How the heck I ended up in Mexico....

*** I can see this sleeping volcano from where I am living.... it's beautiful ***

During my fourth year at my beloved LSU, I had to make a decision that would forever shape my future. The way I saw it was that I had four options. 1. Stay an extra year at LSU and attain a teaching certificate 2. Apply for an almost guaranteed internship as a teaching assistant in Spain 3. Join Campus Crusade for Christ staff or 4. Return to MITC in Mexico. Sweet Reader, I spent a lot of sleepless nights, tossing and turning, imagining what life what would be like concerning each different opportunity. I was so tormented over this decision that I skipped an LSU football game (I know, I can already feel your condemnation and disbelief, rest assured that I later confessed this sin) so yes I skipped the game to plead with God that He would use a burning owl in Chi Omega house to verbally tell me what to do or that He would put me to sleep and reveal to me through a dream which way to go. Of course I am just kidding and for those who don’t know owls are my sorority’s mascot so our house is loaded with all shapes and sizes. But anyway I did skip the game and I was the only breathing creature in the sorority house that night. I went into our chapter room and wrote out my options on slips of paper and then laid them all out in front of me.

Then came the self-evaluation
……. my thoughts…. Clearly, God has given me a heart for the lost and a love for foreign missions…… I am restless sitting in the nice comfy pews of my air-conditioned church….. I am an American, giving me ultimate access to almost any country…. I love Europe….. I long to see my friends at MITC…. I want what God wants…. OK self-evaluation complete… Now …. Ok, where do I see God working? Hands down, I see God working at MITC in Mexico and I see God working mightily in the Campus Crusade ministry as well…. And I see God using me here right now at LSU as well…. Ahhh…. What to do…….

At this point I was utterly stuck…. My tigers were playing a couple miles away and here I was completely stuck and frustrated with what to do with my life. And at this point I cried out to God for direction and in my surrender and brokenness, He lead me to my suppressed heart’s desire which was to return to my Mexico. So here I am….. I have been here a little over 2 and half months. My job here is the following: translate and help accommodate American teams that come down for mission trips, teach the faculty and students English, work with some teenagers at la Casa de Hogar (an orphanage), and I will also be taking some seminary classes with the students. You know one of my favorite quotes is the following: “The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully consecrated to Him” Henry Varley. And you know I firmly believe this. Simply put, I want to be used by God. I want to grow closer to God. And this starts with surrender. I have surrendered my future to God and now He has me here in Mexico and with this Blog I want to share what God will do with and for and through and in me. Keep tuned…. It’s going to be an exhilarating ride full of good times, troubles, disappointments, laughter, growth, and grace. God is good. And no matter what people say there is no more statisfying place to be other than the will of God.