This week's Friday First was supposed to describe the first time I felt grown up. However, I completely forgot the assignment! Sorry, Sandy. So, I am writing my Friday First post today instead. The first time I "thought" I was an adult was in 1997 (around age twelve) when my family moved twenty minutes from my childhood home. It was a difficult time in the family business and the house my parents bought was a real fixer-upper. I remember having family Bible studies and meetings where I began praying aloud for the needs of my family and friends. During that year, I recommitted my life to Christ and began an on-going, serious, everyday relationship with the Lord.
The next time I thought I was an adult was during my second year at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. The 2001-2002 school year was particularly difficult. I was the only professing Christian student in the Blind Department. Even though I had very supportive teachers and "dorm parents," I was lonely. I had several experiences in the spring semester that were emotionally challenging and draining in which I often felt like "an adult," especially among my peers.
In the summer of 2002, I visited the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was my first missions trip abroad. And even though I stayed with family friends, the trip really impacted my life in many ways that made me feel grown up. My "small world" perspective was changed into an intense, "large world" passion for Christian missions.
A year later, in the Spring of 2003, our family took care of a lady whom I affectionately called Nana. She was like a grandmother to me. At first after her husband died, Mom and I helped Nana at her apartment. Then, when her body became too ill due to cancer, Nana moved to our home with hospice care. Nana lived with us for one month before her home-going to Heaven on May 4, 2003.
The events surrounding Nana's life and death were what truly ushered me into adulthood. Ironically, those same experiences prepared me so well for my own journey of living with a terminal disease (HPS). Nana taught me how to be an adult that courageously lives, but gracefully dies into the saving arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The next time I thought I was an adult was during my second year at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. The 2001-2002 school year was particularly difficult. I was the only professing Christian student in the Blind Department. Even though I had very supportive teachers and "dorm parents," I was lonely. I had several experiences in the spring semester that were emotionally challenging and draining in which I often felt like "an adult," especially among my peers.
In the summer of 2002, I visited the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was my first missions trip abroad. And even though I stayed with family friends, the trip really impacted my life in many ways that made me feel grown up. My "small world" perspective was changed into an intense, "large world" passion for Christian missions.
A year later, in the Spring of 2003, our family took care of a lady whom I affectionately called Nana. She was like a grandmother to me. At first after her husband died, Mom and I helped Nana at her apartment. Then, when her body became too ill due to cancer, Nana moved to our home with hospice care. Nana lived with us for one month before her home-going to Heaven on May 4, 2003.
The events surrounding Nana's life and death were what truly ushered me into adulthood. Ironically, those same experiences prepared me so well for my own journey of living with a terminal disease (HPS). Nana taught me how to be an adult that courageously lives, but gracefully dies into the saving arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.
