My favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13, and if there were anything to describe me in a sentence it would be that ("I can do everything through Him who gives me strength").  That is a truth God has given to me for my life and often He uses it to prove everyone wrong so that HE will get the glory.  (Everyone including myself).

After studying the Scriptures in Bible College and Seminary, I learned that it is better to read the Bible in its context instead of just pulling out verses and reading them alone.  In the context of what Paul (the author of Philippians) was saying, is that He could live in poverty or in wealth and still follow the Lord under HIS strength.  I understand where He is coming from  when I lived in a grass hut in the jungles of Honduras to the most wealthy home in America.  I prefer the jungles, but in Christ's strength, I am able to live in the wealth of the United States.  It's only in His strength.  (And it wasn't exactly a grass hut in Honduras, and not really the most wealthy home in the states....but the contrast feels that way).

There are not enough paragraphs to write about the stories of what God has done in my life to explain why I felt so compelled to serve Him in the summer of 2005.  I ended up in Honduras at that time, working with a Missionary who did various things like getting prostitutes off the streets and giving them a better way of life (Christ and a new way to make money).  My heart literally fell in love with God in a new way that summer.  It has changed my life forever.  To see God in a new culture, language, faces, food, and  tropical rain in the sun.....it gave me a bigger picture of who HE IS.

He's continued to reveal Himself more and more in my lifetime which is the greatest honor and privilege.  When a person gets  a glimpse of how great God is, it's not possible to hold it in for him or herself.  One of my biggest desires is for people to encounter the Lord and receive Him.  I have been poor and broken apart from Christ in order that I might know that a life without Him is wretched.  It's humbling to know that He reached down to save my life and I'll never get over what that means.  All power,  glory, and honor belong to Him alone.

God speaks just the right way in just the right time EVERY TIME.  He puts specific people in my life for reasons, and that is very true of the rest of the youth staff and every youth here at Richland Alliance.