GraceNotes

Well, after one year of creating this, here is my first shot at using it! Hopefully I will be able to get acquainted quickly with everything so I can keep it up-to-date. I guess I should introduce myself and tell you a  little bit about me. The first thing you should know is that I am and have always been dedicated to God and will continue living out the rest of my life with increasing love for Him, continually building upon my knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of the One I call Savior. =)

Though I have been a follower of Jesus since I was a small child, I have made plenty of mistakes. I am very thankful for the grace that Christ has shown me through each and every one of them. I am beyond grateful that it is not by what I “do” that I am made beautiful to God but by what Jesus has already accomplished for me. I simply have accepted it, fallen in love (and what a love it is!), and continue my life’s purpose to please and honor God.

God has called me into ministry, as He calls every Christian. Sadly, not every person who calls themselves a follower of Christ is truly a follower. Many tend to take the roll as leader or bystander, thinking that God agrees with their way over His or they simply don’t care to participate in anything God-related. Recently, I have come to really understand what ministry means. Ministry should not simply be what we try (by our own means) to do FOR God but, at its very basic understanding, should be an OVERFLOW of our relationship with God that pours into the lives of others and impacts them through HIS glory, power, mercy, and love evident in our own lives. I think that is a pretty cool revelation!

I have been a worship leader since I was about 16 years old. Now, I am almost 24 (January 28) so I guess it has been about 8 years!  I started leading worship at a “Youth Jam Night” at my new youth group which was just meant to be an evening every week to hang out with other kids my age. However, God had a fuller plan than we saw in the beginning and so the jam night turned into a youth service every week and we became a youth worship team. It was fun and something I had always wanted to be a part of. I grew in my love for and understanding of worship and continued leading vocals with another great worshipper for about 2 years.

Once I turned 18, I felt it was time to allow someone else to take over that leadership for the youth worship. I helped in every way I could to bring up new female vocalists and then God called me to join the adult worship team. I started helping lead worship for the adult services, where I learned how to sing harmonies. I thought I would NEVER be able to hear harmonies and I sang very quietly so no one could hear how out of tune I was! Haha. Thankfully, this team of worshippers had a heart to help me. I have since learned harmonies by steady memorization of what I was told to sing in each song and that has progressed into my ability to pick out harmonies for just about any song without much help, if any.

I lead worship for one year for the adult services. Then, it came time for college. Another new step for me and kind of scary but also exciting! I had been home schooled from K-12 so this was going to be a BIG step. I was 19 and had never even moved. However, it was a wonderful experience and God sent me to the college He wanted me. I adjusted very well and was able to complete my college degree in Intercultural Studies with TESOL training (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in under 4 years. God provided for me through my parents, jobs I had worked, scholarships I had earned by keeping my GPA up, and endowments I was given. I finished my degree without owing a penny to anyone. I have never felt the weight of a loan, much less many loans, so I have nothing to compare feeling debt-free to. But I am certainly 100% grateful for every bit of help I received. I know it was all by the grace of God!

The few months before I graduated (I graduated in July 2010), I lived in Cambodia as a missionary. It was the last requirement of my degree but I did not view it as a requirement in the least. It was a pleasure to minister to people and have the ability to go overseas and experience a new culture. I lived there for 3 months and served in many different ways with 4 other college students. We worked under the ministry of People for Care and Learning which I would highly suggest to anyone interested in working with a ministry. We painted a large part of a children’s home, painted the entire downstairs portion of a new Christian school, led several Vacation Bible Schools (one at the children’s home and the other two in small villages: Kocloc and Tekom), led worship every week for a Sunday morning devotional group, and taught English Monday through Friday. I taught several different classes, one on my own and two with my good friend Corey. We spent time building relationships with the people there, taught hygiene to many street kids, distributed water filters to villages (bad water is one of the leading causes of sickness, disease, and death in Cambodia), helped lead a youth camp for 300 students over 4-5 days, helped lead a follow-up for the local youth who attended the youth camp, and participated in many other things. I loved being there and would absolutely love to go back some day not too far in the future! I can tell you more about our ministry there if you would like at another time. And may I just say that the three months I spent in Cambodia was also fully paid for by wonderful people who had willing hearts to give towards the ministry there as well as my own growth! I have grown in so many ways from this experience and I will always be thankful to those who supported me financially and most importantly through their prayers. I praise God for His provisions throughout my life so far and for what He will do in the future! He is beyond amazing.

Well, that is enough about me for now. I really could write a book or two about my life but I will not turn this post into a book (though it’s getting close to becoming one). I hope you enjoyed reading what I have written so far. Keep checking back if you are interested in reading more!

Welcome to my blog! Feel free to read anything I write and comment. =)

This is me