Beautiful Dreams

Its been a year, a year since I applied to go to Germany and work with Unterwegs. A lot has happened in a year. God has shaped my heart in ways that I never would have imagined. I feel fear though to, because once again, I face unknowns. 

I felt fear last year to. I had never left the country, I did not know the language, and I was not entirely sure of myself as I went into this. God placed me outside of my comfort zone in a big way and He is doing it again. As I look into this next year, I don't know what is going to happen. It looks like I will pursue a master's degree, but maybe that won't happen. What I do know though is that God is going to continue to work in ways that I cannot even imagine. Despite my fear. 

I don't feel brave at all. I feel like the brave people are the ones who are fighting diseases, fighting social injustice, fighting to defend others. I feel like I am the Bilbo Baggins of the 21st century. But that's okay, even a Baggins finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime. Its time for a new chapter, so as I look at this summer in Germany, and this last year in Boise, maybe its time to open up a new chapter of my life and let go of the old. 

I'm Feeling 22

As I am blaring Taylor Swift's song "22", it is finally hitting me: I am 22 years old. This is my last birthday at Boise Bible College, this was the year I went to Mexico with Newberg Christian Church, this was the year that God wrecked me at the International Conference on Missions and sent me to Germany. It has been one heck of a year but it has been one of the best years of my life. God has challenged me and grown me in ways that I never would have imagined. I am in love with the last year of my life and I am incredibly excited to see what happens within this next year.



In less than two weeks I will be attending ICOM again (brace yourself Ohio) and I am finishing up my last year here at BBC. I don't know what is going to happen, I could be on the mission field, in seminary, or something equally as exciting by this time next year. What I do know is this though, God is working something in me that I cannot even begin to imagine. It is terrifying to admit that I am not in control of my own destiny but I know that God is going to work some incredible things in my life but even more importantly in the lives of the people around me. I wouldn't be the man I am today if it weren't for the people that have poured into me.

Whether you are in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, the rest of the 50 states, Germany, Africa, or anywhere else in the world, God has used you to shape me in ways that I never would have thought possible and I am grateful. You have been a part of my life and that is something that I love.

As my 21st year wrapped up, I prayed a simple prayer. "God push me farther than you have pushed me before, break my heart for what breaks yours." Its probably one of the most dangerous prayers I have ever prayed but who knows, maybe this next year is going to be better than I ever could have imagined.