Live life, live free!

Now I'm really out there. I have posted my page up on facebook. I'm gettin a little crazy! Who knows what'll be next!!

Today I had to write a quote for my school's yearbook about my mission trip to the Philippines last summer. It got me thinking about how amazing that trip was and how amazing God is and how amazing the world is. I'm sure you're thinking, "woah carrie! that's a little too much amazing for one sentence," but it's true. I learned so much on that trip, and it made me want to really see the world. Once you get to see outside of your own little cultural box, all you want is more. More and more.

It really saddens me when I see high school student after high school student stay so close to home and everything they know. I really try to push people to their limits when choosing a college. It's so hard to be away from home. I would never lie about that. I love my family. I love my friends back home. I love my state. But if that's all you ever know, you have no choice but to be narrow-minded. You don't know anything outside of your own little world.

And the world is huge!! I don't want to claim to know all of it, because that is very far from the truth. But I now have a different lens with which I can view the world, a much broader one.

I ran off on that tangent a little too quickly, but I come from a place where people most likely will stay there their entire lives. You'd think it was paradise or something! All of this to say that the Philippines was a most remarkable experience for me. I got stretched a lot. My favorite part (since I don't have near enough time to write about all of it) was getting to work with Compassion Intl. and the children who have been sponsored by blessed families all over the world. Those children took a piece of my heart. I'm sure of it. Every day we had lots of free time, and the kids would come from all over and spend time with us. I got particularly close with this one nine year old boy named Carl John. He had so much personality, and he had such a big heart. He always stood up for his friends, and I remember seeing him just sit with one boy who was crying and not say a word. Everyone on my team loved him, and I wasn't sure if the two of us really had a special bond or if I just felt like we did because he was so friendly. On the last day, a Saturday, we were waiting on Ernie to bring the van back to take us to the airport. All of the Compassion kids had programs they had to attend on Saturdays so they were all there. Carl John had just finished his Bible lesson where they made a bookmark with Romans 10:11 on it. With everyone around, he could have given it to the first person he saw, but I watched him as he kept looking over at me as the other girls ooo'd and aaaahh'd over his bookmark. Looking a little embarrassed he made his way over to me and gave me the bookmark. I felt the tear forming in the corner of my eye, and I read it. In sloppy, child-like writing and words misspelled, read "I miss you Carrei. Carl John" It was the high-light of my trip.

I had been so impressed with Compassion's ministries, and to see what they had done for this little boy who lived in the poorest of conditions, changed me. They do so much. Our money goes so far. I've even thought about working for them sometime in the future. What I would stress to anyone reading this is that if you can sponsor a child, do it! The rewards are far greater than the cost.