Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that there are many levels of provision. I recognized that I could very well find myself on bread and water for the next 40 years. While that would be quite a change from the salmon and steak I've become accustomed to, I wasn't worried.
I was excited. Like a kid at Christmas. Tingly, giggly, cannot sleep excited.
So I quit trying to sleep and started lining up ducks.
First - decide where, exactly, to go.Closer to family, which was part of the "why," meant the East Coast. There's a lot of choices there. Just to prove I can summarize a little, I won't go through the whole process of elimination with you. After all, it took less than 5 minutes in my head, it seems only fair to keep it short for you. In the end, I decided on NC, SC, or VA.
In Bible times, this would be where they sent out a scouting party. Joshua checking out Jericho. Me, I've got the internet. By dawn I knew the licensing requirements for teachers in all three states. NC was out, on the grounds that they would make me take expensive qualifying tests. I'm a great test-taker, but a horrible saver, plus, taking qualifying tests to do a job I was already doing didn't sit well with me. SC didn't require the tests, but did warn that they might be requested at a later time. VA wanted 3+ years of teaching experience, no expensive tests required. I had a winner.
And it "felt" right.
My sis was a little dissappointed that I ruled out NC so early. I never really reconsidered. I did try to seriously consider SC, but it was farther from my parents and brother's family. I also just felt more peaceful about VA. I like to believe it was a little Holy Spirit soothing.
I'm not saying God called me to VA. Maybe He did, and time will tell. But I am saying that he approved of my desire to go there.
Parents, you know what I mean. Junior asks if he borrow the car to go see the newest alien invaders movie with his friends. You might wish he'd stay home, enjoy any of the hundreds of DVD's you already have, and save his money. Or go to the park. Or go visit grandma, who misses him. Or clean his room. Or at least wait until the movie comes to the cheap theater. But you can see the desire of his heart is to have this adventure with his friends, at this time. So you say, "okay," and you give him the keys. Gladly. Because you trust him, and his friends, and you know he'll make wise choices.
As I pondered this move, more verses came to mind, assuring me that God was in this, God was OK with this. God created me with a desire for adventure. Jesus came that I might live life abundantly. For too long I had been living as a slave to imagined "shoulds." I should settle down. I should be content with a life that many would consider a complete success. I should NOT take risks in this economy. I have a job, I should just stick it out. I should NOT leave my friends. I should be happy.
I had subconsciously turned my great God (partly) into a cosmic King Midas. You remember him, don't you? In his desire to make everything in his kingdom perfect, Midas stifled his own beloved daughter - nearly killed her. I knew God loved me, but I felt chained by beauty and love and friendship and security and comfort. Golden chains, it turns out, are still chains.As I considered my options, I remembered a few more kingdom principles. Family is important. God created the whole planet, and there is more beauty in it than just Puget's Sound (though it's hard to imagine anything topping that view). God got me the job I had in University Place, He could surely get me another. True friendships can survive time and distance.
Most importantly, God is not King Midas.
So by 6 am I had called my sister and told her the news.
By 8am I had told my boss.
Just two weeks after having re-decorated my classroom to be better organized for next school year, I was telling my boss that I wouldn't be back after all.
And so I began filling out paperwork to get my credentials in VA. I began applying online for jobs. I began trusting that somehow it would all work out.
I began my adventure. And I felt alive!
The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy;
I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full. - John 10:10
