There's no place like home

FLORIDA IS MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME.

 (This is the very first picture Melinda my former homesponsor mom, myself, and Devon my past roommate took together. We had lunch after the family beach hangout last year during orientation weekend.)

When I moved to Bradenton last year to participate in my first year of Twenty-Four Seven, I at first experienced an extreme case of culture shock. Everything in Florida is entirely different from the DC area: the way people dress and talk, the food people eat, the climate and weather – everything. Until I had more fully settled in with my home sponsor and roommate, I despised Florida. However they helped me open up to it. My home sponsor mom last year and my home sponsor family have all blessed me so immensely. Without them I would not be able to do the program and get my schooling. Home sponsors provide their students with a second home and family. So many growing, learning, and serving opportunities arise from the families provided by my ministry school.

(These are my new home sponsor parents. I moved in with their family at the beginning of last summer. I am so grateful to them; they are awesome!)

Last year My home sponsor mom counseled me through rough situations, helped me live up to high standards, provided room and board, taught me from her life experience, and allowed me to help with her ministries at a local college. Even living with another student helped me grow a lot. She and I had some bumps in our road, and although learning to live with someone so different from me was the hardest part of last year, it probably taught me the most about leadership, compassion, friendship, and compromise. Because of our time together, I am closer to her now than almost all of the other students in Twenty-Four Seven. This year, since my home sponsor mom from last year is not home sponsoring again, I live with the program director and his family. Through my time in Twenty-Four Seven I have met numerous times with Pastor John and his wife Miss Kelly. Now I get the blessing of remaining in the school because I have a place to live thanks to them. I’m slowly getting to know their daughter Lexi, have fallen in love with their dog Toby, and look for ways to help when I can.  Living with them reminds me so much of life at home, but I love seeing their example of a godly family. The Matson’s also counsel me and Alex on our relationship and just allow me to experience a difference of lifestyle and time management. This family does so much, and I can never fully express my gratitude for everything they do for me, the school, and God’s kingdom.