Six Month Journey to Here

Six months have passed since my last blog…wow. Now that’s just wrong! Things have changed SO much over the last six months, so I believe an update is in order.

Six months ago, in the month of May, exactly two years after graduating from college, I was in the early stages of an aimless place in my life. I was living at home with my wonderful parents, beginning temp work (again!), saving up for a girl friend’s wedding in June, preparing for a service project in China over the entire month of August, and…not really sure where I was going in life. I did not feel free to pursue full-time work with my China trip approaching but, thankfully, I was blessed with a nanny job over the summer! This schedule would allow for me to increase my volunteer hours with a local non-profit that I had been working with for several months and my supervisors were hopeful to develop a job for me by the time I got back from China, which had me ecstatic! After one year of touch-and-go job experiences, things looked to be getting back on track for me career-wise! The summer looked promising to me.

As the sticky and unwelcome heat of the California summer arrived, a series of fortunate events occurred, along with a few seemingly unfortunate events, which really turned out to good, life-changing things from the Lord. First, my friend Lauren got married and I had the pleasure of joining her for the wedding week and standing with her on the special day as a bridesmaid. The long-awaited day was beautiful, full of happy smiles with old friends from college and joy for our newly married friends. This also happened to be the day that I officially met the man who is now my wonderful boyfriend, Russell! (We had apparently been around each other quite a bit when I was living in the area for school but we never noticed each other until the day of the wedding.) He was the photographer…I was a bridesmaid…long story short, we clicked very quickly, seeing God’s hand in the way we were brought together, and officially started dating a whole six weeks later!

Four days after we started dating, Russell left for a mission trip to Kenya with his church and I prepared for my trip to China. Unfortunately, this prep period had me busier than I had foreseen and I was not able to devote myself to my non-profit work to the extent I was hoping. Over the two weeks before China, I really saw how the job I would be doing with the non-profit was not a good fit for me and I decided to continue on as a volunteer in grant writing upon my return from China. This actually left me a bit discouraged and quite doubtful of my purpose without the security blanket of a career direction.

In addition, it was around this time in July that my parents began contemplating moving out of our house. This was a shock to me, as I never imagined they would leave. This was the house we built together and moved into when I was sixteen! The place where we first brought our dog, Max, to live with us as a puppy, where friends and family had gathered for so many occasions, where my nephew came to spend much of his time during his first two years of life before moving away. It was our place together, my home base during all the years I was in college, my safety net and comfort zone. Although my parents assured me that I always had a home with them wherever they lived, this change really got me thinking that this was probably a good opportunity for me to look into moving out on my own again. I really could stay with them just fine. We had reached a great place in our relationships with each other, but I had to ask myself if I really should stay and, as I had simply thought about moving out several times over the previous two years, I felt this was just the right time to move on.

This was quickly becoming the season for huge life changes!

Thankfully, I had been able to communicate with Russell for the first week that he was in Kenya but, three days before he came home, I left for China for FOUR WEEKS!! The month was seriously amazing! I had been to China once before and I absolutely loved spending time in the culture. We had an awesome team that provided childcare for the English teachers who were there for training before being sent out to different universities in Asia. I made so many memories with my team members (one of which was my mom!) and came back at the end of August. I was sad to leave but ready to be home to see Russell and begin with the new direction life would be headed!

Coming home was great!! I was so happy to spend time with Russell, although we still had to plan visits because we were still living about three hours away from each other. Adjusting back to life after China was a bit of a challenge, but the toughest area for me was my diet. I had never been so immersed in one particular culture’s food for so long before, so I was used to Chinese food and most American food did not appeal to me when I came back. I had lost some weight before China but ended up losing a lot more afterward, which I could not really stand to lose because I have never weighed very much anyway. Not very healthy, so I really struggled with putting weight back on and regaining my appetite. I’ve been better about that lately but I’m still working on it!

On another note, less than two weeks after returning from China, Russell was presented with an opportunity and was asked to pray about a job as a children’s pastor in Hawaii! Both of our answers were “no” at first, but upon praying about it, we both felt a peace from the Lord and knew it was the right thing, despite our displeasure with being parted for another long period of time. Honestly, I was a bit frustrated that I felt peace about him going, but I know in my heart that this move will be a good thing in the long run. The prospect was and has been very hard for both of us, but Russell went through his interview over a month after he was asked to pray about it and was actually asked if he would be interested in the youth pastor position instead of the children’s pastor position! We both saw this as a much better fit for him and, though difficult, we have both been excited about his move and the things God is going to do through him! Yet another person in my life entering a huge period of change!

In the meantime, before this process began, I had been looking for jobs in southern California to move closer to Russell, old friends, and my old home, as I had attended college in that area for four years! I had been taking my time in my job search, not feeling any rush and simply waiting for the right opportunity to present itself…until Hawaii. That really moved up my time table and motivation to move as we both wanted time together, not long-distance, before he left. As I pursued moving, God really opened up the doors for me to go and began to close doors for me back at home, confirming to me that moving was the right decision. I even found an awesome roommate, who I could move in with whenever I was ready! All I needed was a job.

After a couple of months of job searching, with only one interview and no real success, I grew discouraged. Time seemed to be slipping away as Russell’s departure grew near. I began to wonder if I was even supposed to move but things finally came to the point when my parents approached me and told me that they felt very strongly that I was supposed to just move. Immediately. Before I even had a job. I was shocked! I had been thinking I needed the security of a job first but they really encouraged me to move forward with the process. The next day, I checked into the possibilities and God totally opened the doors even further for me to go. I prayed about the whole ordeal and felt very confident that this was what I was supposed to do. All I needed to do was step out in faith and obedience, and simply go.

There were many things I felt as I decided on a Thursday to move away, from my hometown for good, on that upcoming Sunday. Part of me remained in shock. The idea of moving did not seem real to me yet. I could not have imagined that previous Sunday that I would be moving away the next week. I never would have guessed on that Wednesday that I would be spending the next Wednesday in SoCal, my old and new home. Despite my shock, I also felt excited and nervous. The plan felt so…natural. So right. I felt ready. Ready to go, ready for change, ready for a new chapter of my life to begin!

So here I am! I moved down to southern California into a whole new, exciting world and future. There have been times when I have been afraid, unsure how things would go and feeling insecure, but the Lord has provided for me every step of the way as I began to search full-time for a job and spend time with Russell. I am so thankful for this place where the Lord has brought me, how He has cared for me and grown me already in the short time that I have been here. He has really been building up my faith and challenging me in so many ways, and I am happy to say things are falling into place.

Less than two weeks after my arrival, I finally got a job, which I hope to begin training for next week! With encouragement from Russell, I have finally begun to write again, returning to a love that I have truly missed! I have been able to connect and re-connect with some great friends, including my sweet and awesome roommate! As far as Russell and I go, though his going is bittersweet, we will have a total of one month together before he goes, spending our time together to experience, learn, and grow in our relationship as much as possible before he goes, unfortunately, on Thanksgiving Day! A goodbye I am definitely not looking forward to but I cannot help being so thankful that he has been able to stay as long as he has been able!

So from where I sit, I really am thankful. Tomorrow is my birthday and I get to spend it with my sweet man, whom I love dearly! Not to mention, we get to go out with my friend, Lauren, and her husband on a double date! I could not ask for a better birthday. That’s all I need! I know there are tough times ahead but life is beautiful and I know the Lord is working things out for our good! I know that each moment is a gift, which I intend to spend wisely and enjoy. And I know that no matter what tomorrow brings, I can trust my Lord and my God to care and provide for me, draw me deeper into a loving relationship with Him as I pursue and obey Him, and show me each step to take one day at a time. I can truly say I am excited for this great adventure called life!