I once had this dream when I was 11 years old.  I was in a bright, white room--so white you couldn't tell where the corners were.  The only other thing in the room with me was a golden chest, glowing brilliantly, straight ahead.  As I approached it, I noticed it had a huge lock secured.  When I reached the chest, it automatically unlocked and the lid lifted open.  I climbed inside and suddenly found myself floating in  a world of sky and clouds and Carebears.  And somehow I was aware that this was Heaven (I was 11, remember!)  I couldn't wait to tell my friends at school about the wonderful new world I had discovered.  In the dream, the next day I went to school and told two of my friends about the chest and the secret world.  I brought them with me back to the white room.  The chest was still there, glowing brightly.  But as soon as we reached the chest the lid slammed shut, the lock secured itself, the chest made a loud buzzing sound and turned a dull brown colour.  The glow was gone.  I tried explaining to my friends that just yesterday it had opened for me and let me climb inside to the other world, but they left disappointed.  As I was left trying to figure out why things were different this time, I remembered that neither of my two friends knew God. And I was suddenly aware that this was why the chest wouldn't open for them.  I knew exactly what I needed to do, and the next day in the dream I went to my friends and told them about Jesus, and how I was saved.  They listened and wanted to know how they could know God the same way I did.  I brought them back to the white room.  The chest was still dark with its lock fastened.  We walked up to it, and when we had reached, the three of us stood in front of it together, waiting.  The lock fell to the floor and the lid flung open, as the chest began to glow more brilliantly than it had the first time I'd seen it.  The three of us climbed inside and laughed as we started falling through the sky, bouncing from one cloud to the next.....with the Carebears :)

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.  When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."
(Matthew 13:44)

Pretty intense dream for an 11 year old, eh? And yet I remember the details so vividly. I always knew Who the dream had come from, and it was never a question in my mind what I was supposed to do with it. The morning after the dream, I went to school and told those two exact friends, not about my dream, but of everything I knew as an 11 year old about Jesus. I'm sure if I heard myself now it would make me smile. And I honestly can't remember their reaction--they probably thought I was strange--but that wasn't the point. The point is, that even at a young age I felt God stirring me to tell others about Him. And so I did, from time to time, and I remember feeling like God and I were a secret team--He was the one with the good news, and I was the messenger. I even came up with a name for us--the God Squad! haha.

I have been a Christian almost my entire life, and I don't know if anyone has come to know God because I shared with them my faith in conversations, but I know He set up those conversations nevertheless. I know this because there is no greater feeling than being right in the middle of God's Will. And I am never more passionate, more terrified, or more uncontrollably excited then when I am telling someone about my God. It's a rush!

Even as I write this now, I'm realizing it's no wonder I'm attracted to missionary life or that I've been called to Belize.  It seems the Lord has been raising me up for this.  I remember my mom saying I could grow up to be anything I wanted, except a missionary, because that meant I would have to leave her!  And even though she said it half jokingly, that's something I'm totally learning about God--you can't out-think Him.  He is both unpredictable and undeniable.  He never seems to do things the same way twice, and He is not concerned with our personal comfort if that is what's standing in the way of His Will.  Half the time I don't even understand Him!  And for someone like me, who has a complex for figuring people out, it can be downright frustrating!  And I find myself thinking, "How can I trust Someone I can't predict?"  But there's error in that thinking, because trust isn't dependent on predictability.  By definition, trust is hopeful.  Which means confidence, not certainty.  So even though I don't have God figured out, I can be confident that He is good.  And imagine what it would be like if you took all the unknowing, all that mysteriousness, away and knew everything about God.  Well there would be no need for faith, would there?  And without faith it is impossible to please God.
( Hebrews 11:6) 

So until my faith is made complete, and because I know He works all things together for the good of those who love Him, I will try and rest on His promises and view everything as a surprise!

The number one promise I'm taking to Belize?...

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea, Even there your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast."

Psalm 140:13