April 28: A happy birthday post :)

I am 25 today.

If you had asked me 5 or even 10 years ago, "Where do you see yourself at 25," my answer would have been a far cry from today's reality. How different my life is than I expected it would be!

Friends coming to serenade me for an early morning "mananita" birthday celebration!

I anticipated never venturing farther than the east coast of the U.S.  My home is now an island in the Pacific Ocean.

I imagined that I would be married by now. As it turns out, Jesus is my first and, for the present, my only love.

I thought that, at 25, I might already have one or two children of my own. Though not technically mine, God has brought more children than I can count into my life for me to love and care for.

I used to dream of sipping caramel lattes in quaint coffee shops. These days, I drink fresh coconut water straight out of the coconut, standing in the shade of its tree.

Learning how to scale a coconut tree -- harder than it looks!

I thought I might be well-versed in classic literature or subscribe to women's magazines. The Scriptures are instead the fodder for my mind and soul.

My life is nothing like I imagined it would be, and praise the Lord for that! Life on mission is always an adventure, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Improv praise and worship session with a ukulele and makeshift drums

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." ~Isaiah 55:8-9

To my family:

Thank you for understanding when you do not hear from your daughter for 2 or 3 (or 4) weeks at a time. Thank you for praying for me every single day. Thank you for saying yes and standing beside me at each yard sale, at each airport, at every step along the way in preparation for this mission. Thank you for being patient as I struggled to transition from your world into the unknown, to stand on my own two feet, and to find out who God created me to be. I love you so much more than I can say.