A Little Bit of Clarity to the Chaos.

      I suppose I should start by introducing myself. My name is Taylor Blankstein. I turned 18 years old four days ago and yesterday I moved from Georgia, USA to San Salvador, El Salvador. It seems crazy right? Why would a high school grad (who graduated in the top 100 of her class) skip going straight to college to go to one of the world's most dangerous countries? I thought it was crazy myself. I had a plan. I was going to get accepted into the University of Georgia and my life was finally going to begin. My world came crashing down, however, when they decided I did not qualify to attend their university. In that moment of self-hatred and confusion and all around disbelief, a sense of inner calm washed over me and my first thought was "God must have some amazing plan for me".
     Hold up...what? Previous to this God had been on the back burners in my life. Sure, I prayed when things weren't going my way or when I was unhappy, but that's no real relationship. I ignored that thought for about a week. I visited Georgia College and State University, which I did get accepted to, and as I walked around the campus my heart sank lower and lower. I knew it wasn't where I was supposed to be.
    I work at Chick-Fil-A, and one of my co-workers and best friends Wes Price kept talking about how he was doing a GAP Year and how excited he was about it. His enthusiam and passion for the journey he was going to embark on caused an idea to spring in my mind. I don't have to go to college right now. I immediately arranged a meeting with Johnny Condrey (the head of Global Year through First Baptist Church of Woodstock). As Johnny explained to me what the GAP Year involves (learning Spanish, teaching English, helping people, and most importantly growing spiritually) it was like God was screaming at me "THIS IS IT KID! GO GO GO!".
     So I worked what feels like a million hours this summer to raise the money (with the help of friends and family of course) and here I am. Here I am to meet God head on and surround myself in His love. Here I am to make a difference. Here I am to change a life. Here I am to become the best version of myself.

All for His Glory,
 Taylor