Voice

I drove back to Nashville last weekend in order to pack up the rest of my house.  On the drive, I listened to some talks from FOCUS Conference (because I haven't been getting enough FOCUS talks at Training?).  One was about the "Most Dangerous Women in History", given by Amanda Graf.  She spoke about 4 amazing women that each changed the world in their own way by doing as God asked them to do.

The story of one of these women in particular struck something within me.  This woman was born of a peasant family, and never learned how to read or write.  She was great at sewing and spinning.  It was during a time of war in her country, when she was 16, that this young girl felt it was her duty to go to the aid of her king, who was finding himself in a rather desperate situation with his army.  This girl had never ridden a horse, never used a sword... so what on earth did she think she was doing?  Why would she ever think she could help?  Why would she put her life on the line to attempt such a thing?

Well, you see, she had a reason.  What was her reason?  ... She heard a voice.  Yes, a voice.

... Really?  A voice.  But... that doesn't make sense.  That's not realistic.  Actually, that's rather ridiculous.  I would even say crazy.  Yeah, this girl is crazy.

Actually, this girl is Saint Joan of Arc.

Her story is an incredible example of heroic faith.  She followed the will of God, not knowing what would lie ahead.  She did what she was told, even if it didn't make sense, even if it wasn't realistic, and even if it might have seemed a little crazy.

What power faith can have if we would only do what God asks us to!  Sometimes I wish so badly that God would just speak out-loud to me, with an audible sound, telling me what I should do.  But instead, He speaks to me through that soft, quiet voice inside my soul.  For me, this voice requires even more faith to believe, because after He whispers, He allows me to second-guess myself just so I can realize (an agonizingly long time later) that I can trust that voice.

I must learn to listen to that voice, test it, and once I am sure it is indeed the Holy Spirit, do as it says without hesitation!  Do it, and do it well!  And then, if we just do that, we will become saints.  Wow, how patient God is that He continually whispers and waits for us to listen, allows us to exercise our free will, and guides us by the hand as we try follow through, if that is what we choose.  He doesn't even make us do His will.  He simply invites us to do it, through that still, small voice.  What a privilege!

Team "Love"

From left to right: Me, Justin, Leah, and Teddy

This is my new team.  Someone has already dubbed us as Team Love.  I'm sure you can see why.  Aren't we just adorable?

I'm really excited to get to know my teammates better and work alongside them at Columbia University.  This will be the first year for FOCUS at Columbia, so we have our work cut out for us.  For me, this is a particularly exciting challenge, having seen and lived through the transformation that FOCUS (and Father Baker, of course) brought about in our community at Vanderbilt when it came my sophomore year.

Just to fill you in with a little more detail about my team...
Justin is a first-year missionary from Virginia.  He graduated from George Mason University in May and studied English/Creative Writing.
Leah is the only veteran on our team!  She is our team leader, hailing from South Dakota, earned her undergraduate degree in violin performance at Catholic University, and spent the past 2 years as a missionary at Mount St. Mary's University.  This will be her second year as a team director.
Teddy is a first-year missionary from Maryland.  He graduated from Mount St. Mary's in May with a degree in philosophy.

I am so thankful for them already, and I look forward to many adventures in NYC!  May God bless our efforts to bring souls to Him at Columbia.  Please pray for us!

Here we go

I'm not very good at blogging.  I'm also not very good at expressing my thoughts with words.  And I'm really not very good at sharing my life so openly where everyone can see it!  But, as a missionary, I am called to things that I may not be very good at on my own.  Thankfully, God is (incredibly) good at everything.

I will try to update this blog pretty often in order to keep all those who are interested up to date on my life as a missionary.  We'll see how it goes!