On my left hand I wear a ring. I've worn it since my senior year in high school. Maybe you've seen it and not thought anything of it. But to me, it's my reminder that I'm called to live for something bigger than myself. Four years ago it meant something entirely different than it means to me now. At the time, it was my commitment to serve God overseas. And it's incredible to know that I've kept this commitment. At the time, my little 17 year old self thought it would mean living overseas for the rest of my life, but it looks different now. Don't get me wrong, if God calls me, I'll go, but I've learned a lot about myself and about what God has in store for me in the last few years. I've learned that my strengths are strongest here in America. And that there's so much work for me to do here and in this place. In my culture and in my society. In my country and my government.
Even though my dream has shifted, I still wear the ring. It reminds me of my responsibility and my passion. It reminds me of where I've been and where I'm going. I got this ring during a missions trip my senior year to Quito, Ecuador. It was a cheap little ring-- it symbolized a shift to a focus outside of myself. I wish I could say that I'm less selfish than I was when I was 17. But that wouldn't be honest. But I do see the world so differently than I did then. I've learned to see people and situations and circumstances for more than face value. I've learned to ask the question of "why" someone is doing that particular thing. I've learned to care about the big picture more than my tiny microcosm.
That time I spent in Ecuador catalyzed a pivotal shift in my perspective. It seems surreal that I'll be returning. That I'll get to walk through the transition that this will have on many students' lives as it did with my own. And it definitely already has stimulated my own thoughts regarding how far I've come since I was a student on the 'same' trip. I fell in love with the world on that trip. I fell in love with watching God work. I fell in love with community and fellowship. I'm praying that the students going this year will be able to have even a fraction of the amazing-ness. Even a fraction would be life-changing.
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