Along time ago I promised my supporters and blog readers
(even though I didn’t blog much) the Jesus story of how I ended up in
Lafayette, IN, after the race….I’ve been randomly working on this since I
returned, but never had the time to finish it.
About a week ago I decided it was to “late” to post this, but I guess
it’s better late than never….So, here it goes.
Even
before the World Race I had this feeling that I would end up back in
Indiana. I had different ideas of what I
would do after the Race, but when month 9 and 10 finally came around I knew I
was moving back to Indiana….I just didn’t know when, how, or why. I kind of hit panic mode at different points
of the Race….In India I remember when God said to me, “I know what you need. I know your circumstances for life after the
Race are different than most of your squadmates. I know that you need a place to live, a job,
and many things. Trust me. I’ve got you.” Ashley and I had the Desert Song on repeat in
Nepal and India. She and I prayed specifically for crazy favor when we got to
Romania. I was going through a very
difficult time and all I could do was wait on God. So, I waited.
It was a time in my life that I could not do anything. It was by far the most faith building time in
my life. I submitted applications as
much as I could. Yet, there really wasn’t
much else I could do. Within the 30 minutes I was on the internet
one day in India, a job was posted at Faith Christian School in Lafayette, IN, I emailed the
administrator, he replied, and we decided to continue communication once I got
to Romania.
Romania
came and I literally feel lighter when we land in Bucharest. He has something for me here. I couldn’t wait to find out. The second week in Romania I was contacted
about doing Skype interviews for 3 different schools….This was crazy
favor from God. People in America were clamoring
for teaching positions and I was all the way in Romania with a taped up old
computer getting interview after interview.
Our second week in Romania I receive an email from Scott at FCS asking
if I would like to interview for a 2nd or 3rd grade
position. Ummm…Yes, please! Yet, I was
slightly hesitant because it was Lafayette and I can honestly say I did not know a single person living in Lafayette.
All my connections were in Indianapolis.
So, I schedule the interview….With the time difference I was
interviewing at 11pm! The only interview
I’ve ever done that involved me wearing a nice shirt and pajama pants.
The interview went wonderfully. I knew this was what God had planned for me….Yet,
being the control freak I am I continue on with the other interviews in Chicago
and Kokomo. The Chicago interview was
heading in a positive direction, but I had absolutely no peace about the
job. I just knew that His next step for me was Faith
Christian School in Lafayette….I even began referring to it as my school when I
didn’t even have the job yet. My heart
stopped when I found out that I would have to move 4 days after the Race….Yet,
the timing was perfect. Even before I
had the job I knew that this was it….God had been preparing me for this and it
was in His plan. I remember the tears in
my eyes when I walked into Joni and Shannon’s room in Bucharest to tell them….Not just that
I “finally” got a job. This could never
be “just a job”. He deserves all the
glory for how this all happened. It was
God just releasing His blessings and love over me. He DID know what I needed. He gave me the peace about it before I was “officially”
hired. He worked it all out to the
littlest detail….From giving me a place to live to letting Romania be the only
month that we had consistent internet.
I cannot look at this crazy story and take any credit for
it. In fact, I had everything working “against”
me….I was overseas, didn’t have a place to live, didn’t have any connections in
Lafayette, hadn’t taught in a year, wouldn’t even arrive in Lafayette until the
night before orientation began. That’s why it was all
Jesus. He told me in India that He had this
taken care of….I just needed to walk through this and trust and wait on
Him.
And He DOES know what YOU need. Remember that. I walked through some difficult times this past year. Carmen preached in Kenya about times in our lives when “If God doesn’t show up, we’ll fail”….Secretly, I never wanted a moment like that in my life. I like to keep things organized and in control. I was called to the World Race and called to FINISH all 11 months….Even when it would have been easier to go home. Since I’ve been in Indiana, I’ve had a few opportunities to pray with people who are in their moments of “If God doesn’t show up, I’ll fail.” It has been an absolute honor to pray with these people. I had many times in my life that I doubted that He would provide…After what I’ve experienced, how can I ever doubt again?
Thank you for following me this year. I love all of you. Believe it or not, I have a final blog on the actual “re-entry” process. I”ll be done with that blog soon. I’m sorry it’s taken almost 3 months for these blogs to get out!
