The Countdown

This morning I was getting ready for work, all excited about it being Halloween. I love Halloween. Everyone is dressed up and it's a good excuse for party or carnival or movie night with friends. But this morning I wasn't as excited about it being Halloween for those reasons. I was excited about it being Halloween because it means that it is one day closer to all the things that are coming up. You see, I have a lot going on in the next couple of months and I just keep counting down the days for all this excitement. Tomorrow I leave for our Jr. High Fall Retreat, in 13 days my best friend from Texas is coming to visit, in 26 days my best friend from college is coming to spend Thanksgiving with me, and then in December I am going home for the first time since I moved to California for my favorite holiday of the year, Christmas! 

I am the type of person who loves to count down. I have been doing it my whole life, especially for Christmas. In college my friends would make fun of me for always knowing exactly how many days there were until Christmas (53 FYI). I have always been looking forward to something. This morning when I was thinking about it, I decided that I wanted to be present in the here and now and not only looking forward to what is next.  I want to be excited about what my life looks like today, in this moment. 

I have been so blessed to have things to look forward to, but God has given me the gift of now. Right now is exciting. What I am going through today is worth my attention. Some of my favorite memories happened when it wasn't something I was looking forward to for months, sitting on the couch with my sisters making jokes and laughing at each other's silly faces, staying up way to late playing Just Dance in my dorm room with my neighbors in college, FaceTiming with my mom for hours late at night talking about nothing and everything at the same time, sitting a Chili's having a paradise pie and then regretting that last bite and taking forever to roll silverware because we are messing around after we closed at TGI Fridays on a Monday night. 

These events happened without plans or a count down. They meant something to me because I was present in the moment. I don't want to miss out on those moments. So, while it is completely natural and acceptable to be excited about what is coming up, I am present here and now.  

I Plan and God Laughs and Changes My Plans

It's been almost a year since my last blog. I cannot believe how much my life has changed since then. A year ago, I was an Intern at CLPC in Houston, TX, living with two of the most wonderful people in the world, driving a car that wasn't mine, working part time as a Waitress at Fridays, hanging out with students all the time and eating BBQ and Tex-Mex. Now I am living in the East Bay of the San Francisco area working as the Interim Associate Youth Director at LOPC. I am living in an apartment in Walnut Creek, CA, with my co-worker's sister, driving a 2009 Honda Civic that I bought all on my own, still hanging out with students and eating healthier food more often. God works in amazing ways. 

How did I land here? Stick with me... It's a long story. 
As I was job searching, I narrowed my choices down to two places. One of the churches was in Peoria, IL as the Director of Children's, Youth and College Ministry in a really small church. It was a stable job, not too far from home in a place where I knew people in the area. This job is an Interim position at a larger church in a very expensive part of the country. This church seemed like a great place to be, but I never thought I could afford living here and I never thought I could move this far away again. 

I got the opportunity to visit both churches and got offered the position in Peoria first, before I visited LOPC. I was very excited about the offer and decided that that church was probably where I should go. It was the safe option. It was comfortable. 

I decided I would visit LOPC just to make sure that the other church was the right place. We went on a Jr High Mission Trip to South Texas with CLPC and from there, I flew to LOPC for the interview. I was dead tired, but I still wanted to make sure all doors were left open for God to close. 

The first day, I was still very tired and it was very hard for me to allow God to keep my mind open. I figured this was just good experience, but God had a different plan for me. 

After the first day, God completely changed my mind. I met a lot of people that I would be working with, I heard exactly what I would be doing, and I saw the area a little more. I started to get more and more confused. 

My flight home was tough. I was arguing with God, because I knew what he was saying to me. I knew that he was telling me that I was California bound, even though there were a lot of reasons I shouldn't be. 

When I got back to Houston, I talked to co-workers and friends who told me that LOPC seemed like the right place for me. After much prayer and asking God for more clarity, he answered me.

The whole time, my mom was not very excited about it. Let's face it, I spent a year in Houston and she thought my travels were going to be over. When I told her that I wanted to move to California, she wanted to make sure I was making the right decision, so she gave me excuses why it wouldn't work. My mom has always been one of the most supportive people in my life and I really needed her blessing to be able to do this.  
After a couple weeks of this, I got a call at youth group one night from her. She said "I had a come to Jesus moment." She told me that she knew that she needed to give me her support. That she was not excited about me being 2000 miles away, but that whatever I did, I had her blessing. That was the clarity that I needed. 

The next day, I received a phone call from LOPC offering me the job. Because of the conversation I had with my mom the day before, I was able to accept the position immediately. 

After being at LOPC for almost 2 months, I have already gone on a Houseboat trip, co-planned and executed the youth portion of an All-Church Retreat, taken the students to a Corn Maze and had weekly youth groups with jr. high and high school students. 

God works in ways that we don't understand sometimes. I never planned to move across the country twice, but I know that I am here for a reason. 

So far everything is working out better than I could have ever imagined it. I am truly blessed.