Being Fearless

I know I am quoting Taylor Swift as the title of my blog but I cannot help it she just is so dang catchy. Anyway I have not blogged in a long time and I apologize for that. Things around here have gotten very busy. We currently are in finals week, papers and exams are just consuming my life. I do however love the fact that this will be the last week of school and then we are DONE! It blows my mind that we are already done with school. It went by so fast! As for my time right now my weeks have been dealing with being fearless. Being fearless in every part of my day. I realized about a week or two ago that I was not taking advantage of the many things I was being surrounded by. I was being to cautious and too safe. I was concern with not taking risks and not putting myself out there. So it has been since then that I have began to be fearless. To not look back on the things I have done or the mistakes I have made. And since having that mindset I have been having one of the best weeks since being here. Allowing for yourself to not get stuck on wondering who or what you have done, allows for you to be free. The people that God has been bringing into my life just amazes me. I feel so fortunate to be in these friendships and have never had so much laughter and joy throughout my days. Something that I have been noticing is just how much God is working in my life. I have noticed changes in myself of things I never thought could be changed. Prayers are continually being answered and I find myself just speechless in the presence of God. I am on the constant basis of just uncontrollably smiling when thinking about how good God is. The other day I woke up early and went on a run by myself and just thought to myself how lucky I am to be here and in thinking about that I had this incredibly huge smile as I was running. I was so lost in thought that it took me awhile to realize I was smiling so big and that if anyone would of saw me they would of thought I was nuts. The encouragement I am getting from people both here and back home is just beyond amazing. All my fears and anxiety about the future is coming tumbling down. I am so giddy and excited for what the future holds. Even though right now I am in the mist of hard times and unanswered questions I continue to pray that God will prevail. I know that he knows what is best and even though I may not like that answer, in the end things will work out. On that note this past weekend was spectacular. We got to go on a canopy tour through the jungle. I had been zip-lining before but nothing like this. We got to be mini Tarzans and Janes and swing through the jungles of Africa. I loved every second of it. It was incredible to be zip-lining hundreds of feet in the air with the most breathtaking views. Check out my pictures if you have not yet. I told myself that this would be the best job ever. Soon to find out that a place by my house is opening a canopy tour. I went and applied ASAP. I keep checking my emails to see if I have gotten any replys back. So we will see what unfolds. Today we went to a Sangoma which is South Africa's equivalent to a witch doctor. Now before everyone goes and freaks out the man that we saw was purely an herbalist. So completely safe. But for my life and teachings of Jesus class we went to a seminar for the first half of the day learning about the Zulu religion. The man that spoke was a converted Christian who came from a Zulu background. He showed us the process of bringing a Zulu person over to Christ. In the Zulu culture they believe in Sangomas for healing. So we went today to go visit a man who was a practicing Sangoma. We went up in this tiny village and into a tiny room filled with herbs and special mixes that can cleanse you or make you fall in love etc. It was crazy to me to think that people come to this man everyday and spend money for things that are all a sham. Some of the things you had to do were insane. It was a neat experience and I am grateful for it. We start our service sites next week and I am so excited for it. I am ready to be challenged and stretched. I am just so excited to be able to interact with the community. Now all that holds me back is three final exams and I am FREE!