Hey, team! Wow, well, everything’s just become official–Africa, here I come! My name is Jan (yes, just Jan), I’m 20 and a junior at Texas A&M University. Although I have lived in Texas my entire life, contrary to what most would think, I’m not the typical Texan. I lack the “true” pride, I don’t have the hick accent, nor do I live on a farm. Haha. I love Dallas but I don’t do well with all the traffic during rush hour, although it definitely teaches me patience. Anyways, I am deeply in love with A&M–but if anyone was following college football, please don’t judge me by the past semester! Really, I promise it’s an incredible school and I vote all of you should transfer now so we can meet already! 🙂 I live in a 2 story house out in College Station (it’s about 3 hours away from Dallas) with 3 incredible roommates. I’m majoring in Sociology and I’m planning on going into the social work field. If the Lord leaves the door open, I would enjoy nothing more than to work personally with orphaned children or work with Child Protective Services. Needless to say, children have my heart. For the time being, I work on campus as a research assistant for a sociology professor. But enough of all of that! Random facts: I love life. My favorite color in the box is cerulean. It’s beautiful. I love looking up at the stars and taking in God’s great beauty. (Has anyone ever noticed we don’t really NEED stars? It’s just another way Christ romances us. It’s amazing!) Coffee is one of my best friends, especially during finals. I don’t have curly hair. I prefer mountains to beaches, but I still can’t decide if I enjoy sunrises or sunsets more than the other. At the moment, Catch Phrase is my favorite game. Facebook is a horrible distraction from the more important things of life, like studying. I’ve been to Alaska. I used to play clarinet and I can play piano a little bit. I’m currently trying to teach myself guitar, but being a college kid hasn’t granted the time or diligence needed to further my playing skills. Awkward silence is never awkward (“unless somebody makes it awkward”). Give me play-doh and I’ll be entertained for hours. My roommates and I are about to buy a fish (I think a beta) because we’re not allowed to have any other pets in our house. We will be naming it “Abednego.” I’m a picture-taking fanatic. I sure hope there’s some way I’ll be able to charge the camera while in Swazi, or else I’ll be prompted to buy at least 10 batteries. I was baptized 3 months ago. I got a bit obsessed with Game Show Network over the holidays. I’m reading through the book of Mark right now, and it’s amazing how much God can teach you every time you review the Gospel books. The song that I currently have on repeat is “Questions” by Jon McLaughlin. If you haven’t heard it, you must go to youtube immediately! I went to the zoo the other day and realized that I still love acting like a kid (it could have very well been the influence of my friends, as well, but I won’t blame them entirely). My favorite holiday is Christmas because it’s full of fun and family and Jesus. I like snow but I don’t see enough of it. My favorite verse at the moment is Isaiah 43:1, especially the part that says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name; you are MINE.” God’s so cool, huh?
I love, love, love meeting new people and listening to how God’s changed people’s lives. I’m definitely a quality time person. And most of all, God’s completely changed my life. I accepted Christ a little over a year ago and life has taken a major 180. It’s the absolute best decision I’ve ever made. I have surrendered my hands and feet daily to the one who’s extended His grace and mercy to a sinner, like me. I have been so blessed with an amazing church, friends, and family, and I cannot wait to see how the Lord unites our team together! I’m excited about meeting all of you and sharing 2 months of my life with y’all (maybe I do have some Texan in me, after all)! I’m just trying to take it all in–we’re going to be serving our Father in Africa! Reading through everyone’s entries, I can already tell we’re all going to be great together! Whoop!
