Dear WorldVenture Family, Where Do I Begin?

Dear WorldVenture Family,

Where do I begin?

I suppose the natural place to start would be at the beginning, but in my case, that goes so much farther to even before I was a possibility.

So I suppose that makes the beginning of my story with you to be when I was 7 years old and studying French in Massy, France. I didn't know who you all were personally at that point, but my heart had grown somewhat addicted to the idea of you all; the realization that you were eager to welcome me and mine into you and yours.

At the age of 9, I had finally met most of you and I was right, you were instantly family to me. I am so grateful to each of you who were constants during my transition into the culture I now am proud to call my home culture. Your lives were living proof to me that such a change was indeed survivable, enjoyable even, regardless of however big of a challenge it seemed to present itself as.

You taught me about the wonders found within the bird park just a few streets down from the beach camp.

You came on adventures with us to cool places like Lac Rose,

or out to one of the many villages for a visit.

Often, you were eager to join me and mine for a family dinner somewhere,

or to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon with us.

And like any real family, you taught us all about how to properly play Jenga which eventually had us begging to play it with any guest we ever had in our home.

You were there for so many holidays like Christmas,

and Easter.

When I double sprained my ankle (my doctor actually used the words "you did a click-clack and that was very bad"), you were there to suggest locations for me to practice walking, including the Statue de Renaissance. I wasn't ready for the steps the time this picture was taken, but this is the road leading up to it.

Many of you came to watch my baptism,

and the Lord used each of you to push me closer to him.

To each and every one of you - thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I couldn't put to words all that I've been learning from you throughout the course of my life.

Thank you for selflessly modeling the unconditional love of the Father, and for waking up each day and faithfully fighting for the salvation of those around you. The Lord sees your labor, and you will harvest the fruits of it in his time.

I think that the most beautiful part about being a member of your family is that no matter how many times I fly away from you, you are always there to welcome me back with open arms and to invite me to my spot at the table.

I love each of you so much and am so grateful to our Lord for you.

May you be richly blessed in years to come,

Your daughter, sister, niece, and granddaughter,

Grace.

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A Note to my Readers:

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming on this journey with me.

It has been a long and hard year of doing my best to find closure from this side of the ocean, but like with anything in life, it has taken its time and it will continue to take time.

Now that this series of posts has come to end, I figured now would be a lovely time to announce the new series that I have planned!

I will be releasing a series of interviews with young Christian creatives about what it is that they do and how it impacts the wider world for the glory of Jesus Christ.

I am so excited for what is coming next for The Journey of a Lifetime, and I hope you are too!

As always, your support means so much to me and I am so grateful to you all!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!