Fear not.

"Peace I give to you; my peace I leave with you. Not as the world gives to you do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27 ESV)


I always thought that William Shakespeare was a wise man. Granted, I didn't understand most of his material that I read in high school, nor did I spend the time in the attempt to understand it.

This last week I started a poetry unit with some of my English classes, which drove me to look back at those famous poems and plays of Shakespeare. During my research, I continually felt connected to his words. The way he expressed an idea, the connotations behind what he said, the impact he conveyed with so few and simple words.

In the play Hamlet, he wrote "we know what we are, but know not what we may be." Oh my gosh, that is so my life.

I know exactly who I am. I am Megan. I am 21-years old. I am an expat living in Nepal. I am a chosen daughter of God. I am an heir with Christ.

And for a while, that was enough. It was enough to know who I am. What I have gone through, who I have become, and to whom I belong. But the past few weeks, as I have begun to think about what life will be like once I return to America, I found a serious sense of restlessness. A lack of contentment settled into my heart that seemed so foreign.

I became afraid that I will no longer be Mags, or Megan Sister, or Teacher. I won't be the crazy Auntie who tickles kids until they pee, or who kisses their paper cuts and wipes away their tears. I won't be there to challenge my girls to know Jesus more and to love Him deeper.

And, quite honestly, that was one of the most terrifying thoughts I have ever been faced with.

I love the life I have here. In act 5 of Macbeth, Shakespeare wrote "I bear a charmed life." Indeed I do. The fact that I'm able to be in Nepal, serving God and loving on these kids is evidence enough.

But the biggest piece of evidence, which I think I overlook far too often, is that I KNOW who I am. Whether I am in America, Nepal, Paraguay, or Senegal. I am a child of God. I am a chosen heir. Part of a chosen generation. A royal priesthood. I have been called out of darkness into the most marvelous light.

And THAT is what matters. Whatever comes my way, whatever challenge or struggle or victory or change, they all still in the presence of my God.

And despite everything that will come my way, I will choose to live in the light of who I am, who I have become, and who God desires for me to be.

I won't fear the future, or be weary of the big changes that are coming my way. I will choose trust.

And I will choose adventure. "Why, the world's mine oyster," as Shakespeare said in The Merry Wives of Windsor.