Sweet Sixteen

Let's go back a few years.

On my 12th birthday, I was waiting on the day I would have a little sister, & begging my parents to let me go to Uganda soon. I don't think I did anything for my birthday. Honestly, it's not that memorable. {Never have gotten that sister}

On my 13th birthday, I woke up in a guest house in Kampala, Uganda, when my entire life was in chaos. We were in hiding. That one was memorable.

On my 14th birthday, my dad was in Africa & my mom was off talking about Africa & my siblings surprised me with pizza & cupcakes & we laughed for hours. I probably won't remember forever, but it was a fun night.

On my 15th birthday, I went shopping alllll day with my best friend at the time & came home exhausted. {bags full of stuff, but I'd only spent $50 ;)} We went out for dinner that night... a lot has changed since that day.

That day was a year ago, & I'm not gonna lie, 15 has been a rough year.

In the last year, I've lost a lot of people I care about, had my faith tested in painful ways, my life has turned upside down, & is still working on righting itself, I've felt lost, hurt, betrayed. I've felt alone in ways I'd never known or understood, & had to fight against the enemy to be able to find any kind of peace. I've learned a lot about God & about myself & about what He desires for & from me, but it hasn't been easy.

15 was a rough year.

Today is my 16th birthday, & in hoping 16 is as sweet as they say, I want to make this birthday one to remember.

This year, I want to make my birthday matter to someone other than myself. Quite a few "someone"s actually.

In Jinja, Uganda, somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 children are being cared for, raised, & loved by Sonrise Ministries.

These kids are the most cheerful, loving, caring, wonderful children I've ever met in my life. Their love brings me so much joy, nothing would make me happier today on my birthday, than to be able to make their days a little brighter.

I don't want my birthday to be about me, I want it to be about them, about God, & about what He wants for my life.

So, instead of having a huge "Sweet 16" party with all my friends, instead of begging my parents for a car, instead of hoping for gifts and things for myself, I'm turning it around, & hoping for something for people that I love.

Starting today, for the next 16 days, I'll be raising money for these incredible children.

My goal right now is $1,600 (I'm a little into this 16 theme). I'm praying that God takes this little campaign above & beyond that & that over the next 16 days I'll be able to raise that goal to help provide even more for these lovely children of God, but if not, I know he'll use whatever we are able to raise to further his work.

I've been dreaming, scheming, & praying about this campaign since September, when I knew God wanted me to do something different for my birthday. Over the next few days, I'll have some other neat stuff coming out in other ways you can get involved, so watch out for that!

Uganda has been my passion for over 3 years now, there is no way I'd rather celebrate my birthday than to be involved in the mission God has placed in front of me.

I'll shout from the rooftops every day of my life that you don't have to wait until you're older to make a difference in God's kingdom, & yet while I'm here in the states I'm really not making a huge effort to do much. Yes, I spend a few weeks or a few months in Uganda, but I'm tired of waiting until I'm physically overseas to do something.

In the time it's taken you to read this post, roughly 20 children have died of hunger. That's not cool. I want to be able to help the people who are saving children from that very fate, so that they can continue their work & reach out & help more kids.

It's been a rough year, I hope you'll help me start out this year of being 16 in the best way possible!

This is the link to my GoFundMe page where you can read more of my story & what Sonrise is doing in Uganda. If you can give any amount I would greatly appreciate it!