On August 25th, I graduate from CGA. But I don’t want to.
I don’t want to write about the end of CGA.
I don’t want to admit that I have to say goodbye.
I don’t want to look into the eyes of the people I’ve called my family for the last 7 months and realize I won’t see them all the next week or the week after that.
But the fact that I don’t want it to be over just goes to show how much it’s meant. I have been stretched and pushed more in the last year and a half of my life than ever before. I have cried more, screamed more, stressed out more, and grown more than I ever thought possible. I have been in a pressure cooker and I think it’s finally time to come out.
My World Race created a stirring in me for the necessity of seeking out community, growth, and discipleship. I found a deep need and desire to immerse myself in what the Lord had for me. And that lead to CGA. He led me to a season of further development and solidification of the things he began in me on the race.
He brought me out of the comfort of home once again into a new place that looked nothing like what I knew. He took me to the south of all places, somewhere I don’t think had ever crossed my mind as where I wanted to live. And I’ve fallen in love with it. I’ve fallen in love with the community here at Adventures in Missions, the unbearable weather, the four seasons, the family he’s given me, and I’ve come to call it home.
This place has taught me about who I am, what I have to offer, and who God is in ways I don’t think I could have experienced anywhere else. He’s reignited passions in me that I thought were long gone, reinvigorated the dreams I have, and reinspired me to go after them. If God hadn’t brought me into this community, I don’t know where I would be headed.
This community has challenged me, pushed me, encouraged me, comforted me, and loved me. God is our source of all of these things, but he created people to be our resources. He’s given us each a piece of him that is unique to us so that we may come together to form one body. I’ve realized that I am created to encourage and motivate people to understand love in the way that God intended. I am passionate about intentional, authentic relationships that help those who are lost and lonely to feel seen and loved.
CGA has shaped and molded me to confidently walk out in knowing what unique things I bring to the body. CGA has helped me rediscover who I am in God and not who the world tells me I am.
And I don’t want to say goodbye. I don’t want it to end. But I know that the Lord has even bigger and better plans for me. He has reminded me of my love for theater, my knowledge of it, and my passion to bring the Lord to the world of professional theater. So in September, I’m moving down to Decatur, GA, a small city just east of Atlanta and I will be pursuing a career in theater again. I am so excited to step into this next season. It will be challenging and full of times I want to give up, but I know that the Lord’s promises are yes and amen. I know that He gives us the desires of our hearts and I can’t wait to see how he shows up!! I also want to end this season well and fully funded. I am blown away that I have only $750 left before I am fully funded! Would you consider donating to help me leave this place well? Any amount helps! $1, $10, $50, $100, anything can help me achieve this goal!! Thank you all so much for your support and love!
