My name is Natalie Cooperrider and I’m 17 years old. I have lived in Arizona my whole life. I have a unique love for people and their words, also I love my cat Toby, probably more than I should.

    For the past two years I have lived my life a lot differently than most kids my age. I have learned a lot of valuable lessons, grown used to the idea of living with little, having to trust in God in ways that I never imagined that I would, and learning to accept that this life is my new reality.

    About two years ago my parents gave my brother and I a specific thing to pray about; Nicaragua. They had been approached by a good family friend that they had gone to college with (that has been a missionary in Nicaragua for 14 years) to pray about Nicaragua, pray that God would bring us to Nicaragua.

    When this idea was first given to me, I didn’t even need to think about it, I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I have always wanted to travel and meet people that lived in ways that you could never imagine. To meet people with so much wisdom and a love for God that is almost tangible.

    The past two years really have flown by, but has gone by just slow enough for me to savor the few moments that I have left with the people that I have lived my life with. The people that I have grown up with, learned what becoming an adult means with, and just done life with. It isn’t easy to think about leaving them, especially when I’m very much in love with the life I have right now. If I have learned one thing in the past few years, it is that God has an unbelievable amount of love for me and no matter what, He will take care of me.

(From Natalie’s post: October 24, 2016.  To read more of her journey, go to http://natcooperrider.wixsite.com/website)