A Losing Year

Losing means in very smiley words "not winning."  I’m getting good at losing this year- I think it’s for a reason- to learn and be reminded that I need God’s strength. That my identity is not in what I do, but in how God works through me. It’s not about being on top, but it’s about the lessons learned along the journey! 

There have been so many things this year where I have to had to bend my knees and release my control and abide in God. To “lose”. To walk in His leadings and do what He is calling me to without receiving the human recognition that my prideful heart longs for. 

The loss of a leadership position, but instead God has given me the natural ability to keep leading without a “title”.  The loss of undefeated season and championship win in coaching soccer, but far better than any win as a coach I experienced the joy of seeing my team learn so many amazing life lessons as well as growing closer together as a team. The loss of my dear grandpa. This one hurts deeply as I grieve still, but in the grieving God has drawn me closer to His heart. The loss of my half marathon. This one I physically lost to my own self standings compared to my other races, but somehow this race was one of my favorite races as I struggled to cross the finish line. The loss of learning my ministry here with mentoring high school girls’ instead the Lord has placed it upon my heart to keep pursuing some of them even after I am gone. Knowing that soon I will experience the loss of being present in Lucy's life, but continually being reminded that the Lord provides for our every need. That He has Lucy in the palm of His hands and that He has the perfect plan for her. The loss of being in the same place as my family away from family, but knowing that God has forever marked them on my heart and there will always be room at the table with them. The loss of another year teaching, but knowing that beyond a doubt God has plans for me in this new season of YWAM in New Zealand. 

You see it’s a losing year for me. It’s a year where I have had to learn to embrace the losses because in the end I am learning that all that matters is my heart’s attitude and what God is teaching me in the process. 

It’s been tough facing so many losses this year. For awhile it brought me under and I felt like I was drowning in it, but slowly my feet have started finding the ground and knowing that this season can’t last forever, but my hope in God can brings me closer to the shore. 

{God, thank you for being the only thing that my heart truly wants to “win” in. That even in the losses I can see the lessons. I pray through every loss that I would grow closer to you. To see you in everyone of them. To rest in you and embrace losses and the wins!} 

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increase strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint. “ 

Isaiah 40:28-31

Of course there were a few wins this year as well. Winning Seoul Conquest for the third time in a row and having a fun day exploring with high schoolers. Wining Coach of the Year and loving every minute of coaching the past three seasons. Winning some awesome friendships this year that I am so thankful for. I would have never made it through the year without them. I guess life is all about the wins and losses and the journey through them. 

 {God, thank you for working in me and using the losses and wins in my life to point myself towards you! May I continue to wait (abide) in you for renew strength as I finish this season and enter into a new one} 

Love, Daniella 

Joy in Coaching

Every spring for the past three years God has blessed with a little joy. A joy of coaching a high school girl’s soccer team. Never would I have guessed when I was playing sports in high school that I would someday be the coach. I never consider myself a very good player in any sports I played, but I liked the idea of sports, working together as a team, working out,  and being like my siblings (who are SUPER good at sports. With all that said I am just a huge sports fan in general and watching all sorts of different kinds of sports is one of my favorite things to do!!! (which reminds me I need to get my tickets for a Korean baseball game soon so I can watch a game before I say good-bye to my season in Korea!) But it’s true I have coached for the past three years and have loved it! 

That’s why tears are so close these days as I write this post thinking about my team for the past three years. I have LOVED coaching not because the first two years my team went undefeated and were the champions of our division  or because I got Coach of the Year award this year. No, it’s because of  my TEAM. My team of girls even as it changed over the three years. These girls taught me SO much. God used them to grow me and show me how much He loves me and believes in me. 

A couple of Fridays ago our school had our annual Sport’s Banquet and did I ever feel so honored by my players and athlete director. My sweet team gave me a beautiful banquet of red roses and a huge red heart with notes from them.  My athlete director honored me with Coach of the Year. It was truly humbly. This award is not about me, but it’s all about what God did through me in coaching and my team of girls who believed in me as their coach. I am so thankful that I had an opportunity to talk to my team about our season and what I thought as a coach. I was able to honor my players. I also took the opportunity to give my final words to all ICS athletes as you know my season here in Korea is coming to end. I am very excited about what is next, but it’s little things like coaching soccer that make it hard to leave. The girls on my team have won a place in my heart. It was not an easy season, but fought hard together through every obstacle on and off the field! 

Receiving my award

 

And these are the words that I spoke to my team: This year we had to overcome many obstacles; not enough players, injuries, our first lost in the past 3 seasons, refs who were not always in our favor and a terrible tournament schedule. We faced disappointments and fears as a team. 

Many have been asking and wondering how can you still love this soccer season even though it was filled with disappointment in terms of scores and rank compared to the  other past two seasons. 

Well let me take a few moments to tell you: 

First, every season is a new season. A new team. New goals and dynamics. It’s important to remember that comparison is the thief of joy. We shouldn’t compare seasons but we should embrace the season we are in with open minds and hearts to learn from it so that we can grow. (And this totally apples to everyday life as well). 

Second,  as a coach I saw my team as true conquerors and champions. We built muscle. We built character. We grew stronger. We grew bolder. We pushed up. We pushed limits. We sweated. We laughed. We achieved. Together. This Season. As a team.

My Captain this year and little Evelyn

These ladies fought hard despite our circumstances we faced as a team. Like I always told the girls before and after each game “If you give it your all a win will feel deserved and a loss won’t hold regret.” Well, those of you who were at tournament can testify that these ladies gave it their all as they fought through 3 games basically back to back (that’s 4 1/2 hours of soccer straight) to claim third place proudly. 

Yes, we can claim third place proudly because we overcame disappointment and pulled together as a team even when we face a huge disappointment of losing the first game in tournament. We had a choice to make… either to put each other down and give up for the rest of the day or come together as a team and conqueror all the rest of our games. And man did these ladies crush the other teams! 

The greatest joy of being a coach to these ladies the past three season hasn’t been the wins or even the losses this year, but it has been seeing how God used soccer to teach us all lessons… life lessons:

Lady Conquerors- I hope and pray that you will hold onto these lessons as you go through out life: 

-Remember One kind word can change someone day. Kindness changes everything.  It warmed my heart as a coach to hear you ladies speaking truth to one another, building one another up and cheering one another on in both the awesome moments and also in the moments when someone felt like they failed. 

Dressed up for our school Spring Fling Dance 

Which leads me to the next lesson… 

-We learned that it always better to work together as team. Remember ladies there is no letter “i” in team, but there is an “e” for we! :) We don’t score a goal for ourselves or defend a ball for ourselves, but when we have the right heart and do it for our team it makes a bigger difference and keep our eyes off ourselves. 

-Life is tough, but so are you, Lady Conquerors

-We also had to face many fears throughout the season both individually and as whole on and off the field, but I want you to remember: You were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed or unworthy. You were created to be victorious.  

You can only crush your fears with truth. 

• Our bodies are created to honor and glorify God that even includes what we eat and how we take care of our body! 

• Like Mia Hamm said  [We learned that] “It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.”

Dig-deep was our motto! 

• Dig deep, ladies!

-Ephesians 5:20 says “In all things give thanks.” You ladies have pure hearts in thankfulness… even in overcoming obstacles you looked for the things to be thankful for. We even recorded a song after tournament with all the “soccer” things we were thankful for to our God! Having thankful hearts always gives you a better perspective on life. 

-Lastly, we continued to learn what it means to glorify God through playing soccer through the way we respected our team, the other teams and the refs. Sometimes this was hard, but we did it! 

As you can tell it has been a pure JOY for me to coach you ladies this season as well as the previous two seasons. More than you know it has been a blessing to my life and I have grown and learn so much through it. Thank you for loving on me and believing in me as you coach as well as your respect. I am truly going to miss coaching you all. It is something that will always have a little piece of my heart. Thank you! 

And because this is my last year I want leave a challenge for all future seasons, players and coaches: 

Being a Christian athlete doesn’t mean praying for your team to win. God doesn’t give an edge to those who pray, over those who don’t; hard work does that. Being a Christian athlete means competing for Christ, in a way in which you always give your all for Him, and win or lose, you thank Him for the ability and opportunity to play. It means giving all the glory to God, no matter the outcome, because you trust in His plan for you life. 

Remember a sport is more than just playing a sport. It’s about building relationships, a team, mentoring and learning life lessons! 

Go fight and Conqueror and know I will be cheering for you all from afar! 

Two of my biggest supports this year! 

My awesome team after tournament! 

{Thank you, God for pushing me out of my comfort zone my very first year of coaching and building in me confidence to use coaching soccer for your glory and to pour into the lives of these girls. May your work continue to grow as I pass my team onto the future coach. It’s all about you… not me that’s my heart desire as I say good-bye and let go! These girls will always hold a place in my heart and I am excited for how God is going to continue to work in them!} 

Who knows if I will ever coach again?! But if the opportunity comes again I am sure I will jump right in… we will just have to wait and see. For now I hold onto the memories of the past three seasons with joy and a smile remembering the nickname these girls gave me “Ms.Coach”! 

Love, Daniella 

Local Vacationing

Hello there. It’s been awhile. I could come up with all these excuses for my absent, but the truth is that I just haven’t taken time to write here. I haven’t really taken time to process my thoughts in writing much these days, but it’s time. It’s time to write about something I learned over spring break (which by the way seems like forever go now…)! 

Spring break came at a much needed time with the end of the school year approaching, the middle of soccer season,  and after leading a full week of service projects with the whole elementary school (basically like VBS)! 

One of my roommates and I decided to jet-off to Japan for six days and rest. It was such a beautiful and restful trip and here’s why: 

We stayed with friends. We became like locals for the week. We enjoyed the easy pace of life. We explored the little unknowns. We picnic next to a river. I ran through the neighborhoods and bamboo trees. We smelled the cherry blossoms at local golf range. We ate ramen at super yummy local restaurant. We shopped at a grocery store.  

We did do a few tourists things and I can honestly say those where the times where I was overwhelmed and didn’t really enjoy it. One, tourist things become so overrated and two, too many people! I want to see how the natives live. I want to truly experience what it is like to be a local in Japan. 

So my spring break trip to Japan taught me that I like to vacation like a local in the country. Skip out out on the tourist things and embrace the true culture of the country! 

Can’t wait for my next adventure of being a local…!

Love, Daniella 

Good, Good Father

A song that has been on repeat in my heart and head this week is Good Good Father by Chris Tomlin! God has shown Himself to me so faithfully this week and has shown me the kind of father He is in my life. 

“Oh, I've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like

But I've heard the tender whisper of love in the dead of night

And you tell me that you're pleased

And that I'm never alone”

My time in Korea has been some of my loneliest moments yet, but in these lonely moments God has whispered in His tenderly loving way that “I am not alone.” He is all I need. He is right with me. Even in the dead of night when I can’t sleep He is watching over my thoughts and pointing them towards Him. 

“You're a Good, Good Father

It's who you are, it's who you are, it's who you are

And I'm loved by you

It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am”

 He is a Good, Good Father. He listens. He watches over me. He protects me. He loves me. He knows what is best. He never leaves me. He holds me. He accepts me. He pushes me in the right direction. He shows grace. He disciplines. He teaches. He shows the way. He loves deeply. He provides. He draws me near. 

“Oh, and I've seen many searching for answers far and wide

But I know we're all searching

For answers only you provide

Cause you know just what we need

Before we say a word”

This week I have had the awesome opportunity of leading two of my students in accepting Jesus into their hearts. It’s all for God’s glory. Both students came to me after I had the opportunity to quickly share my testimony in our elementary chapel. They wanted to ask questions about God and were wondering how they could have Jesus in their hearts. The awesome things is that all answers were found in the Bible. Just like the song verse above says “ many are searching for answers far and wide, but I know we’re all searching for answers only [God]can provide.” It was the most amazing experience being able to witness these two students accept Jesus into their hearts. To see the joy of God fill their hearts. God- what an amazing father you are. All the glory to you! 

“You're a Good, Good Father

It's who you are, it's who you are, it's who you are

And I'm loved by you

It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am”

 God’s love has blown me away this week. I have been exhausted. It has been a non-stop two weeks between teaching, coaching soccer, loving on those in my community, talking with students about God, supporting one of my soccer girls in a ballet recital, and so much more. It is all good things and all things that I want to be doing, but my body is exhausted, but even though my physical is tired my spirit is overflowing with JOY. God has shown me how much He loves me this week and how much He cares about me by showing me exactly why He has me here even through this hard season. To see all that He is doing just leaves me in complete awe of His goodness and mercy and love and compassion! I am blown away by His love and goodness! 

“Cause you are perfect in all of your ways

You are perfect in all of your ways

You are perfect in all of your ways to us”

God has shown me this week that even though I wanted to be like Jonah and run away from what God was asking me to do because it was hard and hurtful or it seemed that way in my eyes. God had a far better plan for this season. He really is perfect in all His way. He is the perfect Father. Even when I doubt He holds my hand and leads me into His perfect plan for my life. Even when jealousy or hurt or “not enough lies” fill my heart He blows them away with His perfect love and ways! Heart- just trust in Him and keep pressing forward! 

“Oh, it's love so undeniable

I, I can hardly speak

Peace so unexplainable

I, I can hardly think”

This week there has been more moments of lost of words than I have had in a long time (some of it could be because of exhaustion), but more because of the holiness of God. I have found myself in complete awe of all that God is doing in my life, my student’s lives and my family lives! He gives a peace that is so unexplainable. Even though there has been many amazing things this past week and so many things to just sit in awe praising God there has also been some hard. A little girl in my class who has lost her mama last year to cancer just lost her grandmother this week. My heart literally breaks for this little girl. I can hardly handle it, but then I am reminded to lay it at Jesus’s feet and walk in the love of Him. To love on this little girl with all that God’s love pours into for her. There has been many moments of jealously in my heart this week , selfishness, pridefulness and not feeling enough…

“As you call me deeper still 

Into love, love, love”

But God calls me deeper into His love. I don’t deserve this love. I am a sinner, but Jesus died on the cross to wash away my sins and to make pure as snow. And I am completely overwhelmed by that this week! It has been one crazy awesome week filled so full! Thank you, God for being a good, good father! 

“You're a Good, Good Father

(You are perfect in all of your ways)

It's who you are, it's who you are, it's who you are

And I'm loved by you

(You are perfect in all of your ways)

It's who I am, it's who I am it's who I am”

{God I pray that you would protect my heart and attitude this week from the enemy who wants to steal, kill and take away joy. I pray that you would reign over my life, my classroom, my apartment, my school, my family and friends. I pray that you would be so presence like you always are. That my eyes would stay focus on you. That I would’t become prideful or overwhelmed, but look to you always! I love you!} 

Love, Daniella

to live a life with purpose

My heart feels really full these days of different emotions. I am blaming it on the start of transition. I miss my grandpa a lot these days. Hearing stories of tragedies of godly people losing their lives for many different reasons has been overwhelming lately. My family literally being spread around the world and no idea of when we will all be together again…. it could be years! Overwhelmed by a few different situations with students in my classroom. All I can say is tears are close these days. It’s the emotion that’s deep on my heart. But do not fear….

Because God sees it. He knows. And He is ministering to my heart!  A couple of weeks ago I attend the if:gathering  women’s conference right here in my bedroom through watching the live stream. This conference came at perfect time. It challenged me. It encouraged me. It refreshed me. It jump started some deeper thinking and praying about something that God has been laying on my heart for awhile now. To live each day with purpose. I don’t want to go through the emotions or fill up my schedule with little things to do, but I want to live a life simply. Simplify. Always pointing to Christ. Serving Him each day through my words and actions. To make disciple like He tells us to do in John (John was the book of the bible that the conference was going through) as well as Matthew. David Platt was one of the speakers (He is SO good!) and he really challenged us ladies to take the call that God spoke of making disciples. He said “ to keep it (your faith) to yourself is the most ignorant thing you can do.” This hit me hard and lead me to pray to be bold. to be courageous. to live a life that reflects my relationship with God. Yes, I don’t always think I meet the job description of being a disciple of God. I don’t always feel like I know how to live like “this” well, but God spoke to my heart. abide. Abide in Him. Abide in his word. Seek His face and will each day. Live a life FREE for Him. Right now in this season of transitions- it’s the right time to start to simplify. Simplify my life. I am really figuring out what matters to me. And I am learning that it’s people. Spending time with people. It’s spending time in the word of God. It’s abiding in Him. It’s loving on my students. Seeing them for who they are and individually seeing their different needs. It’s coaching soccer, but more than coaching soccer it’s discipling these girls. It’s being an encouragement and excited for friends who are having babies and getting married without a jealous heart. It’s taking time to invite woman over from all different stages in life to talk about our faith and how God has worked in our lives. It’s not about filling up my schedule with a bunch of to do’s, but simply living each day as a reflection of what Christ is doing in and through me. It’s not about my gain or proving, but all to bring glory to God’s name.  To be brave. To love well. To be selfless. To surrender. To live each day with a purpose. A purpose to bring glory to His beautiful and loving name. It’s to live out my faith. 

So what are you waiting for? Will you join me in living each day with the purpose of living for God’s glory only? To live out your faith and to not judge with “theology” of Christianity. (And this is for another blog post… I have many thoughts about this topic lately!) 

And here are some of my favorite quotes from if:gathering: 

-Let’s Go Give God Away! 

-You don’t have to start a new organization, or write a book or start a blog. Just make disciples. -David Platt

-May we love recklessly like Jesus and watch joy overflow

-How do we know God loves you? Because He knows everything about you and He’s still here. He’s still pursing you. -Eugene Cho

Love like Jesus loved. Serve like Jesus served. Pursue holiness like Jesus pursed it! 

Love, Daniella 

Fears.

Well, this weekend I officially submitted my application to do a DTS in New Zealand starting in July and the fears started flooding in:  what if doing a DTS is not the right thing? What if I’m apart of hard community? What if I have a terrible time? What if it’s like the past three years? What if I never get a teaching job again? Why somewhere new again? Then I started getting fearful about my future even more… what if I won’t be good at getting my masters someday? What if I don’t get married? What if I don’t have a place to call home? Then fears of right now… what if my students don’t learn anything this year? What if I’m not loved by my students or the girls that I will coach? What if something bad happens to me? And they just kept coming…

Fears. They are not from God. It’s the enemy’s way of trying to steer us away from what God is asking/calling/wanting us to do. Fears are meant to bring confusion, anxiety, and selfishness. Fears can keep you struck!

But God is bigger than fears! 

He gives us freedom. Peace. Clear direction. He has a plan and purpose for our lives.  He counters fear with His goodness. His glory. His holiness. He only gives perfect peace. So I declared yesterday and I will continue to declare NO to my fears because I am a child of God. I am brought with a price. Jesus died on the cross for my sins. my selfness. my fears. I am completely His. I am trading my fears for freedom in Him. I am going to go full swing in the direction that enemy doesn’t want me to go in. To do exactly what God is calling me to even when others say it’s crazy or don’t understand or its against the worldly thoughts. God is calling me to this new season of being a student again engaging deeper into His word and heart for the nations. Because I am LOVED, I am WORTH it. I am COMPLETE in Him. I am CHOSEN. CALLED. EQUIP. COURAGEOUS. He is and will continue to declare these truths over my life. A song that has been on repeat in my head since spending the morning yesterday declaring that “I am NO longer a slave to fear. I’m a child of God.” is NO Longer Slaves by Brian Johnson/Jonathan Helser from Bethel Music.  If would you love to be praying for me this week I would appreciate it so much. I am asking that God would confirm to me with only His perfect peace that doing my DTS in New Zealand is exactly what He has for me next. I only want to be exactly where He wants me to be and nowhere else because I have learned through the past three years that I can’t without Him. He is all that I am! He is the only one who can give me the strength and wisdom to press through anything that life throws my way, but I can’t without Him. I would have no purpose without Him. If you have fears that you would love prayer for please let me know I would love to intercede with you declaring freedom for you in your fears to God who wants to wash them away. 

Love, Daniella

**If you would like to know exactly what a DTS is please read the description down below** This is the exact description that YWAM Bethlehem gives for the DTS that I have applied for: 

We have been created for the very purpose of relationship with God, in this way we experience true intimacy and encounter the love God wants us to live in. Everything in our life flows out of this intimacy we have with our Loving Father. From this place of love and intimacy we can shine the heart of God to others and live a life sharing this amazing news of joy and love that satisfies the deepest longings of our heart. As children of God we have a heavenly father who loves us with an everlasting love. Throughout your time here you will gain insight into this amazing truth.

This five month school is very intense and challenging its not for the faint hearted, but for anyone willing to fully commit and wholeheartedly give everything in their pursuit of God. The more you step out and open your heart the more God will encounter you. The staff are committed to seeing break through and freedom in your life, you will be pushed to your limits to ensure you receive all that God has for you.

Are you longing to cultivate a deep relationship with God and know the fullness of life and freedom found only in Jesus? Do you long to know God and make him known? Come join us here in Tauranga for our 5 month Intimacy to Impact school! Throughout a 3 month lecture phase of teachings you will:

-Receive teachings on the character of God

-Discover your true identity and destiny

-Develop a sustainable prayer life

-Form lasting friendships within a community

-Gain a greater understanding of the Father heart of God

-Confidently share the gospel

We also partner with the Tauranga house of prayer and spend time in prayer and worship. This creates an awesome opportunity to hear the very heart of God and strengthen our relationship with him.

The second phase of the school is a two month outreach and opportunity to practically apply all you have learnt. The goal of these two months is to make a lasting impact in the nations. This is from a place of inward transformation and overflow in intimacy. We are called not just to know God but to make him known. In loving God and others we put the first commandments in first place.

What's Next?

In some ways this post is long overdue, but in other ways it might just be the perfect timing. A little over year ago I went through the struggle of figuring out if I should renew my contact for another year at the school that I am currently working at. (And now over a year later I haven't really made it clear with my readers, that’s you what my plans are for this next year….) Over many hours of praying and talking to those who speak truth into my life I made the decision to stay in Korea for another year (this was last year NOT my decision for this year. keep reading to find out)… At the time I had no idea that this would be one of the hardest years. There has been SO much that has happened and it has honestly left me physically drained and lots of questions. I can say that God has been faithful through every moment. He has given me the strength, wisdom, support and encouragement right when I needed it. There have been many dark days and many days where I have gone to bed thinking “this is not fair.” “Why is this happening?” “It was suppose to be the third year is a charm!” 

As I have been reflecting and focusing on how to finish well God has been speaking to my heart…early this week I was reading in Genesis about Jacob and Esau how the blessing was stolen. I also read a commentary about this passage from shereadstruth afterwards and  a few things that resonated with my heart were these quotes “God never called your pain fair, BUT He says He will use it.” (from Romans 8:28)  Also, “God takes the brokenness of this world the stolen blessing in my life, and turns them around to bring His purpose and His good-which is always better than I could have imagined. (1 Cor 2:9). The things that have happened and the things that are happening are things that I would have never imagined would have happened, but they are no surprise to God. He didn’t want these things to happen because He never wants bad to happen, but He will use it to bring to good. He is using this time to deepen my faith in Him. To teach me that I can only rely on Him alone. I have been disappointment by man so many times this year. Promises. Expectations. Fairness. have not be followed through, but where is my focus? Is it on my circumstances or are my eyes turned to heaven? I never wish this past year of my life on everyone. I wish all the time that I didn’t have to go through this, but I do… it’s reality. So I am going to walk through it with the only way that I know  and that’s walking with my God. That’s daily asking for His presence and Holy Spirit to be with me. That’s praying over my classroom declaring that God will be presence and His love will overflow. That’s asking a group of people to commit to praying with me each week. One of my favorite songs this season is “where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom!!!” I am praying that over my situation this year. One lady that has joined me in prayer sent me an email with lyrics from one of my favorite songs “Oceans” by Hillsong:

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior”

This year I am learning to trust without borders. I am learning to go deeper than my feet would ever wander and my faith is being made stronger. 

With all this said God has really been speaking to my heart for the past 9 months about taking more time to focus on my relationship with Him, to be refreshed by Him and be excited for what He has for me in the future. He is holding the desires of my heart so closely and preparing me for them. So my plans are to finish my contact here at ICS-P this June well then fly back to states for about a month. After that I am in the process of applying for a DTS in New Zealand starting in July through December.  For those of you who do not know what a DTS is it is discipleship training school with YWAM (Youth with a Mission.) The mission organization that my parents have been apart of for over thirty years. It is a time of 3-months of lecture phrase learning more about who God is, the character of God, prayer, missions-minded, ect. and then 3-months of practicing what you have learned in lecture phase on the field. The location will be determined during my time in New Zealand. I am SUPER excited for this next step in my life. It’s God’s perfect timing. I was not meant to do my DTS right after high school or college, but now after three years of teaching. It’s the right timing- my soul is longing for it. My tentative plans for afterwards are to go back to the states to teach in a public school. God has given me a huge heart to teach in the public school. To be a light in the darkness that so many are running away from.  Of course I am not planning too far ahead because you never know what will happen, but I do know I see a light at the end of the tunnel and that helps keep my focus to finish this race here in Korea well. Thank you SO much for your prayers and support! 

Love, Daniella