Beyond My Borders: Alyson Raabe

Growing up, I feel I was fortunate to be born and raised in one place: Glastonbury, Connecticut. The majority of my extended family lived within 20 minutes. I had a great group of friends, some of whom I met in kindergarten and still call my best friends to this day. I loved my friends and loved my family, but realized I also loved “traveling” when I was 16.

Homesickness has never been an issue for me. When I was 10, I went to sleepover camp in New Hampshire for the first time. As soon as I was old enough, I started working there. I lived and worked at camp anywhere between 9 and 14 weeks for 5 summers in a row. My camp friends were my second family. Homesickness simply wasn’t a factor.

Just before I turned 16, I participated in a study abroad program through my high school. We had a student from Spain live with us for two weeks that September, and the following February I lived with him and his family in Madrid. Seeing the world “on my own” was eye opening and thus inspired my passion for traveling.

When deciding where I would go to college, I knew I wanted “something different” for 4 years. My friend from camp recommended going to the Midwest, where he had decided to go after growing up in Connecticut (and Summers at camp in New Hampshire.) He said he would do it all over again, and he was about to graduate. My main concern when it came to picking schools was finding a school with a great study abroad program. Spain had my heart at 16 and I was determined to go back. A year after talking to my friend from camp about the Midwest, I moved into my dorm at Valparaiso University in Indiana. I was one of the farthest from home of my group of friends, but sure enough… I would do it all over again, too.

Because Spain was a business-only study abroad and was not compatible with my future elementary education career, I chose to study abroad in Cambridge, England. I loved being able to call another city my “home.” I loved making (and dating) English friends, traveling through Europe, and making lifelong memories. It was then that I knew I was going to be an international elementary teacher. It was the perfect plan for me. I knew since I was a little girl that I would be a teacher, and to incorporate that with travel and making friends from around the world? There was nothing that sounded more perfect. I knew I had to do it upon graduation before I “settled” down (in any sense of the word).

Senior year of college, I traveled to Iowa for the largest annual international education job fair in the USA. There, I signed a contract for an elementary position in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Call me crazy. Moving to Kuwait was the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But, it was also the biggest “personal growth” year of my life. I saw parts of the world that not many people would be willing nor are able to see. I befriended some of the most wonderful people from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, and more. Towards the end of the school year, I knew it was time to move on.

It wasn’t an easy decision to leave Kuwait, as I made some of the best friends I’ve ever had while I was there. However, I had faith that something better was out there. A month after deciding to leave at the end of the school year, I accepted a 4th grade teaching position in San Jose, Costa Rica. The move here was a thousand times easier – perhaps because it was the second major international move, or perhaps because Costa Rica is so similar to the States in so many ways. The sight of this country in the rainy season brought tears to my eyes daily, after spending a year in the desert. I have never been happier or more certain that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be right now. I found my pura vida.

Teaching internationally is one of the most rewarding feelings I’ve ever had. I have learned so much from my students, both in Kuwait and now in Costa Rica. The relationships I’ve made with their parents, with school staff, and with my coworkers are amazing and eye opening. I feel like I’m completely fulfilling my life dream: traveling, teaching, and learning about the world.

I am a huge advocate for getting out there in the world while you can. For anyone who is willing to ask the question, “Should I do it?” when it comes to traveling or making the big move, there is only one answer: yes. I haven’t met a single person who has regretted living abroad, no matter what career, what age, or what the reason being the move is. I truly believe there is nothing a person could benefit from more. And I truly believe it is something people could so regret, if they only knew the adventures they would be missing. I live and breathe these quotes, daily:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

"Find something you are passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it." - Julia Child

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

This is the time. Adventures are out there.

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"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities"
   - Luke 16:10

  Although I am at a transitional season in my life I can tell that the place God is leading me to is a one full of promise. I’m currently working on getting into campus ministry and even if it may be a big step for me I am still excited to see the road I end up on. Last week I was given the opportunity to share my testimony in front of my church. Despite the fact that what I had to say only lasted for ten minutes I think God was trying to see if I would still be able to fully utilize the little time He gave me to speak. Hopefully from there I can then grow and prove myself ready for the call He has placed upon my life to pursue campus ministry.

Take some time to listen to the message on Identity given by Angelo Dobros and then my testimony. Wherever you are in life, I hope these words help.

Guest Blogger: September

Over the weekend, I heard a wise man say, “On your way to doing something, you become somebody.” Be it while working toward a great task or following through with a daily discipline, I firmly believe this is true. You and I are constantly moving forward. There is no place of finally “making it”. Don’t you know it’s all about the journey?

That has been one of the most exciting and difficult lessons I have learned —and am still learning— in my young life. I say young because at the ripe old age of twenty-two I hardly feel old. I still have so far to go, so many things to do and places to see, and so much more of God I want to know, follow, and trust. But if you drink those words in one more time, you’ll find my greatest trap. I look to the future and breeze past today. And shouldn’t I know by now that every today is a day to say “yes”?

Saying “yes” is thrilling and terrifying. Sometimes I wonder if I know the word at all as unwilling as it is to leave my tongue. But a “yes” is what God asks of us. He doesn’t ask for perfection or success, He asks for obedience and trust. Both of those things take a surrender on our part, a willingness to let go of our control and comfort zone to step into His wild adventure.

My biggest “yes” so far came to pass this summer. Your Texas girl heard His whisper and packed her bags for Seattle. I’ll be the first to tell you that it was hardly the direction I expected to be going. I’m a planner; I love lists and diagrams, well thought out road trips, a neatly organized notebook, and school supplies by the bucket load. If I can highlight and color coordinate it, I do. Funny thing is, God doesn’t work that way. He paints sunsets in colors I don’t know the names of and delights me with music in the wind I cannot save for later. I ask “What?” and He says, “Trust me.” I ask “When?” and He says, “Follow me.” I beg “Where?” and He whispers, “Today.”

What doesn’t make sense to me in the moment only goes to show how well He knows my heart. He knows that I hate —well, strongly dislike— being in transition. I love routine! I have this deep desire in me to know what is ahead and to be able to prepare for it. But He knows my future-inclined-self can easily miss the today. It’s why He reminds me of the morning and the moment over and over again.

In the past few months, I’ve learned that being in transition is something we will do all our lives. We’ll transition from one season to the next, one role to another, this job to that, from city to town, citizen to stranger, and many times several of these changes will be happening at once. Whereas I often feel as though I’m drowning in the uncertainty, it is a certified God-moment for me to cast my anchor into the sky and hold to Him instead of something (be it person, place, or thing) in my life that will inevitably change. He is the only steadfast thing. He is what remains.

In my transition from college to post-grad, I have grown weary. In the move from Texas to Washington, I have soared on the clouds. In the passage from student to teacher, I have been challenged. It is the nature of growing up, and it is something I don’t simply want to endure but embrace!

My ramblings seem scattered even to me, but that’s what this process has been like. It’s messy and unclear, good one day and a struggle the next. But my God is good all the time, and all the time He is good.

"As for a man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him." Psalm 103:15-17

My advice to anyone wading through tough transition times would be to press on and take it one day at a time. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, ask God “What is your purpose for me today?” If you’re feeling down, ask the Lord to encourage you and surround yourself with positive community. Share the burden, be honest with yourself about what you’re feeling. If you skirt around the issue or try to tuck things away in a closet, the burden will pile up. He has promised us peace! And He has promised to remain with us.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts." Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us two important things. The first is that our God —the Creator of all and Savior of the world— makes all things beautiful according to His timeline and for His glory. A day to him might be a thousand years to us, but still He is good and faithful. He works for the good of those who love Him, even when we cannot see or feel it. The second thing it reveals is that He has placed a longing in our hearts for that "more" and a "forever home" for a reason. We were made for relationship with Him, one that will come to ultimate fruition when we join Him in heaven. But how do we handle today, you ask? We pray and we trust, and we take our changing seasons one day at a time.

Like I shared at the beginning, “On your way to doing something, you become somebody.” Let’s become men and women who say “Yes” to the Lord in the face of transition. When the sand shifts beneath our feet or we stare into the unknown, may we put our trust in the Most Faithful

One, and become who He created us to be.

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This month I find myself blessed to introduce Bailey Jean, she runs the blog and facebook page Anchored in Love Divine. I told her that as I was reading her story I just had to awe at how great God is. There are so many times in life where you will feel like no one else could possibly be going through what you currently are and then He shows up. Her story felt as though she pulled it straight from the mix of emotions that were stirring within me. I hope you enjoyed her post as much as I did.