One Thing: My Story

"I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses." — Sara Crewe from the book “The Little Princess” My Dad unrolls more tin foil, scrunching it up into a “flower” and artfully tying it on the black trash bag that was adorning me. He steps back and looks at his handiwork with pride. “You’re a princess!” he declares. My four-year-old sister grins at me.

Black spots cloud my vision as I strive to make sense of my surroundings. An acute pain in my back keeps me from being able to think rationally. The last memory I have is laughing with my team members in the van as it slowed around a hairpin turn on our way down the mountain. Our summer mission team had been in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the past three weeks doing volunteer work in orphanages, soup kitchens, slums, and churches. Now suddenly the van carrying half our team had

“Never lose your joy,” my professor said, looking at me intently from the front of the classroom. It was the end of the second class I had taken related to applying for the study abroad program I planned to do, one of the main reasons I had chosen my specific college. This study abroad program was for students interested in potentially working overseas. During a student’s junior year, they work and live in a foreign country for six months, generally a poorer country. I was s

Thirty hours of traveling did not stop me from being wide eyed and face glued to the window of the taxi as my family drove from the airport to our hotel. I feel exhausted but wide awake as I try to take in all the sights, smells, and sounds of this new place, worlds away, it seems, from America. Even late at night the city was alive. Animals roamed the streets: cows, chickens, dogs, and cats. The roads were busy, filled with cars, bikes, taxis, and buses. And – loud! Honking

I fly to the closest airport to the school I was visiting: it was still several hours away to the school from the airport. I am exhausted. I try not to look as the driver continually drives against oncoming traffic which includes animals, motorcycles, trucks, and other cars. I’ve always survived in this type of traffic before, I reason. I arrive at a Christian ministry serving children and local communities through education and other forms of Christian service. I am shown my

I walked around the park, just crying, not sure what to say. My sister kept hugging me and speaking encouraging words. The pain of heartbreak was just so intense and real. I thought everything had been going so well with him…! What could have happened? The tears continued to flow. It was hard to think because of the shock of the breakup last night. At least yesterday had also been the last day of teaching. Thank You, Father, for that grace. Going through a breakup on

My cousins and sisters would not leave me alone. I was stuck upstairs at the lake house because of my recent broken back. They made sure someone was by my side during our summer vacation, though I could not participate as well as usual. Of course, they made sure my back brace was appropriately decorated with elephant butts. Later that week, our family sat together on the lake house porch for a time of worship and prayer. My uncle put his hand on my shoulder and started to pra

“We can always have joy,” my pastor encouraged my home church. “Paul had joy even when he was in prison. And so can we. Our circumstances may change, but our joy does not have to. ‘Rejoice in the Lord, always! I will say it again, rejoice!’” I felt like he was speaking directly to my soul. Amidst the challenges I was having waiting for my visa, I can have joy no matter what. *** And another sermon from my pastor: “The Holy Spirit forbid Paul from going to Asia. He had a

Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” So, after considering life, health, calling, family, comfort, friends, marriage, the Church, and theology, we return to the question with which we began: What should ultimately be our “one thing”? God. Absolutely. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and str