Plans Overhauled.

When I woke up on July 29, 2014, I was 13 days away from moving to Independence, Missouri, 3 days away from moving out of my apartment and back home with the parents for a week of transition and just a few hours away from MY plans being totally and completely overhauled. I've been meaning to catch you all up in the overhauling of these plans but at first, was still shocked and speechless and then too busy with transition. If you were to ask each person used by God in the overhauling of my plans what the three days of overhauling looked like we would each tell the story a little differently...Dana probably with the most excitement, but here is my take on things:

I was cleaning house in order to make the packing process easier when I received a text from Dana, the Campus Life Director that I had been volunteering for for the last school year saying, "What if God could make a job for you in the next 10 days." I laughed and with a eye roll unseen by her, responded that I had a job and was moving in 13 days not expecting the conversation to go any further. Her boss (Adam), whom I had had minimal interactions prior to this, then called and said that he wanted me to stay with Campus Life and felt like God may think that too. I can't really remember how he elaborated at that moment, but the conversation ended with me saying that I would be up to talking about possibilities the next morning (Wednesday the 30th). Here's a pointed timeline of the following 36 hours:

• Tuesday all day: Praying, growing more and more excited about the possibility of staying nearby and working for this organization that I had fallen in love with while experiencing a sense of relief to not move to Missouri.
• Wednesday Morning: Meeting with Adam and Roger to discuss my relationship with Campus Life and Christ...no doors closed.
• Wednesday Afternoon: Stopped by the office with a couple of girls...Adam pulled me aside and talked a bit of specifics...saying that in all the calls and checks that he had made so far, there had been no doors closed (something that was nearly impossible due to a long hiring process). He also said that I wouldn't be able to know anything certain until Monday because of a meeting he needed to have. Crushed.
• Wednesday Night: Me telling God that I wasn't waiting until Monday...I couldn't. If this was really of HIM, I wanted to walk into the meeting Thursday morning and be offered a job. I knew God could make this happen and as I had been thinking, was really hoping for Him to move so that I didn't have to. 
• Thursday Morning: Meeting with Adam to talk actual specifics.  No doors closed. Application filled out. References contacted. Personality test taken. Boom...job offer. 

I was stunned. I was speechless. I was in absolute awe of the power of God. Honestly, I had been uneasy about the Missouri position for the entirety of summer. I had originally been super pumped for the position and really felt like it was where God was nudging me. However, for several months I had held a lot of hesitation and couldn't explain why: People that I love and respect had also expressed concern for the move and position. However, with such little time, and an already signed contract, I didn't really see a way out; but here I was the new Campus Life Director of Whitko HS/MS. 

I want to reiterate that this was not a spontaneous decision made out of anxiety about the future, but a prayer choice that brought more peace in 36 hours than in the previous 4 months. After looking back, I think God had perfectly orchestrated the steps that would bring me to this place of utter surrendering of my best laid plans and control to a that of God's.  Again brought to you via a list:

• March (?) 2014: Officially resigned from being a teacher because I saw how much I  wanted to focus on the relational side of students rather than the academic...in part because volunteering for Campus Life had reminded me just how much I loved it. 
• Near following months: Friends and mentors telling me to look into Campus Life jobs and wanting me to stay nearby. 
• April 2014: Went on location for an interview at a group home/boarding school type setting in Illinois and a phone interview with the people in Missouri. Illinois wanted me to start right after school was out; Missouri wanted me in August (though that played no part in my decision making). Was offered the position in Missouri...jumped on it while truly feeling something in my heart pulling me into their ministry.
• Summer 2014: The best summer of my life spent heavily with Campus Life students...giving me more experience with Campus Life and causing me to fall even more in love with the organization, mission, people and community while growing closer to my Director. 

In summary, if I would not have gotten the Missouri position, I would have taken the one in Illinois. Because of the way I am wired, I wouldn't have turned down an equally great position without having another one as a possibility...or even another organization found and applied to. If I would have moved to Illinois, I would have without spending the summer falling in love with Campus Life. Thus, I wouldn't have been observed by Dana or have been here in August when all of this overhauling occurred.  

Each piece of the last year has molded me and grown me into the person who accepted this overhauling. I've taken leaps of faith throughout the year that I never would have before, I've grown in my closeness to God, underwent healing and discovery and learned to simply abide. These circumstances and stories are too lengthy to chronicle here, but believe me, they happened. 

This next adventure that is beginning is definitely going to utilize and challenge every last bit of that learning how to live and walk in faith. Right now I am currently living with Adam's parents due to the quick transition without a paycheck in the foreseeable future, barreling into large groups of strangers, facing every anxiety that I battle. BUT, it is because of the evidence of God's clearly orchestrated plan in merely the last few months that I am confident in the future. I am confident that there are lost teens that simply need to know Jesus in this community; I am confident that I will be able to impact them only because of the identity, hope and grace of Christ; I am confident that this position of hectic, chaotic, unknown overhaulment (that really should be a word) is exactly where I am supposed to be. 

I am confident in Him.