Hi! So the intention was to start my blog a month or two ago (I even wrote the first post back at the beginning of May!), because of all that God was teaching me in this season of life. But then the past month happened. More of God teaching me His ways, which included traveling, interviewing, working, and decision making. So here’s a quick summary :)
I’m not even sure what to think or feel right now. In one morning, July 15th, I quit my job, accepted a new job that has me moving 4 ½ hours away, and bought a plane ticket to Africa...all within 5 hours of each other. Phew! Ask me 10 months ago and none of that was even a thought in my mind yet (I was convinced I would be planning a wedding and moving to where my then-boyfriend got into med school). Praise God His ways are better than our own. It all hasn’t quite sank in yet, but I am amazed by every small detail of God’s plan in it all.
Everything leading up to the day of decisions was only something He could orchestrate. The past week I have sat in awe, without words to speak, amazed at what He has done. Literally, I have no words. It is beyond amazing and beautiful and a testament to how He loves His children and knows what’s best for us. Always and forever. I hope through this blog I’m able to somewhat put into words to share with you how His ways are always better than our own.
To quickly catch up (there will be more posts on each of these), here’s how the past 10 months have gone. Exactly 9 months prior to that day, and a week after my 25th birthday, my then-boyfriend decided he no longer wanted to be with me. 4 days later, I left to be out of town for 9 weeks straight for work, living out of a hotel room by myself. New responsibilities at work were causing me to be under the most stress I ever had been, which meant being physically sick often. Oh, and I was also searching for a new church home. Cue the quarter-life crisis perfect storm.
Needless to say, it was the hardest season I had been through in life. It sent me to my knees, face down on the floor crying out to God on multiple occasions. Most nights, it was just me and God. I had no one else to turn to and was feeling hurt, lonely, betrayed, and like I couldn’t handle what life was throwing my way. But I had God. A Constant. The One who promises to be with us when we pass through water and walk through fire (Isaiah 43:2). So we became best friends. He took me where I needed to go for Him to be able to teach and mold me. It wasn’t easy, but I learned a lot about both myself and His Love.
So where do Africa and Nashville come in? Let’s start with Africa. Who goes through a quarter-life crisis and says that the next summer they will quit work and go to Africa? This girl! All praise to God for actually answering that crazy claim. Africa, and even more specifically Kenya, has been on my heart ever since I can remember. I’ve always wanted to go there and serve. The problem was I wasn’t plugged in to a church and I didn’t have an organization I wanted to go with, so I started to pray about it. I happened upon Under the Same Tree, found out a good friend is involved with them, and was ready to go. God pulled the reigns when the dates of their trip weren’t going to work out for me. But then, just a few weeks ago, He opened the doors wide. The dates switched, my new job allowed me extended time off before I started, and I booked my ticket.
Now, if you know me, you know I like to be informed and have a plan. I booked my tickets to Africa less than a month before leaving, not even fully sure of what the plan was. This set in as I went to a travel clinic to get my vaccinations. The lady began to ask me questions about sleeping conditions and who would be preparing my food. I had no idea. Still don’t actually. I know I have my plane ticket, got my vaccinations, picked up my Malaria pills...and that’s about it. So unlike me, but so like what God has been doing in my life the past 10 months. (I will find out more specifics, so stay tuned!)
Nashville. As you learn more about the story, this one is more mind-blowing than Africa. I decided I would be leaving EY last fall. So I started to pray some bold, crazy prayers about what God would do and where He would lead me. At the end of December, He planted a seed about Christian jobs, specifically in Nashville, in my head from a blog. It took 7 months of His perfect timing, but the rest is history. For a while I doubted that Nashville was actually a thing. It was always in the back of my head and I had conversations with a friend about it frequently. I kept saying, I guess we’ll see IF Nashville IS actually a thing. I still can’t believe it was...a city I knew nothing about and where I know no one. The way God lead me through the job search process and His timing with everything was something that not even I could have planned out.
So there’s the past 10 months in a nutshell. I can’t wait to go through more of the stories of how God specifically worked later. There are so many small things that were woven into a much bigger picture. For now, I hope to keep everyone updated on Africa and how things are going in Uganda and Kenya. The countdown is officially on...I leave 2 weeks from today!
