In this episode of Strong and Inspiring Women, I want to tell you about a young lady who is an inspiration to many; her peers, younger girls, and even grown women. I could be bias, but Darci is certainly worthy of the feature.

We celebrated Darci’s 16th birthday yesterday, and since so many of her friends and those who love her are spread out literally all over the globe, her sister gathered messages and prayers and composed a video for Darci’s Sweet Sixteen. Nearly everyone spoke of Darci’s contagious joy and love for the Lord.

Darci is a considerate younger sibling to three big brothers, and she adores her sister-in-law. She’s a friend and a role model to four younger sisters and her Nepali sister who is also sixteen. She’s a Junior in high school and is taking dual credits and plans to graduate with an Associates degree. She works at a local stable twice a week helping to care for the horses and other animals and has started to learn a bit about riding and about training the horses too. She also teaches English twice a week to students at Become, and is a leader in her youth group. She helped to lead worship at a conference over the summer and she attends a youth group on Fridays and another one once a month on Sundays. If she’s MIA, you’ll probably find her in her room or on the roof dancing and blaring her worship playlist. She’s not oblivious to the plethora of opportunities that girls her age have in the US, and while sometimes she’s tempted to feel a little down about that, she definitely and fully embraces every opportunity and relationship that the Lord presents her with here in South Asia. Darci is full of affirmations and she has a way of making everyone around her feel special and important. I think being around Darci is a tiny glimpse of what it might be like to hang out with Jesus. Her faith is super big and she’s never been shy to share it.

There are many things about Darci that inspire, but at the top of the list is definitely the joy she has in just about every circumstance. She truly has a gift for bringing delight wherever she is and for leading others to embrace life with joy. And when she isn’t feeling spunky or finds herself in a funk, she goes straight to the source of her strength and rejoicing.

She has Colossians 3:23-24 written on her wall right now because “it reminds me not to do things for pleasing others, but to do things only for the Lord. When I do things to please others, it doesn’t always feel great, and it brings my confidence down and makes me worry to much. It’s really only God’s opinion that matters, and if he’s pleased, then I should be pleased with what I’m doing. It fills me up more and with joy when I do things for the Lord because it lasts. Doing things for others doesn’t last.” She’s definitely on to something.

She’s not on social media, but if you ever have the opportunity, get some time with Darci, I promise you’ll walk away feeling a little lighter.