The LONG Version

The summer after my freshman year in college I went on a missions trip to Uganda. That is where this all begins-I fell in love with Africa! Not only was it the most beautiful place that I had ever seen, but the people there are like nothing I had ever experienced. Although they lived in extreme poverty, joy filled their soul and body so much it made their faces glow! We were building playgrounds in a couple of hte villages, and the children were absolutely incredible. My heart was never the same.That trip was only a couple of weeks, but I knew I would return.

Jump ahead a couple of years to the summer after my junior year. I had the oppurtunity to be a part of a summer long missions trip to Kenya and Tanzania. On this adventure I traveled around these countries along with 3 other American students and 6 Kenyans. I was able to see more of this gorgous land and become engulfed in the culture. Once again, when I left, I knew I would be back again one day.
Its a lot easier to go on these trips when you are a carefree college student-once I graduated, got married, and entered "the real world" I wasn't quite sure when and how I would be able to return to this place and people I loved.
  
If you know Jonathon, you know he is nothing short of AMAZING (ok I may be a little biased)! Although he is fabulous, he didn't exactly have the same passion I did for East Africa. Thats not really his fault, because he had not actually been there like I had. When we got married, I prayed that if the Lord wanted to use this passion I had for Africa, that HE would have to put that desire in Jonathon's heart as well. We didn't talk about it a lot, it was just always something in the back of my mind. 


During this time, I was a Resident Director of one of the ladies dorms as Trevecca. Basically, we lived in the dorm that I was in charge of. We knew that whenever we felt our days in the dorm were over, we would be looking for a place to live and I would be looking for a new job. We both started praying that God would make HIS plans clear to us.We began to discuss some possible missions related options. We knew that if we were ever going to do anything like this, NOW was the time. Another long story shortened...we had the chance to live in Kenya for 5 months through a volunteer missions program. 

We lived on the Nazarene campus and God was able to use our feeble talents to help out at the University.Very close to campus there was an orphanage that we were able to walk to about once a week to spend time and play with the children. Needless to say Jonathon was hooked. God had opened his heart in a way that only HE can to this place and these people so that we could share this passion. 
We knew it was time for us to return to the states but we also knew our journey with East Africa was not over yet. 

If you know us, you know when we returned we settled back in Nashville, God provided a job for Jonathon, and shortly after our return I got pregnant with Emory. Although we currently reside in the US and feel incredibly blessed to live in this free country, there remains a part of our heart that is on the other side of the world. From my first trip to Uganda 10 years ago I knew God had a bigger plan than I could imagine. Which brings us to where we are right now...after a decade of prayer, we are in the process of adoption from Ethiopia.