Saying Goodbye & Hello

So many of you have asked for updates throughout the journey of the move and a way to stay in touch with all that happens in this new season of my life, so I'm going to try to do a better job of keeping up with this blog and sharing as many details as I can. I apologize in advance for the wordiness, but I love that God is in the details, so I don't want to leave any of them out! :)

To be honest, I think I'm still in a bit of shock over how quickly this came about and how all of the details have so effortlessly and perfectly fallen into place! Such an obvious testament that God is leading and has already prepared the way - which is such a peaceful reassurance when I have those moments where I think "what the heck am I doing?!" :)

When the opportunity for the move unfolded last month, many people asked me where I would be moving. Usually there's an obvious location based on a job transition, but as a freelance designer, I didn't have to be in any specific spot. Frankly, that was kind of an overwhelming idea when you think about all of the amazing and beautiful cities throughout the great state of Colorado! So as I prayed about it, I knew that I was feeling called to plugin and serve at Flatirons Church, so that became my radius point. Before I left for my most recent trip to CO, I pulled up a map and looked at that radius and for whatever reason, Broomfield really stood out to me. Probably out of logic more than anything, so I certainly didn't put much weight to it. I hopped on a plane a few days after that to fly to CO and sat next to a sweet teacher from Wyoming who I talked with throughout the flight. At one point in the conversation when I brought up the move she said, "Have you looked at Broomfield? I feel like that would be a good fit for you." Interesting...noted. :)

That night, I drove from the airport to a friend's house (who was out of town) in Littleton where I was going to be staying for the weekend. She had arranged for her roommate to leave a key under the mat upon my arrival. I had booked this specific trip 6+ months ago for the wedding, not too long after my roommate got engaged, mostly thinking I wanted to enjoy exploring CO before it was all about the wedding - especially being the weekend of the 4th of July. As the months progressed, plans changed. Various friends I had made plans with were now going to be out of town and I wasn't really sure why I was still coming early. I debated changing my flight altogether, but felt like God wanted me to leave it alone and just roll with it.

So, I'm in the car, feeling ridiculous and asking the Lord what on earth I was doing that weekend in CO. I felt that still small voice whisper, "Just let me surprise me. Let me lead." I smiled to myself and thought - alright, bring it :). SO, I get to the house in Littleton at about 11:30pm and the lights were off and there wasn't a key under the mat. I called her roommate, but no answer. I called my friend (who was in NY - felt so bad about that late night call!), but other than her trying to call her roommate, there wasn't really anything she could do either. So, I figured it was going to be a night of sleeping in my rental car, which made me laugh because it just makes for a hilarious story :). I posted something to that effect on Facebook and as I settled into the car for the night and within minutes, received a text.

Backstory: The Andersons were the pastors of the church I went to from 6th grade through high school. Our family moved an hour away when I was in high school, so they were our extended family and "home away from home" on youth group nights since we also went to school in that same city. Anyway, their son (Eric) was good friends with my brother and has lived in CO with his wife for the past 10 years, but I haven't seen him since high school and had never met his wife. Just a few weeks before this, his wife (Crystal) messaged me on FB asking if we could be friends and I mentioned coming into town and looking forward to meeting up with them and getting to meet her. We exchanged phone numbers and that brings us back to this moment... :)

Anyway, I get this text from Crystal saying that they saw my FB post and wanted to know if I needed a place to stay. Of course I welcomed the opportunity for a bed rather than a reclining carseat :), so I said that would be awesome and asked for their address. I had to laugh when she texted it to me and it was Broomfield. Listening, Lord :).

I ended up spending the weekend at their house and a lot of time with them - including attending church with them at Flatirons - where they attend along with Crystal's entire family. I enjoyed it so much, I not only went Saturday night but again on Sunday morning. It further confirmed what God had already laid on my heart and it took every bit of restraint not to just get on their webpage and sign up for every possible opportunity to serve/plugin/connect even though I had no idea of the timeframe of the move or where I was going to be living. I just knew with full confidence, I wanted to be a part of this church and all that they are doing.

So, I got back home and just started putting out feelers. I always have a hard time knowing how much God would expect of me and how much I need to let go and let him do his thing. So I emailed everyone I know in CO even though none of them live in the vicinity of where I'll be moving, I joined the church's singles page on FB and posted the need for housing on there and I also put an ad on craigslist. When I felt like I'd exhausted my resources, I said, "Ok God, I've done all I know to do and I'm done. I won't search anymore, I won't send anymore emails and I won't worry about it. I trust that you have a plan for this and now I'm going to just sit back, enjoy the time that you've give me here with friends and family and trust that everything will unfold in your perfect timing."

I swear, no sooner had we had that conversation than my email began to explode. Then it became a matter of praying through what opportunities God wanted me to pursue and what he wanted me to say no to. Initially, none of them were in Broomfield so although so many were tempting, I was torn. I wasn't sure if I needed to say no to all of them and continue to wait for Broomfield since that's where I felt God was leading. The morning I was going to give my answer to the options, this was the verse in my daily reading:

But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.
    He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.
God takes the time to do everything right—everything.
    Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.
Isaiah 30:18

So I started to decline the various offers. I called to talk to one couple, who had a house in Louisville that was honestly in a great location (really close to the church), but not Broomfield, and when we began the conversation they mentioned that the house for rent in Louisville was already spoken for (further confirmation it wasn't the right one for me), but that they had one in Broomfield that they wondered if I would be interested in. One small problem - it wasn't going to be furnished and I'm just packing up my car with an air mattress, clothes and outdoor gear. They said they would be happy to furnish it. Um, ok?! They ask price and I tell them what I can afford (lump sum including utilities), knowing it's not much considering the space. They say no problem, that works for them. I email them later asking about wifi and other questions and they respond asking what kind of speed and how many cable channels I would like. I honestly sat there, a bit dumbfounded, feeling like they were helping me out more than I am helping them. Even more interesting to me is that the house is just a few streets over from where I stayed with Eric & Crystal just a few weekends ago, so I already know exactly what the area looks like.

So, pending my character references, as of September 5th I will be living in the great state of Colorado. Just typing that gives me nervous belly! lol! I've already signed up for a women's Bible study through the church, requested to meet with the college pastor to start serving in that ministry, emailed the local Young Life chapter and have been researching various ministry opportunities to work with troubled teen girls as well. The hardest part is that I want to spend my days serving and not working, but am so grateful to have a job that provides the flexibility to do both and trusting that as He has been faithful to provide clients in the past, He will continue to do that in a city where I don't have 12 years of connections :). It's exciting to be on the precipice of a new season, knowing that I don't even have a clue of all that is to come, but fully believing it's going to be nothing short of amazing!

So stay tuned! Here goes everything! :)