Wake Up World.

I have always been that girl with the big ideas. Ideas to help the neighbors, to start a leaf raking marathon, to organize a five mile run to benefit the Red Cross, to run a blanket drive for the homeless, to get Christmas gifts to the needy. I’ve always wanted to change the world. However, I’ve never taken the biggest step, the initial action. I sit in pure bliss and excitement with the idea and then let it fade into oblivion. “Nice thought, “ has always been the result of my great ideas. Ingred Michaelson put it best when she sung, “I want to change the world/ Instead I sleep.” I am done sleeping. The time has come for change, for revolution.


This past summer, a fiery passion for mission work was lit in my soul. I went on a weeklong trip into the Appalachian Mountains to work on the dilapidated house of an impoverished family of four. The beaming smiles of the children upon seeing a bathtub and door for their bathroom combined with the mom’s gleaming tears over the brand new porch deck were enough to change me forever. As I piled into the van at the end of the week, I knew I would never be able to sit with an idea ever again.


Over the couple months following that mission trip, the fire in my soul has becoming an inferno of desire to make a difference in this dark place that we call home. I can no longer enjoy the luxuries of life while there are people in my own country who do not have running water in their homes. I can no longer sit by while there are children starving, helpless Africans dying from AIDS, and innocent people being persecuted and murdered for their rightful beliefs. I can no longer sleep while corrupt governments oppress people who deserve freedom. I can no longer allow those who are able to live in ignorance of the injustice around them.


In a moment of brilliant inspiration this past November, I realized what I want to do with my life. I love writing and photography more than anything. I want to combine my passions with my desire to start a revolution. I believe that God has equipped me with the skills and drive I need to go out into the world as a revolutionary journalist and capture the brokenness in this world for all to see and know. Ideas into action; Action into service. This is the life I will live. I will live a life of action. An idea is burning in my spirit, and a revolution is about to pour from my fingertips. I will write to inform. I will photograph to motivate. I will live to inspire.