Sometimes you just have to do things you really don't want to do. This trip I've had plenty of days where I woke up thinking, “I really don't feel like going to ministry today.” There were plenty of circumstances when it would have been easier to just shrug my shoulders and not try to understand the fast, slurred Spanish of the person in front of me. This trip I've learned a lot about perseverance and trusting God. At particular moments of exhaustion or burnout, I didn't understand the impact weeks of painting and working at an orphanage could have upon...

     Friday morning I was informed that my sister back in the states was diagnosed with cancer. Right then and there I wish I could have "volunteered," so to say, take her place. In the book, The Hunger Games, Katniss, the main character, volunteers for her sister Primrose in the hunger games…. I knew exactly how Katniss' character felt and what she was going through, why MY sister, why NOW, WHY WHY WHY?? We ask God why almost everyday, but until Friday I had never truly been so angry at God! This was certainly not my first struggle in life, but...

"Oh God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am shamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that i may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where i have wandered so...

A year ago today I did not want to turn 18. I did not want the inevitable change to come or the title of “adult.” I preferred to stay my 17 year old self, content to be a kid forever. Reluctantly, I accepted my new age, wondering what this new year would bring. Little did I know, God had big plans for my 18th year of life.   I got to be a part of my church's Easter Pageant, one of hundreds working on the production…complete with live animals! (Trust me it's a big deal!) I graduated high school, and forever said goodbye to sitting in a classroom for 7...

Names hold significance. All throughout the Bible, God calls his chosen people by name. He changes people's names to symbolize a spiritual change or specific calling, such as Abram to Abraham. John the Baptist's parents went against tradition in naming him because God appointed a name for their son. The angel Gabriel told Mary what to name her unborn son, Jesus. In my life, I have come to realize the truth behind my name's meaning. Allegra means cheerful, merry, happy, or something to that extent. That's who I am. During cultural briefing at training camp, we were told...

Whoa!! I never thought that the day would come that I would actually get in the car to travel to Chattanooga for training camp! As I rode in the car I had a million emotions going through my mind. Let’s fast forward and we arrive at training (in the middle of nowhere) I step off the bus and take my luggage to the designated area and grab out my water bottle. We all gather inside and was told to grab three items out of our bags…in my mind I was thinking “oh dear!” Once I received the news that our first night of training camp was to be slept outside the only thing...