You Only Live Once….
The popular phrase with today’s youth is YOLO. You hear it music, on television, and pretty
much anywhere you turn. It is the abbreviation
for “you only live once”. I was not fazed
by this saying until a few weeks ago. For
the past 2 years I have been surrounded by new relationships, new marriages,
new roommates, and soon to be newborn babies. After turning 23, I began to reflect on where
I am at in my life spiritually, physically, and emotionally. God began to open my eyes and show me how He
is better preparing me through all of these “new” changes.
I reflected back upon the last 3 years that I have spent
here in Mozambique.
From the person who I was to the person that I have become…God
has been hard at work!
Here are a few things that have occurred over the past
several years that make my life here very unique:
Moving to Africa when I was 18
Having the privilege to work with these precious street boys
Being able to see God transform these boys into young men
Seeing hope restored within these boys’ and their families
Being the only women living amongst 9 teenage Mozambican
boys
Being able to learn and speak 3 languages fluently
Being able to travel to more than 7 countries before the age
of 23
Having some of the best friends that are all under the age
of 15
Having a whole grilled chicken, fries, and salad as a “fancy
meal”
Spending late nights in the emergency after a drunken brawl
Playing with 250 little orphans is “vacation”
Getting gross worms in my pedicured feet
Seeing little boys dumpster dive for food, clothes, or anything useful