2010: Year in Review

On January 1st of this year, I watched Kobe Bryant drain a 3 at the buzzer to defeat the Sacramento Kings. Little did I know at the start of 2010 what the rest of the year would have in store for me.

If you had of told me that night that I would spend close to four months in total outside of the US in Central America, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean, I would have thought you were crazy. None of this was on my radar at the time, but God has a way of taking you to place both physically and mentally that you might not expect. All of it works out for the best, and I would not change one single event of this past year because it put me where I am now.

This year has been a roller coaster to say the least. While it started on a high note with a trip to visit my grandparents in California with my siblings, it quickly turned south with unexpected events and setbacks that took me to Atlanta for 3 weeks. The time I spent in Atlanta was some of the best of the entire year though. I strengthened friendships and created this website as a result of my time there to share some of my thoughts, activities, and life journeys.

Because of this journey throughout the first 8 months of the year, I discovered an opportunity to join my life passions of helping those who cannot help themselves and traveling. Now, I am Finance Director for a non-profit based in Oklahoma City called Give a Goat. It is exactly what I have looked for, and this position would not have become available to me if it had not been for events earlier in the year that seemed to be horrible then. I know now that all things work for the greater good.

For 2011, it will start in the Philippines. I leave in just a few hours for Manila. Beyond the first few weeks of the year, I do not know what life will have in store. I cannot wait to see what God will do in 2011.