Convergence

con·ver·gence:

the point at which lines, objects, etc. converge

As I go throughout my days here in Nsoko, I can't help but be in awe of the ways that God has prepared me to serve in this place at this time.  Experiences and passions throughout my life have come together in this place to allow me to serve fully & I have no doubt that God has led me through each one to equip me for this time in my life.  Even though an experience may have seemed useless at the time, God has given me tools through each one to allow me to better serve Him today.  I have been described as a "jack of all trades, master of none" or very adaptable, but it's humbling to see the ways God has worked to equip me for my daily life here.  A few of the experiences from my past that I've seen in action this past week are:

~ My dad is a farmer & I grew up working & living on the farm

~ My mom is an accountant

~ My grandma was a caterer

~ My sisters are both doulas & passionate about midwifery & home births

~ I loved math & science in school (to the point I was considering an engineering major because of a scholarship)

~ One of my favorite classes in high school was one where we collected, tested & monitored water samples from the Big Thompson River

~ I was a pre-med major for a short time in college & spent two weeks on a medical camp

~ I was a social work major for a short time in college (and even having 3 different majors managed to graduate early!)

~ I played basketball 

~ I have driven tractors & manual cars & ATVs

~ I love camping & wilderness living & cooking with random ingredients

~ I served in youth ministry for many years

~ I went to a diverse elementary school where many of my friends were bilingual

~ I lived on a ethnically diverse floor in my dorm at CSU with people from various countries, cultures & backgrounds

~ One of my best friends from college, that I still keep in touch with, was a foreign student going to school in Colorado so I saw what it was from that side to be an outsider in a culture

~ I have been counseling & directing camps, retreats & mission trips since 1996 (over 100 at this point so far in my life)

~ I have been a part of several medical clinics in rural Haiti & Nepal

~ Bananas & avocados are two of my favorite foods.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

(Ephesians 2:10)

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

(Psalm 139:13-16)