Praise Be to God Great Things He Has Done!

So I have been in my apartment for a couple of weeks now. I still cannot believe that I am finally here, that this time has finally come to be. I am working, in the real world, on my own...It is hard to even begin to describe all that God has done for me in the past few weeks. When God chose to answer, He chose to answer! Everything happened in the matter of a week and it was such a whirlwind of events.

Monday October 22nd: I decided to look again on the Baylor career website. When I got there, I found a posting for an event coordinator job. I sent off my resume like I had so many times before (I literally had to stop counting after 300...) and forgot about it, not really expecting anything to come of it (as usual). That same afternoon I got a phone call asking me if I would be interested in an interview. They wanted to see me pretty quickly and the only day I had off that week was Tuesday. So, Monday night, I hopped in the car and drove to Waco and stayed with a sweet friend who let me crash at her place on the spur of the moment.

Tuesday October 23rd: I drove the rest of the way to Dallas where I had my interview. I loved it! It was a normal interview with normal questions. (I had had some really weird ones throughout the course of my interviewing, let me tell ya) I met the owner and the current event coordinator whose position I was interviewing for. They were so great! I loved the company and the job description. I left the interview feeling pretty good about it. I still tried not to get my hopes up, and yet I felt something stirring in my heart about this one.

Wednesday October 24th: The owner called me and offered me the event coordinator position. Of course, I was SUPER excited, but I still asked for some time to pray about it (I tried to play it cool, but it was really hard. When you wait as long as I did, it takes everything in you not to scream "Hell, YES!" into the phone. I knew this was where God wanted me, but my flesh was still struggling with how low the salary was. I hate that it always comes down to money. But I had been slashing my salary expectations all summer and even after I cut my budget down to the bare minimum, this position still offered $4000 below that threshold. LOL. I laugh because it's hilarious. If you could only know...But I felt as though God was asking me to take the step of faith. I laughed at Him too. He didn't find it very funny.

Thursday October 25th: So I accepted the job. When I called my new boss to tell her the news she was really excited but not the least bit surprised. She knew that I needed to pray about it and hear the confirmation from God, but she knew I would take the job because Jesus had told her to offer it to me. She was confident He wouldn't have told me something different from what He told her.

Friday October 26th: I put in my 2 weeks notice and thought I would start the process of moving. But of course God's plan was different than mine. Because of work and fulfilling commitments, I wasn't able to go up to Dallas until a couple of days before my first day of work. So I had to pack a suitcase and just go without having a place to live. I stayed with my aunt, so I wasn't on the streets, but this would not have been typical Erin-plan. Instead, God was continuing to test my patience and my faith. I had to trust He would provide something soon.

Part of me hated how quickly everything happened, not because it was happening, but because I had no time to prepare for it! That's sounds ridiculous, I know, but I wasn't quite in a rational state of mind at that point anyway. LOL. God completely rocked my world and wouldn't let me take the Erin-plan of carefully planning out every move. I was not in control of my circumstances yet again. And this is where it gets exciting. There was another part of me (a new part of me that I have never seen before) that knew everything would work out and that I had nothing to worry about. To people who know me well...you should close your mouth now, because I swear it's true.

So 2 weeks later, I packed my suitcase, stayed with my aunt for my 1st week of work, and God was faithful to provide an amazing apartment (right price, right location, right safety, etc.)

God has been so faithful, and it has been incredible to see His love and provision in my life. Many people faithfully prayed for my job search; I cannot express in words how thankful I am for each of them. God hears the prayers of His children and answers in awesome ways! I could not have made it through this summer without all of the prayers, encouragement, and love from so many people.

It was quite a journey. I have grown so much over the last few months. I wish I could have learned some of the lessons I needed to in an easier way, but if I am honest with myself, I would say that God knew best that this is how I needed to learn. I had some hard lessons to learn; I was stretched in so many painful ways. So many people walked with me in varying ways during some dark times. There were too many times I doubted God's goodness, doubted His master plan for me. But I can now say that I have come out on the other side of the storm a better person. I have been beaten, bruised, humbled, corrected, forgiven, shaped, and purified. God used my difficult circumstances to mold me even more into the image of His Son; and knowing that result, I would not change the past few months for anything. The things that break us are the things that make us stronger.

After months of waiting, months of silence, months of hurt, fear, disappointment, confusion, etc…God chose to let me in on a piece of His plan for me. When God says His timing is not ours, it is so true! Haha. So now I am working for a company that I find new ways to love every day. I am their new Event Coordinator (yay!). I am responsible for all logistics and execution of national youth success seminars. We help kids learn how to succeed in life, to follow their dreams, to learn the life skills they don't teach in classrooms. So far, I love every minute of my job, and I am really trying to soak in all that God has done for me.

Not too long ago, I had a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and I never thought this day would come. And yet here I am, setting up my Christmas tree in my new apartment (one of my pleas to God was that I would be settled by Christmas). I have started this whole new life in a matter of days, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me. The hard times aren't over. Taking this job was a step of faith in more ways than one. But no matter what I may face, I know I can trust Him. I know that He has good things planned for me…even if they are not what my finite mind can conceive. God's ways are better than my ways. He is good and faithful. Praise be to God, great things He has done!