Hello!  My name is Carrie Lee Arant.  I'm beyond excited for this summer and I can't wait to meet all of you in person.  God is going to show up big time, and it's going to be incredible! 

A few things you should know about me:

1.  I do not like introductions.  I'm bad at meeting people in general, so introductions make me feel awkward and I never really know what to say.  Especially when you're in one of those group settings where you have to say your name, age, and something random like your favorite vegetable.  As if that's really going to help me get to know another person.   (...But for the record, mine's cucumber.)

2.  I can be very shy, and will be when you meet me in person.  This also contributes to my awkwardness when it comes to introductions (and life in general).  I will open up, it just takes a little while. 

3.  Writing this post really intimidates me, because you all seem like awesome people, and I really want to get off to a good start!

4.  I've lived in the same house all 19 years of my life in Charlotte, NC, and am currently a freshman at Gardner-Webb University.  I'm a Biblical Studies Major and a complete dork/geek/nerd.  There's a possibility that I'll add a minor in either Philosophy or History, not sure which yet.  As for mooching off my parents, I try not to!  I babysit when I can, but I'm looking for a steadier job for next year.

5.  If you play Words with Friends, hit me up.

6.  If you don't play Words with Friends, you should.  And then you should hit me up.

7.  I felt called to be a full-time missionary a couple of years ago.  If I had my way, I would be out in the field full-time right now, but Jesus apparently has other ideas.  For now, I'm growing into His will for me while attending school and getting involved with ministries on campus.

8.  I have been on a couple of mission trips before, which have included some local trips doing ministry around Charlotte with my home church, and two international youth mission trips to Kingston, Jamaica, both with my home church and both focused around construction work and kid's camp (VBS style) ministries.  It was on my first trip to Jamaica that I felt called to lifelong mission work.

9.  I have a personal blog!  Sort of, anyways.  My posts are sporadic at best.  But if anyone wants to check it out, feel free to here.  

10.  It's my goal to try as many weird foods as possible on this trip.  Just to see how many I can actually get down, haha.

11.  I love good music, tea, oranges, good books, getting dirty, campfires, sleep, hiking, traveling, animals, coffee, listening to good storytellers, and happy things like that. 

That's all I can think of for now.  I'm so blessed and excited to be a part of this trip with you guys!  I'm a little nervous about meeting everyone (like I said, I'm really shy in person!), but mostly I'm just looking forward to what the Lord is going to accomplish in us and through us.  If anyone has anything they need prayer for, please let me know, I would love to be able to lift you up in that. 

So yeah.  We're going to Africa, guys.  Get excited!