thank the Lord for time zones. and may this be the last time i procrastinate. i bookmarked this post, circling “august 20th” on my mental calendar over a month ago, promoting the “living a better story seminar” conference.
i told myself, i am going to portland. i started a first draft of the post in a word document. then a few days ago, i started this iteration, which was also unfinished.
in the course of a month, i overlooked the very important detail about the deadline. my understanding was that i would have august 20th to enter but at 12:01 a.m., august 21, the carriage would turn into a pumpkin.
and maybe that understanding is still correct. but i still cannot take any chances.
so anyway, my flight from atlanta was supposed to depart at 9:05 p.m. and arrive at ronald-reagan washington national airport (which isn’t actually in dc but arlington, va) at 10:51 p.m. the plane left closer to 11:00 p.m. and arrived at the gate at 12:30 a.m.
i had arrived in georgia tuesday afternoon for adventures in missions’s (aim) marketing/mobilization team’s retreat. for a couple days, we were holed up in a cabin in northwest georgia, scribbling notes furiously on yellow note-pads and drawing graphs on white-boards. we brainstormed, worshiped, prayed, soaked in a hot-tub, dined on steak and lobster and watched season two of the office.
in a few hours i head to the office for my penultimate friday as a patent paralegal. next saturday, i ship out to dublin, ireland, to be a part of and report on “the awakening”, a gathering of all world race (11 month missions trip to 11 countries) alumni and participants.
about a year ago, i had returned from the world race myself. i knew that that year was an awesome story in and of itself but it was just the prelude to something bigger.
a few months ago, my jeff asked me to come on staff with aim on the marketing team. the first time he extended the invitation over a year ago, i declined. i was going to do the 9-5, clear my debts, plug back into my church here in nice northern virginia.
but when he made that ask this spring, in my spirit, i felt a “yes”.
and since then, things have quickly escalated. not only was i quitting my job cold-turkey; i am also getting kicked out of my house. i’m gonna be a missionary in/to america. . . for longer than 11 months. . .
this is totally not how i’d write my story. but if i had my way, it’d be really boring, so i’m glad He’s doing it instead. and i wanna go to portland to show others – namely a small group of young adults in transition (mostly from school to the workforce) – how to live their stories better, too.
