I love Thanksgiving. It's a wonderful holiday to catch up with family members, eat delicious home-cooked meals, and remember what all we have to be thankful for. It's a time to relax before the real stress of college begins to set in.

This Thanksgiving, however, I won't be sitting with my family enjoying a slow roasted turkey and my mom's famous green bean casserole.

This Thanksgiving, I will be in Choluteca, Honduras. Odd location to spend an American holiday...? Yeah, at first glance, it is. I mean, Honduras isn't exactly the American holiday tourist destination.

This Thanksgiving, I am not concerned about the holiday, however. I am concerned about things a little bigger than the privilege of being able to overstuff myself with delicious food (Though I will miss my mom's great cooking--no doubt)

This Thanksgiving, I am going to Honduras to spread a little bit of love.

I refuse to believe that when I see things such as poverty, disease and starvation, that there is not something I can do about it. Of course, that desire comes with caution. I want you and I need you all to understand that this trip I am going on is not about asserting my Western-ness and my so-called "elevated status" onto people. No. This trip is about helping a community with resources that I have and can afford to give away. Those resources include love, conversation, humanity, labor, listening and language--to name a few.

I am by no means better than any individual I will be helping. Rather, I am going to spread love to people who may have fallen hopeless as they face a variety of difficult situations--much more difficult than I face in my comfortable life--every day.

And I am going with God by my side. Labeling my trip a "mission trip" raises eyebrows and starts important conversations. Conversations, that for me, are often hard to have. I once again have to help you all to understand how this trip isn't about shoving my religious beliefs into people's faces and it is not about "converting" people. Rather, this is a time to show people how much love and support I feel every day from my God, and to do work in His name, so as to spread light into the eyes of people who may have lost hope.

I am not ashamed to serve the God whom I love so much.

My goal is not to convert. My goal is to go on this trip, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and put forth work that He deems worthy. To show people that despite the hatred we see, there are some things that are just far beyond that, and faith is one of them.

I am not sure what will happen on this trip or how my eyes will be opened, but I am searching for a "spiritual awakening" of sorts as I try to figure out my own life, and a way to serve others and spread joy.

My flight is leaving soon, and with it, I will be embarking on a journey God has never taken me on before. And on my way home, I am surely to begin a new, fresh chapter of my life.