The Future!

Well, many have you been asking me all year about what is next. I apologize for the many eye rolls and  weak responses you may have received. I am finally ready to give you all a real answer! Throughout last semester I felt God nudging me to consider gad school. I mentioned it somewhat jokingly to my mom for the first time at the beginning of the year and she said, "I'm sorry is this my daughter that always hated school and really didn't want to go to college?" and we laughed together. But gradually God put it on my heart more and more.

As I said in my last post, over fall break I went to Guatemala to visit an orphanage called The Oasis. I loved it there. I thought it would be an incredible fit for me. I was almost sure right away that I wanted to go there. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I want to give these girls the very best of me. My passion is to help these girls sort through their past and figure out their future. My desire is to love them to the best of my ability. And I realized that there is space for more learning in my life so that I may best serve them. I realize that I will never feel fully prepared to jump into a situation like this no matter what I do, but I also know that in this situation there is a way for me to be better prepared. So I started looking into grad school programs. I found several that I liked and over Christmas break I narrowed it down a little bit more.

Then I went to the Passion conference. This is a big Christian conference hosted by Louie Giglio in Atlanta, Georgia. There were about 60,000 young people (seniors in high school through 25 year olds) meeting in the Georgia Dome praising God together. The theme of the conference this year was freedom. We focused in on modern day slavery which happens to be one of the things that gets me most riled up. We talked about how many people around the world (and in America) still are forced into slavery, especially in the business of prostitution. Passion was filled with wonderful speakers and musicians, but what struck me the most was one of the last sessions we had. There was a round table discussion between people who worked with all aspects of social justice seeking to bring freedom to the slaves. And as each one spoke, I all of a sudden absolutely knew that God was calling me to at least apply to go to grad school for some form of Christian counseling program. While I don't think it's at all necessary to have a degree to make a difference (I have a TON of incredible friends who did not go to college and are moving mountains with Jesus all over the world!), I realized through this round table discussion how many doors can open when you do study more.

So the last week of Christmas break I did the last thing I would ever have imagined and applied to three grad programs: Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Master of Arts in Christian Counseling, Denver Seminary's Master of Arts in Counseling Ministries, and Fuller Theological Seminary's Master of Arts in Family Studies. The Denver program was my first choice because the program was most in line with my interest and passion. I love the way it combines counseling with Christian ministry. Last Friday I heard from Denver that I was accepted into their program and this Friday I called them to pay my enrollment fee. I will be starting orientation at Denver Seminary on August 23, 2013! The program will last between 2-3 years, so that is where I will be for the next few years. :) I hope you are excited to hear this answer. I know that I am SUPER excited to give it to you! Thank you for all your care and prayers over the past few years. I will definitely still be needing it as I venture into the crazy world of grad school and the future beyond that.