“There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming.” – Shauna Niequist
When I moved to DC last September, I was still caught up in the whimsey that was a recent four months traveling Europe. I came home in late August and moved a quick two weeks later.
The previous four months were filled with new cities, delicious foods, friends from across the globe, adrenaline packed escapades, lazy days at the beach, tomato fights in Spain, dancing in Greece and sailing in Croatia.
When it all ended I felt I had been abruptly ejected from a perfect storm of adventure that had consumed me in every way possible. Though my cross-country move had been set in motion by my own logistical efforts, I felt I was being led blindfolded or like a person trying to run straight after spinning around in circles.
It was my dream to move to DC and work in PR, but then the world got a hold of my heart and I felt I would never get a chance to finish chipping away at the long list of foreign lands I had yet to discover.
I used to sit in the chair in the offices I was temping at while job searching and stare at the cars going by down below on the highway. I would sit there and wonder how long I would work this job and how long it would take me to admit that I hated it.
I immediately wanted to leave. I thought I could just go to Australia and be with all the friends I had made or I could go backpack around South America. Flight was the option I liked the most but ultimately fight was the one I chose.
I couldn’t leave, I had a year’s lease and a new car and a promise to my best friend to be her roommate. I sort of hated DC for a while. It was cold and making friends was so tricky and of course I was unemployed and running out of money.
Through the months I spent adjusting, I also found a church, a small group, a community and the rediscovered love for an incredible God. I eventually found work I liked – doing the communication to help fight homelessness in DC. The job was perfect for me but I wasn’t satisfied and couldn’t find a way to get excited about it.
When I said yes to the World Race it was just before I was to start my new job. I of course wanted to go right away. I thought about leaving the job I had just found or possibly quitting half way through the year.
Amongst this huge desire to leave I heard this constant whisper to be patient. That week in church and small group we talked about something that changed everything for me. We talked about how where you live isn’t an accident and how everyone was placed where they are for a reason. We also talked about how transient DC is and how different things could be if we stopped simply consuming the city and started taking ownership over it. It all suddenly made sense to me.
I scratched and clawed my way from Alabama to DC and that all crumbled in front of me in an instant. God had wrecked my plans to orchestrate my life in DC in accordance with His. This new job would give me an opportunity to serve the city and not just take from it.
I decided in that moment that I was going to really live in DC, I was going to dig in and be present. I remember the moment on the couch at small group perfectly – the shift where my dissatisfaction turned to joy.
Somewhere along the way I stopped counting the months until I would get to leave on the World Race and started counting how many more months I would get to be in my favorite city with my friends.
Friendship Place staff at an event at the French Embassy
He called me to be patient and listening to that has been to the most incredible blessing. The Lord has used this time to teach me countless lessons about who He is and who He knows me to be. I have found friends that love me and push me closer to Christ. I found a roommate that loves God so fiercely and prays with me in our kitchen. A church with leaders that believe in me and refuse to let us all remain stagnant and unchanged. And coworkers that care about me just as much as they care about the population we serve.
God has used DC to stretch my mind and open my eyes to what it truly means to love and respect all people no matter what. He has shown me that all things happen in His time and when we are patient and live in the present life can be so rich and satisfying.
Later will be thrilling and incredible. Later will be 11 months of change and new and more stretching. Later will be what I have been waiting for; but now is what I never expected. Now is what I needed, now is good and full and beautiful. Later will be filled with new lands and strange foods; but now is filled with themed parties, holiday meals with my family, bible studies and brunch with my friends and dancing in the car with my coworker. Now tastes like baked pumpkins, smells like fresh cut Christmas trees and sounds like bold worship music and constant laughter.
Later will certainly be incredible; but I can wait because now is such an incredible blessing!
