Back in Month 4, I remember sitting down with my squad leader and saying, “Why the HECK is God showing me what I’m doing after the race so EARLY!?”
Hint: Because I had a hecka lot to process with Him and boy, did He know that.
In the Philippines, the Lord spoke so clearly to me about where He was going to take me, if I was willing, after the Race was over. And I was a little distraught because 1) what He told me was a 180 turn-around from where I thought I was going to be and 2) because He was giving me a confirmation that a desire I had was something that He wanted for me, too. Both of those are scary!
So…after the Race, I will be moving to Charlotte for the foreseeable future and will be attending nursing school in the fall! If you know me, you probably just read that and are thinking, “What the heck?” It’s okay, I thought the same thing. I’ll give you some background.
First of all, I LOVE NC State and Animal Science. It is 100% still a passion that I have and something that I will continue to pursue, but the way I pursue it will just look a little different now. When the Lord spoke to me in the Philippines, He said, “Do you trust me? Do you trust me that you can give me your greatest passions and I will give you something even greater? Do you trust that I have you best intentions in mind?” When He first told me this, I was mad and sad and didn’t really know what to think. What would everyone say back home? Would they think it was stupid to do three years of something and then switch? Would they think I was just quitting? All these thoughts, plus the fact that most of my friends and community were all in Raleigh. Raleigh had started transitioning to more than just a place I went college. But I trust that I learned what I needed to learn and that He taught me what He needed to teach me in that time. Those three years were not wasted. I’m taking a step of faith that doesn’t make sense in an earthly way, but I know that this is something the Lord has called me to do so I’m just going to trust and see what He has for me. I mean, He hasn’t led me astray so far. Why would He start now?
Another question I really had to process with the Father was if He would really call me away from something I am passionate about. And I think that answer is no. He wants to give me the desires of my heart, so while I can still be involved with agriculture and animals I don’t think it is meant to be my career. When I decided that I was no longer going to pursue veterinary school it was a relief, but also really sad because I love medicine. Going to nursing school still allows me to go after that interest just with humans instead of animals! I also realized that if the Lord calls you to something, He’s going to grow in you a passion and desire to do it. So, am I as passionate about nursing as I am about animal science? No. Do I trust that the Lord will grow that passion as I continue to walk in the path He has called me to? Yes!
Many of you won’t know this because I don’t think it’s something I ever spoke of, but going to nursing school has been in the back of my mind since my senior year of high school (just so you know that this isn’t a crazy thought that happened 2 months ago). WHAT? I know, crazy. I never really spoke of it because going to NC State for Animal Science had all I talked about to people since 4th grade, so I just kept with it.
The next part of this is that the Lord has confirmed that I’m supposed to be in Charlotte in SO many ways throughout this year!
Since January, I have been praying for someone to live with from our squad. I’ve known since then that I didn’t want to come home and forget all the things I had learned and I wanted someone to go through the re-entry process with. Well, in month 8 I was talking with one of my friends and she mentioned that she felt the Lord calling her to Charlotte, but didn’t know why. Y’all we hadn’t talked about this at ALL! She had no idea that I wasn’t going back to Raleigh or that I had been praying for someone to live with from our squad!
The other thing I had been praying for since January was to be grown in having a heart for my family and community. I realized that I had missed out on a lot of my brother’s and sister’s high school moments since I left for college only a month after high school graduation and I don’t want it to be that way any more. I want to be close so I can go to their prom and graduation and sports events, and I want to be closer to serve my parents better. I also want to be able to serve my home church because they have served me SO well and pointed to me to the Lord over and over again (shout out to EBC for how awesome all of y’all are!!).
So, yea this a big change. And it’s really different, but I’m so excited! Thanks for all of your support and for reading!
Also, please be in prayer for us as a squad and team! Prayers for staying present in this last month and half, prayers for energy (traveling for 10 months takes a toll on you energy levels and body), prayers for the Lord to continue to use us as vessels for Him, and prayers for us to continue seeing God in new ways! Thanks y’all!
