When I was 16 years old, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do after I graduated. I had never really thought about it until then, but that night around midnight God told me to be a firefighter. I was a little shocked and yet had such a peace about it! Now 4 years later, that call has begun to be fulfilled. With the Lord's leading, I applied at the local Canton fire station as a volunteer and got accepted the next week, right before my 20th birthday.
I volunteer around 96 hours a month, receiving hands on experience and training. The calls range from crazy people who think they have a medical issue, to car accidents, to fatalities, to 18 wheeler fires, to false alarms, to breathing problems. As I tell everyone: it is the best job ever! So much adrenaline, excitement, and opportunities to be a witness.
A witness? What does that mean? That means that God is beautifully using my life for His glory, and to show the world that Jesus is Lord of all! I have been able to give a part time firefighter a Bible, since he is "looking into religion", witness to atheists in the department, show the guys that work there that there is more to our language than just curse words, and pray for God's leading. The Lord tells us to be in the world but not of the world. So I am trying to apply that to my life by being in the world at the firehouse, but not becoming of the world by using the language they use, or getting involved in things that they do. I call it my battlefield :) And I love it! I have never been one to witness to other people because that's "scary"...but now that I've been thrown in to this God-needed environment, it has opened my eyes to the beauty of the Gospel of Christ. I know that this is where I am needed, and so this is where I'll stay as long as God allows.
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| My brother Dom trying out my bunker gear! |
I hope to do online fire academy in the near future, in order to become a fully fledged firefighter, and until then learn all I can to help the community when they need it most. It is a wonderful place to be at spiritually, because it has truly grown me in my faith. You can pray for protection over my health, and for at least one person to come to know Christ!
He is worthy and greatly to be praised
Olivia Grace
