The Week of "Yes"

“Probably some of the best things that have ever happened to you in life, happened because you said yes to something. Otherwise things just sort of stay the same.”

- Danny Wallace, Yes Man

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Okay, this quote isn't exactly from the most serious movie.. but the idea behind it is something I've always had a weird relationship with. If you know me, you know I say yes to almost too many things at once. Most of the time I've spread myself so thinly that even I'm surprised I'm able to show up for work the next day looking presentable. I bend to the need of others to a fault.

Recently I decided I needed to prioritize my "yes's" to follow what made me happy. Taking the time out of my day to knock things off my to-do list for my physical therapy school applications truly brought me so much joy. I found that by doing the things necessary to further my career, my temporary job as a physical therapy technician didn't seem as monotonous. I started saying yes to meaningful conversations instead of sprinting across the gym anytime a timer went off that signified yet another ice treatment was finished. Guys, some of these meaningful conversations turned into supporters for the trip I'm about to embark on to bring the kingdom FUTHER. Don't ever tell God no when he starts to give you a tug..because you heard it here first that it's a waste of your time and ultimate happiness.

This tug started while I was in college and saw friends within my sorority go on mission trips to Guatemala. Having grown up going on similar trips, I was more than happy to help support others. God kept telling me, "Not yet, Holland." Which was very frustrating until I realized that this was a season of rest and building my relationship with Christ to prepare my heart to serve in a more mature fashion. Upon college graduation my timeline was focused on getting accepted into physical therapy school. I worked tirelessly to ultimately get a rejection letter at the end of my first application cycle. Though this could have been seen as a dead end for some, I saw it as God redirecting me and I met with the missions mobilization pastor for Pinelake. We talked about why I knew this was the time in my life to go and serve and the type of trip I was looking for. The conversation ended with us realizing that I didn't have a large window of time at the moment to devote to being out of the country with everything I was about to have to do to prepare for the next application cycle, but that I was committed to responding in obedience when that time came.

Fast forward to a year later.

UMMC interviews for PT school have ended. I've been doing research on volunteer projects geared toward physical therapy for a couple months, knowing that if this is the year I get accepted, I'm going to resign from my job and take a month to do the work God has been sweetly calling me to. I was finding opportunities that sounded interesting, but knew that none of them were the right fit. With PT school being 3 long, rigorous years this is the only time that I can carve out knowing that the trip itself will receive my full attention. Over my lunch break at work, I'm scrolling on Facebook and come across a fundraiser for a center called "Total Rehab" in Kenya, Africa. A friend of mine had donated and shared the post. When I click on it I see smiling faces of children who are confined to wheelchairs and beds. I see horrible living conditions and tattered clothing. I see a little piece of the children I got to work with at Blair E. Batson during my summer internship in the eyes of these beautiful Kenyan kiddos. My entire body is covered in chills as tears stream down my face, realizing that THIS is the mission I have been waiting for.

A couple of weeks and conversations later, I was certain that Therapy Across Borders was the organization that would support me and give me the opportunity to volunteer.

In the same week, I got my acceptance letter to UMMC's Doctor of Physical Therapy program and booked a plane ticket to Nairobi, Kenya.

It has been a wild and unexpected journey since I said yes to both of these huge changes in my life, but I have felt verification that it was the right answer in some way everyday since.

I thought that God would start working in my life when I touched down in Africa, but He didn't waste a second. Since responding to His call, He has brought individuals into my orbit that have been so generous of their finances to help make this happen and of their time to sit and listen to me talk about how excited I am for all that He is doing in my life because of it. If you're reading this, you've helped to play a part in molding me for this experience. I couldn't be more grateful for the best supporters in the universe, and I surely couldn't be doing this without y'all. Here's to a lifetime of saying YES to God's call.