*Bonus: Thanksgiving Special*
Something that really stuck out to me from a sermon quite a few years ago was the importance of being grateful. Our pastor said an attitude of gratitude, or a thankful heart, fights fear (and many other things) because they can’t exist in the same place at the same time. I’ve always considered myself a fairly agreeable person, pretty thankful for most things, but practicing gratitude takes a conscious effort. At training in North Carolina, someone shared that, (by some way of research- I’m sorry I can’t remember the official details) when asked about how missionaries... Read moreHalf-Way There - Being Faithfully Active
This process of support raising has been such a crazy and amazing adventure. Little did I realize just how much of a wild ride it would be - a roller coaster of emotions. It has been so incredibly good and stretching in my life already and it is only half-way over. One big way that it has been stretching me is spiritually as God has been teaching me what this new season entails. For the last 4-6 years, I have felt like I have been in a "waiting" and preparing period. I felt like I was being told to actively wait and prepare for an opportunity that the Lord had for me in the future. Today as... Read moreMy Life is Just a Cacophony of Colors...
Growing up moving back and forth between different parts of Texas and Washington, I learned quickly how hard goodbyes can be. I would always leave the state grappling for my friendships, saying things like, “Write me! Email me! We’ll keep in touch! We can call every Friday!” Those solutions would work for a few weeks, but most of the time, a few months into the transition I would be discouraged from a text or email that was left unanswered. (No matter which side it was on… keeping in touch can be hard work.) Maybe around the time I got to high school, I realized that... Read moreActive Resilience
As I enter my fifth week of support raising, I find myself struggling to stay motivated. This is a long and tough process so I must be consistently reminding myself to be patient and wait upon the Lord’s timing. On Sunday, my pastor was preaching on patience. His sermon hit me right between the eyes. He described patience as “active resilience.” Our patience and waiting upon the Lord is not sitting by and doing nothing. My pastor talked through a cycle that helps us learn patience. Memory leads us into reflection and our reflection leads us into this active resilience. Meaning, that by... Read more
"I will never give up on you, Eeyore..."
Sometimes I find that God talks to me through comic strip ideas… He gives me these sweet, simple images of our relationship… interactions between us that help me understand His closeness, REALNESS, and connection with ME (and others.) Occasionally I’ll take the time to draw them out- I find they’re so beautiful, even if they’re just a simple blurry sketch- it’s the idea they represent that really counts. It feels good to draw them out on paper, let them out of my system, be able to look at them on physical paper and be reminded of what they mean each time I look at... Read moreThe Road Less Traveled
Greetings! My name is Anni Kenyon, a recently graduated alumna from Wheaton College in German Language, Literature, and Culture and Christian Education. And I am so excited to be partnering with GoCorps and ReachGlobal in Innsbruck, Austria for the next two years! For individuals who know me, this decision to go abroad for two years was not a shocking surprise for them to hear as I believe that God has prepared me for this opportunity throughout the course of my life (however, I took longer to see it than them!). Growing up, I have always been interested, drawn to, and inspired by accounts... Read more
It Isn't Easy
You know, It isn’t easy. Leaving a place that I have known my entire life to dive into a new culture and learn a new language is bold - for me at least. Sometimes when we hear about the life of a missionary, we think mostly positive things. We think about how great they are and how much fun they must be having being able to travel the world. We think about how they have the ability to share the Gospel with EVERY single person that they walk by on the street. We may even unintentionally put them on a pedestal because they have packed up their things and left their homes to spread the Good... Read moreFirst Steps
Watch the orange fade to yellow Then blue, each foot a faintly Darker hue as the sun drops Down behind the peaks. You close your Eyes and, listen, the Lord speaks. His voice is but a whisper The words are often strange But we know his will is good The path is dim, we cannot see. And Yet We Trust. For several years, I have had the image of a series of stepping stones across a wide river in my mind. But the way ahead is shrouded in fog, and usually I can’t see the next stone on the path. I’ve realized that this is an image for my journey with the Lord over these past several years... Read more
Walking Through a Bendy House
When I was just a wee little girl, living with the fam. in a small town near Seattle, Washington, one of my favorite things to do was go to the Seattle Science Center. What a blast it was, every time! They had the coolest, most educational, fun things to mess around in! You could learn about shapes, leverage, balance, momentum, weather, sea life, outer space, butterflies, dinosaurs, zippers, I don’t even know! You name it, and they probably had some giant interactive exhibit that you could have fun with and learn something new at the same time. Some of the exhibits were a little... Read more