09gu0630yi - Paige Hathaway

Hey Everybody!

First, let me start off by saying how excited I am for this trip!! It was really crazy how I came to this trip, but that is for a different blog :)

My name is Paige Hathaway, but many of my friends call me Pedge, my youth Pastor's nickname for me, or Em, short for my middle name, EmmaLeigh. I am 14 years old as of last December, and I'm just finishing up my 8th grade year at Good Shepherd Christian Academy in Washington, NJ. I LOVE my school so much, and I'm going to be sad to leave. It's more like a family than a school really, and it's been a big part of my foundation for my relationship with Christ. The school is actually a ministry of my church, Washington Assembly of God. I owe SO much to that church. I've been going there since I was about three months old-not that I remember much from then-and have loved it for as long as I can remember. My Pastor is my primary supporter, and without him, my parents, my best friend Alexandra-who attends Philadelphia Biblical University- and my youth Pastor, I'd be a completely different person.

So anyway, I accepted Christ when I was four years old. (I asked Him about ten times that night, because I was scared He couldn't hear me.) I've been a "technical" Christian for ten years, but it wasn't until last November that it finally became my own. One of my Pastor's favorite phrases finally got to me- "God has no granchildren." I realized this wasn't about my parents, or about a religion, it was about a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So one night, I finally decided it was time to surrender my life to Him. Sure, I had let Him into my heart, but basically I told Him, "Come on in. You can sit in that corner over there and I'm gonna keep on doing what I've always done." But this time, I finally let Him take over, surrendering my all to Him. And I have NEVER felt better. He is my everything, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I am so blessed that my five closest friends love Jesus as much as I do. They are such an encouragment to me.

That's my story, now a little about me. I adore kids. Last summer I worked at this summer camp with kids ages pre-school to fifth grade, and I telll ya, it REALLY blessed my heart. And VBS has always been my favorite time of year. Last year, I had one little girl accept Jesus into her life. She told me, "I never had a Daddy that really loved me, and that i'm glad that Jesus always will." I was like WOW. It was so amazing, yet so heartbreaking at the same time. I love to act, and I will be going to Warren Tech for the theater program in high school. I also have this thing for music. It's my release. A few of my favorite bands are Stellar Kart, Skillet, Chris Tomlin, Rush of Fools, Third Day, and Casting Crowns. For my favorite thing to do, I have a tie : Reading and

sports. My top five favorite authors are Ted Dekker(The Circle Trilogy!!!), C.S. Lewis(Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity!) Robin Jones Gunn(Christy Miller Series, College Years, Katie WeldonSeries , Sierra Jensen), Jerry Spinelli (Crash!), and Lee Strobel (Case for Christ!). I love to play sports and watch sports-soccer, basketball, feild hockey, softball, baseball, football, and lacrosse. My favorite sport is softball; I've played for 9 years. But when I tore my MCL during a basketball game in the winter, this season for softball was out of the question. My favorite baseball team is the New York Yankees, and my favorite football team is the New England Patriots. (Go Brady!) And for basketball, Cavaliers all the way :) I have two younger sisters, and one older "sister". Kathryn is 10 and Erinne is 3 1/2, and XiaoQiao (Chow Chow) is almost 21. She was our exchange student four years ago, and has continiued to live in the U.S. and attend Wilkes University. Now, she's part of the family.

Other random facts :

- I can't stand kiwi

- I am double jointed in my hands

- my top 5 favorite movies are Princess Bride, Ever After, Aladdin, Fireproof, and Glory Road

- my top 8 TV shows are NCIS, Flashpoint, Moonlight, Numbers, The Mentalist, CBS2 News in the morning(realy, I'm not kidding), Survivor, and CSI:

- my favorite color is purple

- my hair and eyes change color in the summer. my hair turns reddish and my eyes go from dark brown to a hazely color

- my favorite comfort food is a salty Auntie Anne's pretzel

- my favorite place to eat is Friendly's with Alex

-I am very easily amused :)

- I am 100% completely i love with Jesus

Also, I'm on Facebook if ya want to find me. Paige Emmaleigh.