Why YAGM?

As our time wraps up here in Johannesburg, i've had some time for reflection and thought on what it is that i'm truly watching unfold in my life at this point and time. With everything that has gone on in the last 11 days, its definitely taken some time to process it all. For the time being this is what i've come up with.
When i first turned my application in for YAGM last September I honestly can't tell you why. It was a program i had always thought would be an interesting opportunity, but was always too wrapped up in starting a career and being an "adult" to look much further then that. I think the excitement of just coming off of an entire summer at Christikon may have majorly played into my choice to turn in an application, but who really knows. Regardless, it wasn't until the application had already been sent in that my discernment process really started. May of you know that i struggled with whether or not to do the program. I think i convinced myself both yes and no multiple times in the months to follow. It wasn't until i sat and talked with a good friend about it one day in February that i fully committed to a yes. He told me in a very excited voice, "Life's entirely to short man, go live life and see the world." as he lay in his hospital bed terminally ill. Craig, you truly gave me the strength to say yes to a call i had been running from for so long. For that I will be eternally grateful, and i will never forget our conversation and the joy still present in your face that day. God bless you, and save me a seat in the big house dude.
So along with the helpful words of a wise and caring friend, and opening my heart to the call, i now write this post from Johannesburg, South Africa. Our country program has been here for only four days now, and i've already felt a change happen in me and how I view my life. Im slightly overwhelmed by the thought of the person i will be a year from now. At the same time I am so excited. YAGM couldn't have come into my life at a better time, in a better place. I know without the slightest doubt that this place, this very place, is where I suppose to be at this moment of my life. It feels right, it feels peaceful, it feels messy, it feels emotional, and it is going to help form me into the person i have always wanted to be in this world.
So why YAGM? Cause it is where i have been called to be in the world right now. Thats it. And simply being here is enough for me right now. I'm not here to fix it, i'm not here to change it. I'm here to learn, to be immersed, and to simply be. To walk along song God's children, my brothers and sisters. Not only so i can help tell their story, but so that they call help shape and mold mine. I can't wait to meet Keenan Weatherford in September of 2014.

Peace