I love blogging.
But I always forget to.
I actually hate blogging, because I'm pretty certain you have more to do in life than read what’s going on with me, Haley girl.
I mean, we hardly have time to text back let alone read a blog.
But I am keeping this for me and like the 2 people who read this (my parents... maybe?).
I've decided to keep a diary, and wanted to share some fun things that I don't really share on social media. Maybe get a little more personal about the crazy exciting journey God has literally surprised me with.
Because I feel like it’s just going to get crazier...
2 things you'll always know about the posts I share: #1. Short & Sweet: They will NOT be long, an easy read. #2. I will be as vulnerable as I can be via text.
So here we go: Sept 6th, 2017 News came out, and Hurricane Irma is one of the most severe storms in history and it was headed right towards us in Orlando. Luckily as you know we all got the memo quickly and I went ahead and rearranged my flights to leave from another city so I could make sure I got to Meadville, Pennsylvania this weekend for The Ignite Music Festival. It was the first stop on my schedule for speaking on behalf of Save The Storks (if you don’t know what we do, google it :) or just keep reading my blogs, you’ll figure it out...)
So I drove NORTH on I-75, along with the rest of Florida, and the traffic and waits for gas were exactly what you saw on the news. Except this was Wednesday so it was 20 minute waits, not 2 hour waits.
Sept 8th, 2017 Wake up call: 4am (painful, just painful... and shout out to my big sister Heather for taking me to the airport. UGH!) My flight to Pittsburgh left at 6am and on my layover in Baltimore I met a teddy bear of a black boy named Tae. He was working at Chic fil A and he was totally precious. When I went to pay, I felt deeply to hand him a $20 bill for him to have. I mean everyone could use an extra 20 bucks right? I didn't wanna make a big deal so I just grabbed my egg white grill on a bagel and bottle of water and headed to a table to lounge until I boarded my next flight. Last week I moved out of my house and made some money selling some cool pieces of furniture on Offer Up (best app to get rid of all that stuff you don’t need) so I had some cash. I looked in my wallet and saw a $50 bill and immediately felt compelled to give Tae that instead of the $20. Point is, financially I haven't been in an amazing place, in fact it’s been awful. But I trust God and give when I don’t have. I decided to wrap the fifty bucks up in a note that was written in black and hot pink sharpies and the note said something like,
"Hey Tae, God told me to give you this. It's not much but it's a seed. And God wants you to know how much He deeply loves you. He sees your deepest hurt and pain and wants you to know He has got such a divine purpose for you... God bless you bro!"
I wrapped it up and walked it over to the counter. "Psss, this is for you bro..." "For me??" ...
I boarded my flight and that was that.
Friday afternoon I met up with my Storks crew and we drove 90 miles outside of Pittsburgh to a small precious town called Meadville. It's there, in the middle of a corn field, where The 9th annual Ignite Festival was going to be. An outreach for the community, with big time bands, local vendors, food trucks and lights.
Ps. Siri failed to give me the heads up that it was going to be 50 degrees at night. Or maybe she did and I missed her memo. But I was FREEZING all weekend!
***If you don't know what I am doing for Save The Storks, then email me or just keep reading my blogs... I don't have time to explain now (these blogs are suppose to be short remember? And I'm already pushing it )
At this festival I was considered one of the "artists" or "speakers"... which was cool. I got a wristband and all the VIP stuff you know? But ironically, I wasn't going up on the stage to do what I dreamed of doing my whole life or what I'm "good" at... MUSIC.
Instead, I have to get up on that stage and do the scariest thing in my life, and share my story about the choice I made when when I was 18. Does everyone need to know? No, not necessarily, but that's besides the point. Is this what God's asked me to do?
Yes, one gazillion percent...
Standing back stage moments before I walk out, I have to be honest with you:
***being vulnerable is the last thing I want to do... I mean, all those teenagers smashed up against the front of the stage watching, all those college kids looking at me, I don't want them to know this about me. I'm so embarrassed. They would LOVE me if I sang or was selling I AM MERMAID t-shirts in the back... but this? I don't really have a choice at this point, so the MC introduces me,
"Please welcome to the stage, Haley Hunt!"
I walk out on to the stage, and they cheer.
And then glaring into the crowd sparkling with glow bracelets and flashlights, I start to share.
How does it feel to tell my story in front of all those people, you ask?
It feels like standing naked in front of every personal trainer in the world.
With all my flaw being exposed. Nothing to hide. And it's miserable.
And you know what else is feels like? Like the most exhilarating, most exciting ride I've ever been on. And then something happens when I start to speak. It's like another layer of pride falls and is beautifully exchanged with a blanket of victory. I'm so high off the freedom every time I tell it that it takes me a few days to come down...
Oh and guess what?
Those same teens I was worried about, kept finding me all weekend, asking for pictures, autographs and wanting to "hang around"... What's this about?
It's about what the Lord wants to do through EACH of us if we will just be willing to obey.
Vulnerability will bust the door right open. It will set the world on fire. By the way, I would say NO when they asked for autographs, and laugh with them telling them, "you don't want me autograph! It's not worth anything...
I ended up sharing Friday night, Saturday night and this morning (Sunday). People were encouraged, set free and loved on this weekend. I was so excited to be a part of this festival, in the middle of a corn field somewhere in Pennsylvania...
It’s Sunday night and I’m on a plane to
Colorado to spend a day at the Storks headquarters.
I will head to Seattle Tuesday.
I wonder how Tae’s doing.
Download the App Offer Up, you’ll thank me later.
xo Haley