And so the adventure began!

    If you told me a month ago the adventures I'd be having in a short two and a half weeks, I probably would have laughed and said sounds awesome, but all that can't be possible! But like my surf instructor told me yesterday everything is possible in El Salvador! And I'll go ahead and extend that to Central America.
    The adventures, the people, the scenery has been truly amazing! It's amazing that it has only been a week and a half because it seems like a month! We have had a lot of long bus rides, some comfortable, some very uncomfortable, but at the end of each new and exciting possibilities awaited us!
    Here is a brief outline and highlights of our trip thus far. Taylor and I flew into Guatemala City where we met Ellen, who had already been traveling for about two weeks. From G.C we took another flight to Flores and stayed two nights and went to Tekal to see the oldest Mayan ruins. It was incredible! We met some really cool people from Canada, Israel, and Germany.
    From Flores we went over to Belize and stayed at a beach town called Hopkins. It was really nice to be on the beach and relax. We were there for two nights then took a bus and a boat to Livingston Guatemala. On the boat ride down we met a man from the UK who owned a hostel and said he was having a 4th of July party and needed more Americans! Nobody ever wants more Americans so we felt pretty special and like it was our duty to represent!
    We met two other guys from Kentucky and Texas, so adding three girls from Tennessee, it couldn't get more American! We also celebrated with about 12 other nationalities. The owner had a house on the beach with a pool and we had bbq chicken and potato salad. It was pretty great! We also played a round of ultimate frisbee in the ocean, USA vs Ireland, Australia, England, Canada and New Zealand! USA stomped them! Merica!
   From Livingston we went down the Rio Dulce by boat to Finca Tantin. This was our jungle home! We didn't want to leave! Awesome awesome place with cool people and great food! And it's in the jungle! We stayed two nights there and kayaked and went off ropes swings, and contemplated throwing out passports in the river and staying forever!
   Needless to say we didn't ditch our passports and moved on to Lanquin. Getting there was quite intense diving through the mountains for hours in a 16 passenger van! Beautiful but a little nauseating. We stayed at a really awesome hostel in the mountains, run by a man from Israel.
   We went there because it was close to the limestone pools, that was one thing we were looking forward to the most. However the government had come in and decided they wanted the profits from it, so there was a struggle going on between the town and the government, so the whole thing was shut down.
   However we did get to tube down a river and swing off a rope swing. We also got to explore a cave, which was super awesome! Think Indiana Jones! Wading and swimming through water the whole time carrying candles to a waterfall way back in the cave! That we climbed behind and then up. Soooo cool!
    From there we headed to Antigua, the oldest city in Central America. We didn't do too much there because we were tired from traveling, but we did go to their market and bought a few things. I also got a donut, which I was very excited about!
    From Antigua we went to El Salvador. We met a girl from Canada that told us about surfing and a place to stay so we all stayed at the same hostel in a room with AC, which was heaven! We fell asleep when our heads hit the pillow!
    We had surfing lessons the next day for an hour and then we got to keep the boards for the rest of the day. I thought I would be good at surfing, but it was actually quite difficult because you have to go slow and I wanted to go fast! We had great teachers though who were super patient and encouraging after each 403 fall that I took! Later that afternoon we went back out by ourselves, and it was a whole other ball game! Our hips and ribs are so bruised and I've never had so much salt water up my nose and in my throat! But it was epic!! We are now ready to be sponsored by billabong!
    We were planning on staying another night, but once we started looking for ways down to Costa Rica it turned out the best way was to take a bus at one in the morning! Which is were we are now! Crossing borders and sitting for hours! It will take us about 24 hours to actually get where we are going! Not fun, but apart of the experience.
    This was only a small highlight, but still a lot to write! I would definitely do this trip again but extend it. Everyone we've met have been traveling for months and some have said how we are crazy to do so much in two and a half weeks! If we weren't a little crazy this trip probably wouldn't have happened! It has been such an awesome cross cultural experience! Chalk it up to one of the best! 

Ellen, Taylor, and Nat's Big Adventure!

     We were driving in Ellen's Jeep Grand Cherokee down Lookout Mountian after Bible study a few months after I had moved to Chattanooga, TN. The conversation went something like this, "I'm going to Central America this summer with a coworker, but when my coworker leaves I want to travel around Central America some more. You like to travel, want to come?" After I thought about it and fasted and prayed for 1.2 seconds, I said "SIGN ME UP!" and thus it began the planning of Ellen and Nat's big adventure! 
    I had no idea what the summer would look like for me, or where I'd be but if a trip was on the agenda everything else could work around it! Having a trip to look forward to kept me sane through the rest of the school year! 
    Summer started and I moved out of my brother's house. Since I was going to Central America for two weeks, I didn't want to sign a lease or spend money on a place yet. I considered living in a tent, but then my sister's coworker, who she had become friends with, and had introduced me to, said I could live with her. 
     Taylor knew of my travel plans, and expressed how she really wanted to travel as well! Me, wanting everyone to travel and have awesome experiences, invited Taylor to come on Ellen and Nat's big adventure! Call's were made, schedules shifted, mom visited bring a passport, and 24 hours ago a plane ticket was bought and we were both packing our bags! 
     We are now on a bus heading to Atlanta, where we will spend the night, and then leave at 7:40am to fly into Guatemala City. Once there we will meet up with Ellen and the adventure will begin! Starting in Guatemala and making our way down to Costa Rica! 
    I have no doubt this adventure will be one for the books! So stay posted! 

Who Am I?

Who Am I?

There are a number of “titles” that I can put with my name that would describe who I am: sister, daughter, friend, teacher, traveler, Christian. All these titles have shaped who I am as a person. Take anyone of those things away and I would be a completely different person.

I like who I am, it has taken a lot of brokenness, humility, stretching, and surrender to get me to the point I am now. And I know there is a lot more to come, I’m a work in progress, and that is fine with me! I would be disappointed if at 27 the work was done, “Well this is as good as you’re going to get.” I feel like I would have a lot of apologizing to do. “Sorry guys, this is it!” Thank God there is still more to come!

About six months ago I moved to a new state. I left two jobs I loved, the town I grew up in, and people I really loved. God has asked me to take steps of faith before, and I felt like moving was just another step of faith. Though it was going to be hard, I knew it was all a part of God’s plan for me.

Needless to say, it has been hard. Though my whole family moved as well, and I’ve met awesome people and live in an awesome city, which is more my type of culture than my small town ever was, it has had its ups and downs.

Honestly the hardest part about moving and now living in my new city, has been my pride. Which we now come to why I am even writing. A theme keeps coming up which really stops me in my tracks, and if I miss it now, well I’ll just be making harder on myself in the long run.

Several weeks ago in my small group we sang the hymn “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.” As we sang the verse “I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection.” It really struck me! Because here I am living in a new city, where nobody really knows me, they don’t know the things I’ve done, the places I’ve been. They don’t know how awesome I am! We can laugh at that, but honestly my pride has taken a hit. My poor little ego. I moved from my town where I was a “somebody,” to a city where I am a nobody. I actually look quite pathetic, me with my two cats haha.

I have nothing to boast in! Everyone here is like ten times cooler than I am. BUT it’s in the pressing time where my ego and pride are getting hit and squished that God has met me, and has said “Yeah Natalie, don’t boast in yourself, because your strength will fail. Your knowledge, your gifts, your strength comes from me.” And I realize I can only boast in Jesus Christ, his death and his resurrection.

I am also reminded of Psalm 8:3-9

3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

David doesn’t write how man made himself great, but what God did. Closing the Psalm so perfectly “how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Since I met God at age 13, the theme of my life has been surrender. So I shouldn’t be surprised when that theme continues to stay consistent. I’m continued to be challenged to not boast in myself but to boast in Jesus Christ. As much as I would love to point to myself and say look at me! I know how that ends, and it is ugly! So I’ll continue to carry my cross, death to self, and point to Jesus and say look at Him, because he is Majestic!