Before I confirmed my plans to spend my summer in Haiti, I had many long and serious conversations with my parents about all of this. It was very important to me that I had their blessing and that they understood why I was feeling led to serve in Haiti.
Surprisingly, they weren't very shocked when I told them what I was thinking. This wasn't the first conversation of this type that my parents had with one of their kids. They've heard a few crazy things from us, such as "hey, I think I'm going to go to Thailand and do tsunami relief" to "hey, I think I want to join the Army". My mom actually asked me when we were going to start being normal kids. I couldn't answer the question.
One of the first things my dad asked me was if my wanting to come here had anything to do with my brother Alex. Before I could answer, he told me that it was okay and that he understood. He knew.
I am confident that God called me to come to Haiti this summer and I am so very thankful that He did. But if I hadn't had Alex in my life, I don't think I would have had as much courage to ask God the big questions, to challenge myself to let Him control my life, and to trust Him through everything.
I think Alex has always been the person in my life to challenge and encourage me to live life a little bolder and step out in faith a little bit more. And even though he's not with me anymore, he's still that person. It wasn't just the words that he spoke, but it was the way that he lived and the way that he made me feel.
My brother inspires me to serve God with all that I have, to live outside of myself, and to love with abandon.
So when I told my dad seven months ago that I thought I was going to spend my summer here, we both knew that my brother had a little bit of influence in my decisions. And he always will.
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"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." -2 Timothy 1:6-7
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"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." -2 Timothy 1:6-7
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