Caroline recieved an e-mail from Ekisa on Sunday that she was accepted! Talk about the best birthday present a girl could ask for. So, as of now, she is going to Africa...and I am praying and hoping (selfishly) that I will get one soon! As we prepare for our journey and live the most prayerfully I think we both ever have-God continues to just show up more than ever. More than we deserve.
I guess we haven't quite introduced ourselves yet and so before I jump in the water, you should know who you're dealing with :)
Caroline Pierce is one of the most kind-hearted people you will ever meet in your life. She is literally just a bundle of joy and you can't help but see this outrageous love for God when you look at her. She is a Junior at Baylor University in Waco, TX, is a nutrition and african studies major (Care correct me if I totes butchered that) and has a love for God that's rare and beautiful to come by (dang, how blessed am I to be her friend, I mean come on). She was actually my boss this summer while we both worked at a camp in Durango, CO called Camp Kivu (www.campkivu.com). We both worked in the kitchen, me for part of the summer, and her for the entire summer. And it was HARD. I tell you it is not easy as it sounds! She worked her butt off and never complained. Now that is what I call a steward. I have so much to learn from her and so excited that God is going to give me that opportunity over the 5 months we'll be wedged together!
My name is Kelsey Verrill. I go to Oklahoma City Comunity College and am a Theatre Major. I am crazy, and scatter-brained, disorganized, ADD, and annoying at times. But Caroline can somehow tolerate me...and God has decided to use crazy insignificant me in ways that I could have never fathomed.
Our story is hard to just type out without me going nuts. I get really passionate about it whenever I tell anyone so pardon me if this, too, seems really messy...I'm not too good with words.
One day at camp Caroline and I got to talking. I remember it clearly because she was sitting in her hammock and I was sitting on the very top of the stars right next to her. I asked her how her night was and it was all she could do from crying as she eagerly told me that she had one of the best conversations with a friend (who also worked at camp with us) about Africa. It kind of stopped me in my tracks. I, too, had this deep-rooted passion to go to Africa but I never had talked about it with anyone but God and to my family a little bit. So I listened for a while while Care talked and bursted at the seams about this passion to go. That night I went back to my cabin and cried. I had put my own passion back in a filing cabinet because I was scared. And there Caroline was opening it back up, without even knowing. I sat up for hours that night, not being able to get any rest because God was just yelling at me "Kels...go...I'm telling you...it's time" and that was scary. What did He mean "go"? I'm about to start another year of school, just signed a year long aparment lease, nothing about this is good timing. So I got home from camp, nothing about this calling had been silenced...and so I knew. I knew that my timing was selfish and the Lord's was perfect. So I contacted a friend who lived in Jinja with her parents who worked at 'children of grace' and told her of this passion. She gave me names of organizations and ministries, and I dove in. A couple days later I was with Caroline before she left for Waco. She approached me in the midst of several friends saying "I have SO much to tell you!" and I responded by saying the same.
"What's yours about?!" I said, clearly I'm impatient and couldn't wait the few short hours it would be until we'd be able to have this conversation without all the noise. Then she said
"Africa!"...and I almost lost it.
"MINE TOO!" is what I basically just spit out.
"Where in Africa?" Caroline said...
"Uganda..."...and if it wasn't enough
"ME TOO!" and the tears were rolling.
We figured out that we had both been talking to the same family, and both felt called second semester. I literally had never expirienced something like I did that day and I knew that this was going to be God's will, and I don't think I would be where I am right now, without God giving me precious Caroline to be by my side, to calm my nerves, and to remind me of God's faithfulness.
I was blessed to be able to spend this past weekend with Caroline. It was her birthday, so I drove the 4 and a half short hours to Waco. On Saturday we went to this park in Waco (that's HUGE) and everything about the next 2 hours was perfect. We sat on a log, in the river, under a tree. I brought my laptop and played worship music, burned some nag that fit perfectly into a nook in the log, and we had our quiet time. After a while of just sitting with God, we shared what He has spoken to us, what we read, and I could just cry at how gracious the Lord is...and how He continues to show up-even though we don't even deserve the reminder. These past couple weeks have been chaotic, and I know the weeks to come will be even more crazy...but through it all, the Lord has given me joy unspeakable...and I can't wait to struggle and to grow in Africa...and to even remember that I am doing that now. And that He is working in me now. And this time right now is so sacred, because He is preparing our hearts, softening our families, and providing so much grace that I can barely catch my breath!
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