this is me !!

dear friends!!

My name is Josie Dean and I’m here to share a little about who am I and the things that make my heart beat! There’re many things in this world that make me a happy girl and there are oh so many things that break me to tears. Sooooo, before my blog becomes filled with my travels, I wanted to take some time to share a little about me! Some things are fun and lighthearted, while others are serious and go to a deeper level.

First and foremost, I love Jesus with all I am! One thing that will become clear through my writings is that I have no idea what I want to do in the future in regards to occupation, but the one thing I’m sure of is that the Great Commission calls all believers to go and make disciples of all nations, so that's what I’ll do. In this season of my life, I will be attending YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Perth, Australia. I will spend three months learning all about God’s character and how to effectively share the Gospel all around the world. Then from there I will be going out into the world for three months in what’s called outreach phase. I am so excited for this opportunity to go outside the U.S. and serve Jesus wholeheartedly!

I am originally from St. Petersburg, Florida but have been attending college in New York, about 30 minutes outside Manhattan (every girl’s dream right)!! I was attending school for elementary education, but we will see if that’s what I choose to stick with after this next year. My love for kids comes from the ministry both my family and church family has done in Detroit, Michigan each summer. I have had the privilege of serving there since I was four years old and I LOVE IT!! I have seen God work in clear and abundant ways there and I’m excited to continue to watch Him work. I have the amazing opportunity of leading the preschoolers in our Vacation Bible School program, which is about 40 kids under the age of 6 from the local housing projects who have experienced things no kids should ever have to go through. My heart breaks for kids who are in poverty, especially in urban contexts. One issue I have a passion for is diversity in the school system! I hope to one day see diverse populations among students and teachers alike! I may post a research paper I wrote on this topic for those interested in raising awareness on this issue!

Now how about some little fun facts about me to finish up this get to know me post? Well for starters I am a 19-year-old Florida girl! So, as you can imagine I love the beach, being super-duper tan, and shopping is pretty much my favorite thing to do. I love love love games of pretty much any kind: Board games, video games, really any card game imaginable, sports of all sorts (especially volleyball), and Dungeons and Dragons is my jam. I love dogs, drawing and painting, christian rap (KB and Andy Mineo are my favs!!), watching Gilmore Girls on repeat, and Ron Swanson is definitely my spirit animal. I eat ketchup on just about anything. I break out in song to pretty much any musical, haha! And it's safe to say I'm the biggest LA Clippers fan on the east coast. Oh, and one more thing, I have the greatest family on this planet!!! My dad is my closest pal, my mom is one hard worker and my biggest supporter, and my brother is the only person on this planet like me. And I also have the BEST church family (shout out to Faith Covenant) and I thank the Lord for all the love and support. So that’s all! Thanks for getting to know me and I hope to one day know all about you!

- jos :)

P.S. If you really want to know my personality, look up the Myers-Briggs personality test and type in INFJ. That is me to a tee.