the significance of lions.

Welcome, friends and family, to my official mission trip blog! With any luck, there will be a few coffee houses in Ethiopia to supply me with enough coffee and internet service to keep this going.

I am no newcomer to blogging; I've gone through over ten in the past seven years, moving to new sites when I felt that I was entering a new chapter in my life or needed a separate place to post on different subjects. One thing, however, that all of my most recent blogs have in common is the word 'lion' in their title. I just want to take a moment to explain the significance of lions.

In the fall of 2010, way back before I had any idea that within the next two years I would be dropping out of school, starting a videography business, and signing up to go to Africa, I was not in a good place. Emotionally, spiritually, physically - I was just a mess, and I was questioning everything I believed, lived for, and was capable of. Struggling to get through that time in my life was very much like a battle constantly going on inside me.

At the time I had just discovered a band called Florence + the Machine, and in the middle of one of their songs I heard something that has shaped the way I've lived ever since. 

I must become a lionhearted girl, ready for the fight.

The words sparked something inside me. Lionhearted-ness became something I wanted with a strength greater than my fear, my worries, my sadness, and my doubts. It symbolized the bravery I needed to stop just existing and start living. Soon I realized that being lionhearted isn't just about being brave, though that was part of it: it was about pursuing and being pursued by the heart of the only real "Lion King" there ever was. My search for a courageous heart led me straight into the arms of God. It was only through His courage that I was able to let go of everything I was struggling with and come out stronger, and I have been captivated by the idea of lionhearted-ness ever since. 

My life turned around in the course of a year, and I experienced true joy and freedom as I grew in my faith. God led me from one major change to another, until I found myself leaving Louisiana College after three semesters and starting a videography business to raise money for a trip to Ethiopia, which I discovered by chance through a comment on Facebook and hadn't even been accepted to yet. (My business is, of course, called Lionhearted Media.)

It's been a wild ride, and it got wilder a few days ago. It seems that God has been paying attention to how much lions mean to me, and had a little surprise. He probably is laughing and wondering why it took me so long to figure this out.

While researching the country of Ethiopia, just for fun, I discovered that the national symbol of Ethiopia is - surprise! - a lion.

Not just any lion.

But the Lion of Judah.

My King is sending me to lion country. Of all the places in the world I could have gone, He chose a country whose flag flies the symbol of my heart. 

***

About my trip: I am leaving next Sunday, June 24th, and will be gone for five weeks, living in a hotel in Barhir Dar, Ethiopia with the rest of my team. We will be doing what I love most, which is combining filmmaking with ministry, and showing students there how to make short films that let people know how God relates to them and their personal stories. 

Knowing that I have the prayers and support of my family, my church family, and my friends means more to me than I can express. My thanks goes out to every one of you, and I hope you enjoy reading about my project in the month ahead.