Mysterious: How God Works

First off, sorry it has been so long since my last post; I am super busy as my Freshman year is coming to a close!

Second, to preface this post, I would just like to say that my posts will likely be long as they are my inner thoughts, which are never short winded.

Anyway, the subject matter:
In a geography class I have been taking we talked about the idea of time space compression. This is the idea that the world has been compacted by all of the technology we have, in turn compressing time and space. We discussed how this happens for many people, but there is also a significant number of people that are not impacted by time space compression. The examples used to further explain this idea were that there are some people who can jet set across the country for a weekend to go skiing, while there are some people who have to trek for hours through a desert just to get water. There were many more examples, but this was the simplest.
Anywho, the idea of time space compression combined with my career goals and gratitude really hit home with me this weekend. On Friday afternoon I flew to Orlando, FL to get a little sun and shop for my brother's fiancé's wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses. While I was there I had all kinds of delicious food and I went shopping to by clothes for my trip to London later this summer. I returned last night around 2:30 am; so I guess technically this morning. On the flight home I was reading Ashley Judd's All that is Bitter and Sweet, a book about her life and work with PSI, an NGO. (I am loving this book because she seems to have so much in common with me that it is crazy.) The part of the book that I was reading described a young woman working as a sex slave in Cambodia so that she could make money to send home to her son for his basic needs. Now, it may seem like there are other jobs she could have taken, but this really was her last resort; she doesn't live in America, and sometimes even in America this happens, which is a shame. The chapters I read last night all contained stories of slavery or people making huge sacrifices like these.
So to connect this to time space compression, I had spent my weekend spending hundreds of dollars to sit on planes to fly thousand of miles to and from my home, the University of Kentucky for two days of bliss, while I was reading about people who are being trafficked and in slavery just to hopefully one day make a journey back home with money to buy the necessities (which does not include an education). I was witnessing time space compression at its finest!
This experience was an amazing one! This may sound crazy, but I am not kidding. It is not me being greedy, it actually really put things in perspective for me. I have witnessed poverty first hand, heard all of the statistics about sex trafficking, asked friends not to watch porn because it supports the industry, seen countless videos about those in the global South who are much less fortunate than myself, etc. but for some reason last nights experience is the one that made me the most grateful to God for everything he has given me. I think this may be because Ashley Judd's accounts of her work with PSI are so vivid and she is so much like me that I can really identify with her. Not only is she from Kentucky and went to UK, but she does the work I want to do. She started as an actor, which has been my dream since I was seven, and then started working for those who don't have a voice in the global South, also exactly what I want to do. Other than this, our personalities seem so similar that when I read her book I almost feel as if I am there doing what she is describing. Her book, along with the weekend I had, really made things a reality for me.
Last night was one of those nights, and as I type out my thoughts now, that I am so certain that God works in mysterious ways and that He is proving His Word to be so true. "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16
Last night and my reflection upon it today have made me so grateful for the life God has granted me, sorrowful that some people are subjected to such horrid circumstances and that I can't get them out, but hopeful to make an impact in their lives, and reassured that I know God is watching out for, and loving these suffering people. Last night is definitely something I know God had planned and will work in my life in some way or another; now just to find out what it is! Until then I will continue the state of gratitude I am in, the prayer for the suffering people in our world, prayer for myself, and seeking His will for me through is Word and my actions.
God is good!

I'm Stepping into the Blogging World, You can Step into My World.

So, I am not sure how this whole blogging shenanigans works, but I am going to give it a shot. Not knowing much about blogs, actually anything really, I don't really know where to start. So, I guess I'll tell you a little about myself and why I have decided to start a blog.
First off, there is me. General info is that I was born in and have been raised in Kentucky. I go to the University of Kentucky and am majoring in International Studies. I am considering a few minors also: Theatre, Anthropology, and Gender and Women's Studies. Yes, I know, I sound like a careere student. Other than my education, I love to run, enjoy sports, friends, family, and I love nature/ the outdoors.
Moving on,  as you may be able to tell from the title of this blog, I tend to do things a little differently than most people. As my dad likes to say (he even emailed me Robert Frost's poem one day) I take the road less travelled. I have never gone with the norm per say. I have always been my own person, and done my own thing. This is a turn off to some people because they thought it made me a b*#@!. Most of my life, I just took it as maybe I was, until one day a wise teacher and some friends told me that I wasn't. They said people just didn't know better because they didn't take the time to get to know me. My teacher suggested it was because I was one of the few high schoolers she knew that really knew who they were and what they wanted in this world. This leads me to telling you about my personality and beliefs.
Fairly recently, I have found my true passion for Christ. I have always been a Christian and grew up mostly in Catholic schools, but the way I describe my past to people is that I had a religion but never a real relationship with God. Now that I have established a relationship, I am learning so much and have become dependent on Him in my daily life. I even get the amazing opportunity to spread His word to students in local high schools through Young Life. I get the privilege of loving kids everyday. This takes me right into my next personality trait.
I have always been a very opinionated and passionate person. If I want something done, I will do it, or if there is something that really intrigues me, I will invest massive amounts of time and energy in it. Well, one of the things I am most passionate about, is helping others. Since this is so, my dream career is to work for an international non-profit advocating for those who don't have a voice. I want to help others who cannot help themselves. I want to love others as Christ loves me. I want invest my life in loving those in the Global South who are exactly the same as me, seeing as we were all made in Christ's image, the only difference is that they were born into less fortunate circumstances than myself. I want to show these people the love I know and I want to share their stories with the world.
So, now the question is why am I writing this blog? First and foremost, I am blogging because I believe that writing can be very therapeutic. A little selfish, but maybe something good will come of it? I also like to be inspired, and I thought that a blog could be a good way of documenting the things that inspire me. Another reason I want to blog is to share my views on the world; will anyone care, who knows, but it's worth a shot! Lastly, I love to travel (you may have guessed, considering I want to work in the Global South and am from Kentucky) and later this summer and hopefully much more after that, I am heading abroad and would like to keep people updated.
As you may be able to tell, my blog posts won't have a specific topic or be considered a certain genre. They will probably just be the inner thoughts of me that I tend to have on a daily basis. I'd love it if you all (y'all in Kentucky) would follow my blog and leave me any comments or suggestions you would like! :)