Too Light of a Calling

Teaching has always been my passion from as long as I can remember. As a young child, I used to line up my stuffed animals and play teacher as I

dreamed at what that could really be like. As I went through college and started to travel the world, I found Jesus in the most astounding places and my passion started to shift. To be just a teacher felt like to light of a call on my life and my heart ached for something more- and felt it as I read these verses…

“It is too light a thing that should be my servant,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

I will make you as a light for the nations,

That my salvation may reach to the end

of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6

As I left for Spain 3 months ago, I thought that the ache for something more meant trading in teaching for missions- but once again God amazed me as He got rid of that poverty way of thinking. The God I serve is a God of abundance, of increasing favor and power, and a God who personally loves me enough to combine all of my passions into something that glorifies His name.

In my time here God has broken off the lie that I don’t deserve good things or that when good things in my life happen they are only temporal. That’s not in the character of my savior, and I know that He only wants to lavish great things over my life. The favor that I felt for the first time over my life in India has only increased ten-fold since being here in Spain, and I’ve started to see the blessing that is in every situation that I’m in.

God has brought the blessing of teaching back into my life and continually shown me in my time here that He wants teaching to always be a part of my life in some form. For now that means teaching English to two amazing brothers, Julio and Pablo. I have learned more in 3 months of teaching these boys, than I have my entire college career of preparing to teach. Julio has a form of autism and from day one has challenged every part of my teaching. Similar to how G42 has shaken my beliefs until only was is true remained, Julio has shaken who I am as a teacher. For the first two months of teaching him, we didn’t have one day that didn’t end in a tantrum of some sort and me reluctantly giving in so they would “at least learn some English.” But one day I was sick of the tantrums and frustration of not understanding why he was doing it, so I ignored his tantrum and decided to just continue practicing English vocabulary with Pablo. After a half hour of screams, cries, and rolling on the ground Julio snuggled up next to me and started to learn beside his brother. From that point on, the relationship between Julio and I was different because for the first time in his life he realized someone was fighting for him to really learn and grow.

Man has Julio shown me how I’m going to have to be fighting for the girls being trafficked that will be entrusted to me. I want to be a safe place to find peace and freedom amidst the chaos of hopeless circumstances surrounding them. Although daily people are fighting Julio and his way of learning- often calling him disabled and stupid- I get the honor of being a safe place to listen to how he needs to learn and purely create a place of peace for him. Creating a place where He can experiment with his learning without getting reprimanded for it and be the creative, brilliant little boy that Jesus has made him has been vital to his growth. And it’s going to be vital to those little girls’ lives as well.

I am being equipped daily for life on the missions field, and my adventures have already started here in Spain. If you want to be a part of all that God is doing in and through me- you can hit the Partner With Me tab and get further information. I am so grateful to all those out there praying for me and sacrificing time and money to see the dreams God has placed in me come to fruition.