Beyond the Shore

Beyond the Shore. What is this blog all about? 

Simply, it's an online journal of one girl's journey of preparing to show the love of Jesus to the people of Hawaii and of her experiences while eventually serving there. 

But first in this initial post, an introduction if you've just stumbled across this blog and have no idea who I am. 

So who am I?

Well, my name's Julia. I'm twenty years old. I'm from the state of Georgia where I've spent the past eighteen years of my life. I'm the youngest in my family with two married older sisters and I have an adorable two-year-old niece. I live with my loving parents and our cat.

I was homeschooled by my mother my entire twelve years of schooling and graduated in 2013 with the record of a straight-A student every year. (I'm proud of those "A's.") My favorite courses were in high school: Algebra, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, American Government, and Economics. I thrive on challenges. With my family, I've been attending the same small Assemblies of God church for the past ten years. I'm the lead teacher there for the Wednesday night preschool class, and I've volunteered numerous times in the past serving with the babies and children of my church family. I work a lot with kids. 

I have four closest girl friends: Lina, Victoria, Corrina, and Katie, and I'm a part of a young adult small group at my church. 

I'm a petite girl. I'm half Irish, English, Dutch, Welsh, Cherokee, Samoan... You get the idea. Simply put, I'm half Caucasian and half Puerto Rican. I speak English (obviously) and I know quite a bit of vocabulary of American Sign Language from my high school foreign language course though I haven't had practical experience using it. I'm in the process of teaching myself the Native Hawaiian language. 

I have a very direct and very organized introverted personality. I'm detail-oriented. I'm youthful, I'm known for always wearing a smile, and I laugh a lot. People say I'm friendly, sweet, and loving. I love helping people, whether it's physically or emotionally by lending a listening ear and by giving advice. 

I love writing. Any kind of writing, but most especially I love writing about Jesus and my faith in Him. I enjoy worshipping the Lord through music on my iPhone, by playing on my acoustic guitar, or by singing loudly as I drive my car around town. I love baking for others and taking care of the people I love most. I'm very maternal. Pretty much anything that requires creativity I find pleasure in and can accomplish well. I love serving in ministry to children, and I love connecting with people and building relationships. I enjoy spending time with my family and with my friends, making memories with them all, having every-day adventures, trying new experiences, and just living life together. 

While neither I nor my family have ever been to Hawaii, I have done some traveling in the States before. I've been numerous times to Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania, all in which my family is dispersed. I've also visited Alabama, South Carolina, Maryland, Washington D.C., New York, and Arizona. I love traveling to new places, seeing new sights, and making new friends wherever I go. 

I grew up in a strong Christian home in a family who attended church together every Sunday morning and every Wednesday night (and still does!). I grew up in church and my life has always revolved around church services and activities. Not surprising therefore, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior as a very little girl. At seventeen-years-old, I was water baptized by immersion in a pond, and at eighteen-years-old, I finally surrendered my life entirely to the Lord and to His will and plan for my life. 

At this point, you're probably wondering why in the world a sweet and smart pretty young girl like me would want to leave her loving family and her comfortable middle-class life to go to an unfamiliar place and serve with strangers among poor people. It's a logical question. Very logical. Most people would expect me at twenty-years-old to be in a happy dating relationship and working my way through college toward a degree. 

But that isn't my life nor how the Lord intended for it to be. And His plan instead- that journey- is what I'm excited to share in my upcoming posts with anyone who finds himself reading this. I pray wherever you find yourself, you'll be blessed, encouraged, and inspired today. <3