After last summer's life-changing experiences, I figured that for my senior year of college, life would be relatively predictable. As you can probably guess, I was totally wrong! But, the unpredictable nature of this year has made it quite possibly the best year of my life.
After being accepted for a teaching position with an overseas missions group, I spent the fall semester preparing and learning how to be the Christian woman, friend and leader God desires me to be. Then just before I returned to campus for spring semester I was introduced to a man named Brandon through some friends. From the moment we met, and in the weeks that followed, we both realized that something very real and significant was happening between us. Through prayer and plenty of conversation with each other and the important people in our lives, we happily entered into a serious relationship. Why through lots of prayer and conversation?
"...accepted for a teaching position..." That's why. When I had come to the decision about my relationship with Brandon, I notified my future employers. Though they had advised me to remain single before leaving the country (starting a relationship before moving overseas for a year?), I explained how committed we are and the confirmation that we had both received from God about it. Despite that, they came back to me with an ultimatum, which boiled down to relationship vs. teaching position.
I was pretty surprised, especially because of how strongly I was convicted about both situations, and so after more prayer and conversations with important people in my life, I decided to shelve the teaching position and remain in my relationship with Brandon. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done and it has definitely tested some of my friendships.
So I'm back at square one for what's next in life, but I'm closer to God than ever, and happier than I thought was possible. It's been an exercise in trust and obedience and the blessings have been unbelievable. I'll be writing more about this whole process, but I wanted to let you in on why I've been MIA lately!
How's life, etc, for you?