I would like to start off by telling all of you a little bit about my life. (BTW.. I am the girl in the picture with the random blue spot on my face? With my dad and two little sisters during a father/daughter dance)My mother gave birth to me when she was 20 years old and unmarried. My biological father left her and I have never met him. This could have been a hard situation for me to overcome, but God had taken care of me 20 years before on February 27, 1970 when the man who was to be my father, Arron Redding, was born. My Dad was born to a single mother and to this day he has never met his biological father. He was without a stable home or a father figure for most of his life. He struggled through some hard times that I can't even fathom, and was forced to grow up very quickly. This also seems like a bad situation, but God knew what he was doing. Who better to be my father than a man who had grown up without one? He would understand any feeling of loss or neglect that I could ever have, and he would know exactly what to do to make sure that I never felt the way that he did. His previous struggles as a young person were all PREPARATION for something bigger, and it all fit into God's plan. He came along just in time and married my mother at a young age, taking on the responsibilities of not only a young husband, but a father as well. And the plan was perfect, I have never felt like I was without a father; Dad is more than I could have ever asked for. (How perfect is that?!?.... I love this)

Because of a mutation in my DNA I was born with a genetic skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa (call it EB... it's easier :) ) THE LINK IS A WEBSITE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT EB, MOST OF THE CHILDREN ON THE SITE HAVE MUCH MORE SEVERE FORMS OF EB THAN I HAVE AND THE PICTURES CAN BE QUITE GRAPHIC. The mutation is an error in the coding for a protein that holds the skin layers together. Without that protein my skin layers separate very easily compared to most people. Whenever there is continuous friction on my skin, I get blisters that are very painful, to the point where I have been in a wheelchair on occasion during my life. I struggled for years with having to use that wheelchair. I hated the stares, the comments from kids at school; I continually questioned why God would allow me to go through something so physically and emotionally painful. It wasn't until last year that I began to take a different approach at looking at my disease. Once I did that, things just started making sense. I have been called to missions since I was very young, I have always known that they would be a part of my life. One day my mother and I were talking about how frustrated I was with my skin and having to use a wheelchair; she mentioned something that I, in my self-pity, had never considered before. She brought up that even though she doesn't understand now how God will use this disease in my life; he has to be doing something. He has to be using it for PREPARATION for something bigger. I began to pray about it and it was like a blindfold had been removed from my eyes. I have a the best form of EB that a person can have. Many children die at birth or don't make it past early childhood. God gave me a minute taste of the pain that some people go through, BUT he gave me an opportunity to go out and do something with my experience. I won't die from my disease like many children will, now I feel like it's my responsibility to God for him giving me such an opportunity to follow where he leads me. He can use my disease to further his kingdom. The empathy that I can feel for someone who is in physical pain, or embarassed by his/her disease/sickness is a priceless gift from the Father.

I Believe that everything BIG and small is part of a hugely elaborate and perfectly put together plan, and that God can use people and situations in ways that no human could ever imagine.