thoughts on 22
if you would have asked me where i would have been after college, i would have said:
1. married
2. overseas
and guess where i am....single and in the US. hilarious, God, hilarious.
so... i have a degree in zoology, but i've always wanted to serve overseas in some capacity so that was always the plan after graduation. when i did summer project in 2008 in argentina, i knew i wanted to come back with campus crusade on STINT (1 or 2 years overseas on campus). so fall/winter of my senior year, i started applying for crusade and also with IMB- a missions agency through my church. i was accepted to both and they both started in august. i decided to go IMB b/c i didn't have to raise my support. come may 2009, i had deferred acceptance to crusade and come to find out the recession took my job (well, just pushed back the leave date indefinitely).
this last year has become a game of finding somewhere to work/something to do while i try to figure out my life again. in the fall i ended up interning at the carolina tiger rescue center in pittsboro, nc. i was able to live at home (thanks mom and dad!) and commute there 3 days a week. it was great to get some experience toward my degree area. then, in the spring, i got accepted to do an internship in colorado at a young life camp. i moved to a small, small town to live among some other kids my age and give 4 months of service.
last fall i reapplied for STINT because i didn't feel any real calling to do zoology and i knew i still wanted to serve in a bigger capacity. i was accepted this past spring to the crusade intern program and then after much prayer and counsel decided to stay in the US and use my gifts through inner city ministry.
so since my last birthday i graduated college, played with tigers, skied the rockies, and now i live in chicago. it's been a whirlwind for sure. this past year has been, in a word, lonely. when i moved home i didn't get to see my friends as often and many of them moved away. i worked a lot in pittsboro and often it was just me and the tigers. in colorado there was only 1 other girl in our program so i didn't have many outlets to talk to. when applying for STINT i specifically asked to be placed with another intern so i wouldn't be alone. originally i was placed with jen, but she was called to another job in ohio so i ended up coming to chicago by myself. yet again i am miss independent. it gets tiring after awhile; really tiring. i still don't have any friends outside of work and my roommate. i've always had a really easy time making friends because i was always on a team or in some sort of group that made an automatic connection. now that i'm in the real world i don't even know how to meet my neighbors in my apartment. so this season i am trying to find intimacy with God and realize that no matter if i am in the mountains or the valley, i am with God.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
-Psalm 139: 7-10
1. married
2. overseas
and guess where i am....single and in the US. hilarious, God, hilarious.
so... i have a degree in zoology, but i've always wanted to serve overseas in some capacity so that was always the plan after graduation. when i did summer project in 2008 in argentina, i knew i wanted to come back with campus crusade on STINT (1 or 2 years overseas on campus). so fall/winter of my senior year, i started applying for crusade and also with IMB- a missions agency through my church. i was accepted to both and they both started in august. i decided to go IMB b/c i didn't have to raise my support. come may 2009, i had deferred acceptance to crusade and come to find out the recession took my job (well, just pushed back the leave date indefinitely).
this last year has become a game of finding somewhere to work/something to do while i try to figure out my life again. in the fall i ended up interning at the carolina tiger rescue center in pittsboro, nc. i was able to live at home (thanks mom and dad!) and commute there 3 days a week. it was great to get some experience toward my degree area. then, in the spring, i got accepted to do an internship in colorado at a young life camp. i moved to a small, small town to live among some other kids my age and give 4 months of service.
last fall i reapplied for STINT because i didn't feel any real calling to do zoology and i knew i still wanted to serve in a bigger capacity. i was accepted this past spring to the crusade intern program and then after much prayer and counsel decided to stay in the US and use my gifts through inner city ministry.
so since my last birthday i graduated college, played with tigers, skied the rockies, and now i live in chicago. it's been a whirlwind for sure. this past year has been, in a word, lonely. when i moved home i didn't get to see my friends as often and many of them moved away. i worked a lot in pittsboro and often it was just me and the tigers. in colorado there was only 1 other girl in our program so i didn't have many outlets to talk to. when applying for STINT i specifically asked to be placed with another intern so i wouldn't be alone. originally i was placed with jen, but she was called to another job in ohio so i ended up coming to chicago by myself. yet again i am miss independent. it gets tiring after awhile; really tiring. i still don't have any friends outside of work and my roommate. i've always had a really easy time making friends because i was always on a team or in some sort of group that made an automatic connection. now that i'm in the real world i don't even know how to meet my neighbors in my apartment. so this season i am trying to find intimacy with God and realize that no matter if i am in the mountains or the valley, i am with God.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
-Psalm 139: 7-10
i know how you feel, friend! you're not alone in this "in between" time, even though it seems like it. i am praying for you and love you!
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