never bothered me before?  Well here is what I decided.  I have only had this hate for bad movie endings for about 2 years now.  Hmmmm 2 years.  I graduated from college 2 years ago.  Coincidence?  I think not.  I realized that I hate not knowing how everything turns out in a movie because I hate that I don't know how everything turns out in my life.  I don't know what I am going to do when I grow up.  I don't know who I am going to marry.  Will I have kids?  Will I have grandkids?  I have been so worried about the happy ending that I forget to be in the story.  My life is so crazy hectic right now with moving to a foreign country in 3 months that I have gotten myself all worked up in the ending and I am not enjoying the middle.

This chapter of my life is that...just a chapter.  It is not the end of my story.  My story is hopefully quite long.  But my chapter at NORTHchurch is ending for now and a new chapter in Pais GB is starting.  I am so excited for this adventure.  I just need to remember that "maybe it's not about the happy ending, maybe it's about the story."

I have been needing to write an update on life for so long but I have been putting it off mostly because I had no idea where my journey would lead.  I have been keeping a pretty big secret for a few months now from most of my friends and family but now is the time when I can finally share my news with everyone!

Are you ready????

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I have been accepted to PAIS Great Britain!!!!!  Ahhhhh.  Now I know most of you are going "What the heck is PAIS Great Britain?"  Well let me tell you.

PAIS Project is a program that was started by Paul Gibbs in England.  I had the pleasure of meeting Paul a year and a half ago while I was in Brazil.  The project started mostly because of Paul's childhood and the terrible bullying that he encountered.  He wanted to stop the nonsense and create a mission that was focused on mentoring youth and making missionaries.  It all boils down to that.  Missionaries making Missionaries.  Young adults from all over are going to several different countries, going into the schools and building relationships with students.

So what does it mean that I got accepted?

I have been going through a process since October.  I submitted the application along with several recommendations and a brief video describing why I wanted to be on PAIS.  You can see that video here.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQhnLuf3JwI HUGE shout out to Sam (Bartholomew) Wardell for shooting my video.  Once my application and video were received I started the interview process.  It was a long period of waiting but finally I got the email stating that I was ready for the next step.

I interviewed via skype with Rob Johnson who is the PAIS USA Director.  The interview was great but it really did force me to take a long hard look at everything inside.  I had to be completely transparent and it was such a strange feeling.  Putting my guard down completely and exposing my struggles was both humbling and freeing.  After the interview was over Rob informed me that I was accepted to PAIS USA...next stop...Great Britain.

That interview was a little less nerve-racking because I knew most of the questions already.  The two girls I met with were so nice and put all of my nerves at ease.  It made me really excited about my potential future.

Well today was the day.  I finally got my final acceptance email.  I am officially moving to Great Britain in August.  Oh my goodness!  Oh my goodness!

I can't even write the emotions that I am feeling right now.  Nerves are sneaking up but my excitement is quickly pushing them back down.  There is so much to do and so little time.  Not only do I need to mentally prepare to move to another country but I also need to start preparing financially, getting my visa and all that other great stuff.

So there is my big secret.  This really is a season of change for my life.  I guess that now my blog is going to be all about my journey on PAIS.  The next 3 years are going to be AMAZING.  Oh yeah I guess I forgot to mention that I signed on for 3 years!  WOoohoo!  Let the missions begin!