The About Me List - Play Along!

Today I decided I wanted to reflect on the quirkiness of who I am. I remember how I used to see these FB posts where my friends would share a list of all these cool, fun, quirky facts about themselves. No one on FB has done this in a while (years) and i really miss reading them! So, I'm kicking it off with a hope that you will play along and do the same. :) Let me know if any of these also apply to you. 

1. I love movies from the 80s - 90s such as BIG, What About Bob?, Can't Buy Me Love, Loverboy, Princess Bride, Ferris Bueller, Goonies, and Weekend at Bernies.  

2. I have a deep love for star gazing. Anytime, anywhere, just ask. 

3. My sense of direction is almost non-existent. 

4. I hold my pen the "incorrect" way, but i can't correct it now. 

5. I was in two legitimate fights as a kid, yet never got kicked out of school. 

6. I used to think a manual or stick shift of a car was also termed as a "stiff." 

7. For a long time (at least 2 years) I called Wifi, the "WeeFee." {Yes, go ahead and laugh}

8. I was in an intense discipleship program called Master's Commission in college {Google it}. We spent a lot of time together in our little community learning scripture. We traveled the U.S. speaking at churches, writing and performing skits and "human videos." 

9. I'm a soprano II (or alto I depending on the music). I love singing and i play piano, but i can't do both at the same time. I was in a small traveling choir in college called Ladies of Lee. 

10. I'm scared to do a flip because I just know i'll hit my head and need stitches. 

11. I received "The Silliest" award in my college dorm. Simmons Hall rocks!  

12. My primary love languages are quality time and words of affirmation - time spent really connecting with someone - laughing and having genuine conversations.

13. Over the years, I have learned that I'm more high maintenance than I once thought. :) good luck future hubby. 

14. I love when people initiate things and invite me. I'm 60% introvert {some extrovert tendencies - INFP/INFJ}.  

15. I went to Health Camp as a kid. Whenever i tell people that, they have no clue what i'm talking about. I loved all my health and anatomy classes in school. It fascinates me how the human body works. 

16. I've struggled with loneliness throughout my life and few people know how hard (how deep) this struggle really is.  

17. Improper grammar annoys me. You're is not the same as your. To is different than too and two.  Specific is different than Pacific.  Affect and effect mean two different things. And this new thing where people write "dat be" and "fraid of ah" and "this gyal is tunda" - that's not a language! It makes me cringe. Learn English, learn Spanish or French or Korean - anything that's a legitimate language, but stop trying to make one up and expect me to understand. 

18. As a runner, I am strangely proud of my beat-up feet. At times, I wish they were dainty with a beautiful pedicure, but after you run 13 miles, who cares? 

19. I'm gluten free and dairy free, and because of that I am now asthma free with very little allergies. 

20. I finished my second half marathon this past November with no inhaler and completely cured of asthma. My time was 2:02:35 and I'm very happy with that. 

21. I always wanted to be like the "cool kids" - the dancers and the cheerleaders - but that's simply not who I am. And I fully embrace who I am - nerdiness and all. :)  

22. The best burger I've ever had was called the Basque burger while i was in PARIS traveling with a good friend. 

23. I went zip-lining through the Appalachian mountains = one of the best days ever. 

24. I went cliff jumping within my first week of college. 

25. I was slightly chased by a goat in the Dominican. 

26. I hopped on a mo-ped with a stranger and drove through crazy traffic in the Dominican. 

27. I love both mountains and the beach, but the mountains are my favorite. They're beautiful and full of vibrant color, and the stars are brighter! {Plus the temperature is 10x better}. 

28. My heart longs to do missions, but God has closed that door. I'm patiently waiting to see what will happen and where God will lead me next. 

29. I love photography and understand cameras pretty well, but if you put me in front of a slow computer and ask me to fix the problem, i just want to scream. 

30. I came to know Christ in a wonderful Pentecostal church which I still love dearly. However, if I could encourage them to change one thing within the denomination, it would be to teach more about grace. 

31. I am not a fan of "know-it-alls" that close their minds and remain in their ignorance. I respect those more that humble themselves to listen, ask questions, and be teachable. I truly hope I can be a lifelong learner. 

32. When I was little, my mom lost me in the grocery store because I was really sleepy and randomly decided to lay down for a nap on top of the toilet paper stacks. It was the softest spot to lay down. :) 

33. When I first got contacts I only needed one. My mom called me Cyclops. {still makes me laugh}

34. I have a burden for children, especially those in poverty and slavery. Something new stirring deep in my heart these last few months has been a bigger burden for the persecuted church. 

35. This year has so far been a season of a beautiful, deep struggle. God is nudging me to know myself and fully embrace who I am. He is teaching me so much about me and about Him. I love who I am and how He designed me - even the deepest parts. And I love Him even more. 

That's all I can think of for now! I hope you play along and post some fun facts about yourself! :) 

BOLIVIA 2013!!!

Thank you so much for watching the video.  If you can please support us through prayer - praying for our team as we travel and work together.  If you are able to support me financially on the trip, that would be a wonderful blessing too.  Please make your checks payable to Matthews UMC and in the “memo” section indicate "July 2013 - Bolivia - Autumn."  Gifts to the church, with an expression of a preference for trip expenses, are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.  If for some reason I an unable to participate in the trip, your gifts will be used to support this mission program.

Please know your support is very much appreciated.   You can send the check to the church office:

Matthews United Methodist Church
801 South Trade Street
Matthews, NC  28105

Attn:  Becky Stegall

Thank you so much for all your past support and your prayers as we continue we share the light into this darkened part of the world.
May God continue to bless you and your family now and always.

A huge thank you to Mr. Joshua Marshman for helping me make this video for support. You are amazing! 

calling

I can honestly say for the first time in my life that I love my job.  It is ministry and it's wonderful, i work with amazing, talented people and i feel incredibly blessed to be there.  I literally got everything I prayed for.  


What most people don't know is a deeper longing that God has placed uniquely on my heart, and burdened me to the point of hurting.  My love is children and youth - to see them learning about God, to see families come together and watch them grow.  It makes me smile!  I love watching moms and dads teach the classes and to watch the children grasp the lessons.  I love the children and the youth that I work with - to see them becoming disciples and growing in their faith.  It's an extra bonus when I see the older children guiding the younger.  Eeeeeeeee!  :o)


In the middle of this love for them.... my heart breaks for orphans.  I have a burden for orphans that makes me weep.  I want to help, to provide for them, to take care of them somehow, and to help them know Christ and be disciples, for them to know they are loved!  I want them to know they are loved!  They are not abandoned, God cherishes them and loves them more than anything!  It breaks my heart to know they have no mom and dad because of war, disease, and starvation.  I hate it.... it is heartbreaking to hear their stories of watching their mom raped and killed by soldiers.  I just can't... it breaks my heart.


My heart is anxious to see what God has planned.  I don't know the "how"or the "where" and as I feel this constant need to be in control.... it bothers me immensely.  I don't feel called to be a full-time missionary, I love working here and I feel like the work I do here will be taken outside the church... hopefully across the world.  I just don't know where.  I already feel Uganda calling me and feel like I will be there within the next few years. Maybe Kenya too?  Dominican again?  Brazil?  Local children's homes in NC?


I'm trying to let go, to trust that God has a plan and he is at work even now.  At my job, I write/edit curriculum for Sunday school, plan VBS along-side some amazing volunteers, I act like a fool on stage during a family worship time for the kids to learn a Bible lesson, I organize presentations, meetings and newsletters and I am constantly editing!  And i love it all.  It will all be worth it when it's taken across the world one day.


I am anxious to see how all this will pan out.  I also worry about other random things.... these desires I have to get married and start my own family.  What happens to that?  Should I forget it?  How can I when it's so deep?  What happens to these desires?  Part of God's plan or only mine?  How does all that fit together?


I am human.  I am a woman.  I am 31 years old.  I am broken.  I am willing.


So... I just have to wait.