Tuesday, October 4

Lean not on what makes sense...part 3

**to read part 1, to read part 2**

As I mentioned, in June I said no to Ohio.

However, with the "pause" over continuing education, dare I hope that Ohio could actually still have an opening these couple months later? So I emailed the director...

And the next day I heard back saying that he still had one position to fill! I asked to be considered for that opening, if possible. So on October 15th, I'll be having an interview. I'm one of three girls being considered for this one position. And the funny thing is, they are only slotting 30 minutes for the interview. However, now that I'm slatted for an interview, I feel a bit ambivalent about this position. I think it's partly because if the job goes to one of the other two girls, it simply means that this is not the ministry for me. And a closed door is fine.

Side story: Before I actually contacted the director, I was chatting with my mentor/friend about this ministry. Like me, she thinks this ministry is completely complimentary of my personality. So she prayed that this ministry would contact me about an open position and even if I contacted them that God would make it clear whether or not this is the ministry for me. That night, after the prayer, is when I decided to just go ahead and email the director. Side story over.

But where the unexpected twist occurs, is that approximately 4 days later, the ministry in Maryland contacted me out of the blue! I get to work that morning, check my email and low and behold, there is an email waiting to be read, that asks if I am still looking for a ministry and interested in their program...if so, they one spot to fill. My initial reaction was stunned silence. In fact I didn't say or do anything about this for at least 24 hours. But nor could I ignore it. After all, my mentor/friend had prayed that the ministry would contact ME and while she wasn't praying about Maryland, here is a ministry that did just what she prayed for. So after prayer and thought, I emailed back to say that I was interested.

At the end of that week, we had two phone calls (because the first call had to be cut short since I needed to go to work) and talked all of 4 hours about the ministry and myself. I was honest with this gal that I was flying out to Ohio for an interview but wasn't sure how things would turn out. So anyhow, where things stand now with Maryland, is that I just sent in the rest of paperwork that they wanted from me with various other questions that were not covered in our interviews along with the references.

It's a bit of a waiting game. Waiting for my interview in Ohio (now 1.5 weeks away). Waiting to hear back from Maryland. Waiting for more of God's wisdom and guidance.

Where things get "messy" is that in addition to these two ministries, I was also made aware of a position in Thailand overseeing a guest house. I applied for that more spontaneously than was probably wise. While this sounds exciting and while I would LOVE the hospitality element, I think this position would be about half administrative, which I would DISLIKE. And then...yes I know, a plethora of options...my friends in Mexico really REALLY want me to join them. I don't know how I feel about that ministry. Part of me genuinely wants to go but I wonder if that's the part of me that misses them and knows I would enjoy working with them. So I don't know. Another thing I keep thinking of is that for either Mexico or Maryland, I could always give it a try for a year...no harm in that. Then if it's not for me, I could move on. But that line of thinking doesn't lead me any closer to an answer.

All I know, in that all of these options, my life will be changing soon! At some time from mid-November to February...I'll be moving onward and outward. (November is really really soon...eek!)

So that's my story, thus far. None of this is what I would have predicted or planned for my life. However I'm learning that the Lord doesn't always lead us onto the path that is full of understanding. But that is when trusting the Lord because a reality.

2 comments:

Mindy said...

Wow! What an bunch of exciting opportunities! Anywhere you go, you can be used by Him! Fantastic.

Mindy said...

The amount of options is a bit overwhelming at times but then I just take a deep breath, say a prayer, and trust that God is still at work in the midst of this craziness! God is good!