"There's the girl," her parents would say every time she walked through the door.
I can envision in my head so precisely. She would park her car out in front of the house. She grabbed all of her belongings, locked the doors, and made her way up the driveway to type in the garage code and enter the household. Being greeted by her one-eared cat, Rambo, and scrambling through the maze of a hallway in the dark. As she opened the last of the three doors, she could peak over the wall and see her parents sitting on the far end of the coach watching TV. She would usually say, "Hey," and make an immediate right into her bedroom. After turning on all the lights in her bedroom, which included two lamps and a string of lights so artistically hung over the window, she would set everything on the bed, and finally... finally... lay down exhaustively.
This exact scenario would occur every so often, typically after long night of working or just getting back from traveling and driving for hours upon hours. This place was her home. The place she could return to after explorations and after being out and about for so long.
This girl, though.
Who is this girl?
That girl - is me.
My name is Faith Pietryga. I'm 19 years old, born and raised in Arizona.
I love my life and myself to pieces. But it wasn't always that way. I used to be so lost and heartbroken; deprived of joy and filled with bitter roots. I would go about my days so sluggishly - dragging my feet and letting the shame lay weights on me.
But now...
I'm just a fearless girl from AZ who is so passionately in love with Jesus, ready to run after her calling, live a life without settling for less than she deserves and is capable of, and is so beyond prepared to serve her great American country.
As life shifts and seasons change, you will begin to realize that you are not the same person you used to be. You will react to situations differently than you would have in the past. The things you used to tolerate have now become intolerable. Where you once remained quiet, you are now speaking truth. Where you once battled and argued, you are now choosing to remain silent. You begin to understand the value of your voice and actions. It's realizing that some situations no longer deserve your time, energy, and focus. Don't allow your life to be "just fine." Or "okay." Or even "good." Make it brilliant, spectacular, wild, extraordinary. Fill it with excitement and adventure. Be passionate and fearless. Search for freedom and opportunity. May God open and close doors and lead you where He has uniquely called you to go. Be who He created you to be. Although our life here is only temporary, make it count. Jesus doesn't want you to have a good life. He wants you to have a GREAT life. Now go out and be a light in the world. Our home in Heaven awaits - and we're here to live out a life to the fullest.
Although I'm now off into the world and doing what I have been called to do...
I'll never forget where I came from.
