Gulf of Mexico

I was surrounded by a huge group of my new Florida State University friends at the Gulf of Mexico. I looked around, first at the 13 international students and my two American friends Ellen and Matt that surrounded me on the beach, and then into the ocean, when I remembered the last time I was at the Gulf of Mexico...which you can see here. :)

It was July 29, 2010, and I was at Gavelston Beach, Texas surrounded by the 20 other college students who had given up their summer with me to serve Houston's immigrant community. As we were all working for an amazing non-profit Christian organization called Mission Centers of Houston and sharing a house together for nine weeks, I considered these people my family. When I looked around, first at my brothers and sisters in Christ and then at the beautiful ocean designed by my Creator Himself, I knew that only God could have put me here.

See, I had always loved other countries. Globes always fascinated me as a kid, and I'd ask my dad questions at age four like "Are people in Africa free?" I was obsessed with learning more about other languages, religions, and cultures, but most of all teaching others about my own. Those passions led me to move to Houston, Texas for a summer and help Latino immigrants. It was so awesome that I knew that only God could have put me there.

Meawnwhile, that night was my last night in Texas. The next day I'd be back in my hometown of Macclenny, Florida. As I looked into the Gulf of Mexico, I wondered where God would take me or only where God could have put me. Houston felt like my home. Would God really take me to other places that felt like home, too?

Sure enough, God would take me to Florida State University after I finished my AA degree. There, I'd get involved with an amazing ministry called Friends of Internationals, which allows American FSU students to help foreign FSU students get used to the culture shock of living in America. One of the things that we did was take the internationals out on special trips to see more of the US, which is what we were doing this past weekend in Pensacola. By making these friendships with internationals, we are able to share the Gospel with people who'd normally never step foot inside of a church.

It had only been a few months since I joined Friends of Internationals when I was staring out into the Gulf of Mexico that day, and already I felt at home. For one, the two other Americans who were with me, Matt and Ellen, actually understood my nerdy love of other cultures! I smiled as I saw Matt happily babbling in Arabic to a student from Egypt and Ellen teaching the three Koreans Russian. Plus, they were both so fun to hang out with and great examples of Christ to me. At that moment one of the Chinese girls came up to me.

"Caro-lee (this is my name in Mandarin), how do you call this in English?" Yessss! I loved answering English questions! Then Robert, the Panamanian, started speaking to me in Spanish. I loved being able to understand other languages!

I smiled at the Gulf of Mexico. The last time I looked at it, I was surrounded by a group of amazing people at Gavelston Beach, Texas. I was so happy on that July day that I wondered if I'd ever be that happy again with a group of people. But this time, I was looking at the Gulf of Mexico over a year later, and I was just as happy as I was before. At that moment I knew that there were good people, no matter where you go, and that God has plans for you, no matter what shore of the Gulf of Mexico you're on.