Jesus answered and said "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later"
John 13:7
As a child, I never stopped to think about where or what my life would be in 5 years. My only concern was who could play with me after school and what time the street lights went on because if they were on before I got home, I'd have to hustle home before mom came out looking for me. I never worried about the future until I was a teenager. Until I started worrying about things like school and relationships.
I worried about my hair. My clothes. My grades. My dance skills (which are still 100% if you're looking on a scale from 1 being "professional dancer" and 100 being "at least she try her best"). Out of all my worries as a teenager, there was one that changed the whole directory of my life. I worried about what people thought of me. Whether they were friends or strangers.
In high school, I had no idea where my life would go but I knew that I wanted to have a fancy abbreviation before my name. Something like "Dr." would be cool. Something so everyone knew that I was successful. So everyones thoughts of me were positive. YA RIGHT. I would continuously think to myself "as long as I have that abbreviation and make tons of money, I will be so happy and everyone will love me". I remember having conversations with friends who wanted to be teachers and I would always reply with "I would never be a teacher. I just don't think that would be for me".
Then I went on a trip.
In 2015, I went to the Dominican Republic. I was approached by a lady who told me about an organization called "Outreach360". She told me "they teach English in impoverished communities and I think you'd really love it". She was a stranger to me so it seemed weird to me that she was telling me what I would like.
She changed my life. To the women in that small village (Villa Samaritano) who was building houses for the poor, thank you.
Wow am I a hypocrite. In 2016, I went on my first volunteer trip to the Dominican Republic. One year after this woman approached me. A lot happened in one week. I swam in the ocean, I got a tattoo (yes, my dad knows... now), I made some new friends, I met some amazing kids and taught them some English, but most importantly my life changed.
I can look back now on that trip with my dad in 2015 and see where God was leading me. I came back from the trip in 2016, after teaching English and changed my whole career path. I enrolled in Teachers College at Western University and I was happy. I saw the world in a different way. I now longer cared about the title or the money. I wanted to change lives. I wanted to have such an impact on students lives that one day they could look back and say "My teacher, Ms. Myers, changed my life".
We have the power to change lives. How crazy is that?! A stranger changed my life in 2015 and looking back on that day, I understand how easy it is to impact the world. If a few small words changed the whole trajectory of my life, what makes you think that you don't have the power to change the lives of another person with just a few words. Thats all it takes folks. Actions and words can change the world.
Sometimes it's hard to see where life is taking you and sometimes not knowing can be frustrating. But just hold on. God has a plan for you and I promise you that one day, you will be able to look back and understand the reason why your life is unfolding in the way it is.
I am so happy to tell you that I will be returning to the Dominican Republic with Outreach360 on November 24th, 2018 for three weeks. This trip is through Western University and will actually counts towards a placement credit for school. I absolutely cannot wait to be back and THANK YOU to everyone who has helped make this happen.