Recently, a friend posted on facebook that I shouldn't leave and I responded by saying that God was pointing me in this direction, so I had to go. To this, one of my good friends asked, "How did you know where he was pointing? And where can I get I get a sign like this?" And to be honest, while I haven't questioned it really because I just know, coming up with some kind of an answer was pretty difficult. But it has really caused me to think about what I'm doing and why. So I'm going to share a bit of this road with you.
Back after college, I almost applied for Mission Year, but for some unknown (or at least unremembered) reason, I didn't end up applying, and I ended up doing the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows instead. So now I have a teaching certification. And I got to realize a dream before I turned 30. Before I turned 25, really. There were times that it seemed more like a nightmare, but it was a dream come true. And then He called me to the Czech Republic. And I ended up in a place that continues to help my resume, teaching at a bilingual elementary school.
In the fall, I wanted to come back to the Czech Republic. I came thinking this would be my last year (and that next year, I'd go back to making lot of money), but as soon as I landed in Prague, I thought, "There's no way this is over." So I started considering my other options and was pretty much going to apply for a job. Once I knew I couldn't stay with my sending organization, I was settled about it, but I had no idea what was next. And that was ok. Once I hit a point where I could have applied and not been too early, I just didn't do it. It wasn't that i didn't have a peace about it. To be honest, it was a lot due to the fact that I didn't want to write a CV or anything like that. But I also just couldn't bring myself to do it. In October, my car sold, and I knew it was a sign about next year. But even then, when I had a plan that I was going to pursue, I still couldn't bring myself to apply-I couldn't even say with certainty that I would be back here in the Czech Republic for next year. I was pretty sure, though, that I wouldn't be in America. In some ways, I'm glad I was wrong about that.
In January, when God brought Mission Year back to my mind (quite randomly to me, as far as I could tell) I thought, "Oh, that might be fun. But who knows." The more I looked into it and thought about it, though, the more I knew it was what I wanted, and the more I felt it was what God wanted. Even to the point that I applied for the graduate program at Eastern at the same time that I applied for Mission Year-something I really never wanted to do (but would have done because it seemed like the logical next step-to get a masters degree).
Now for a somewhat amusing (at least to me) story about another small confirmation to me that this was right. Before finishing my application, I had already decided on my top 3 choices. Philadelphia was my first choice, Oakland, CA, was my second choice, and Chicago, IL, was my third. I didn't really know why, but those were my choices. Anyway, once I filled out the application and found out I was accepted, I also found out that I had to choose two, not three, of my top choices. And somehow, I started thinking I'd rather go to Atlanta. I didn't really have any good reason for it. In fact, I had a hard time choosing anything because all of a sudden, Atlanta was in the running. I went from having to choose one out of two to choosing one out of three. Philadelphia was always my first choice-no questions asked. In the end, I didn't decide. I told them Philadelphia was my first choice, and after that, I couldn't choose, so wherever they put me was where God wanted me.
In March, I found out I was going to Atlanta and I thought that this was really interesting and exciting because it was the random city that I wanted to go to but couldn't put as my second choice because I didn't have a good reason for it.
But let's fast-forward to this week. On our Facebook page, an announcement was posted that there were two cities that they decided not to send people to this year. And guess what those two cities were-you guessed it. Chicago and Oakland. Yeah, it's small, but to me, this shows that God has had His hand on this decision for me since the beginning. The fact that I chose to teach in Philadelphia and earn a teaching certificate rather than going with Mission Year right away also seems to point to God. It opens doors for opportunities with Mission Year, even. God so clearly has His hand on this whole situation. Even when I start to get nervous about raising funds, I know that God has called me to do this, so He will provide for me to do it. I am so excited. I can't wait to see how God will use me and change me. I can't wait to be awed even more by God's works.
