Bucket List Parallels

In the past 5 months I've accomplished two of my major bucket list items. 

-Move to a new state...preferably one with mountains.
-Jump out of a perfectly good airplane...preferably with a parachute and professional attached to me.

Check and check.

Although they are super different life experiences, some of the fundamentals of finding enjoyment out of the two are very similar.

If someone pushed me out of the airplane against my will, or even forced me to go skydiving to begin with....I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it.

Same thing goes for cliff jumping.   At my best friend's cabin last summer, we went cliff jumping into the lake.  We all jumped or dove, from varying heights according to our comfort level...but if someone didn't want to, we didn't make them.  Of course everyone at times needs a little encouragement.  And a little peer pressure is good when you know deep down the person wants to.  But we never forced anyone.

If you're forced to jump, the whole fall you are in panic mode.  You don't enjoy the experience. You are angry and freaked out.  If anything goes wrong, you blame the people who pushed you against your will.  Sometimes you even try to grab onto something to stop the fall. Anything to get back to that comfort zone.

I've found this same concept to be true for moving...or any new life change for that matter.

If I had been forced to move to Colorado, at the first sign of loneliness or fear I would have panicked.   I would have blamed the situation or person for forcing me to move.  I probably would have become bitter.  I maybe would have wanted to get back to that comfort zone so badly that I would have moved back.  I probably wouldn't be seeking out new adventures.  Trying new churches all by myself.  Putting myself out there by hanging out with new people. 

But thank God, it WAS my choice. I wasn't forced or pushed.  I was led here by God through a lot of prayer, internal interests, and crazy "God-things".  I chose to jump.  I'd like to think that even if life's circumstances had forced me to move, I would still do everything the same as I am now and have the same positive attitude about things...but I'm not really sure.

When I get lonely or bored it's my responsibility to either fix that by prayer and/or action... or just dwell in it for awhile and then move on.  I don't have anyone or anything to blame.  

And I love that. 

So choose your own adventures.  Follow where God is leading you.  Don't be scared of the leap.  You can have all the support and encouragement in the world (which you should!!), but YOU have to take the leap of faith into your own new adventure.  We all are pushed and forced into life's twists and turns enough the way it is. 

My new adventure was born out of getting laid off.  Not exactly something I wanna celebrate.  But God had a plan through all of that and He chose to share it with me.

Now, I live in Colorado.  And am loving it.    :)

And the adventure has just begun.....

And World Vision It Is!

God is so faithful! He has just blown me away this past month. 

As many of you know, I got laid off the beginning of December, (you can read more about that here). My plan was to move to Colorado. I have always wanted to live there, I was not stuck in a lease in Minneapolis, and I was just ready for something new! It was definitely a leap of faith, moving to a whole new state and city with no job, and no real connections.  But I jumped.  And God caught me!

So I'll back up a bit...my mom and I drove from Spearfish, SD (where my parents live now) to Colorado to look at apartments the second week of December.   We looked in 4 different cities.  I had applied for a job in Colorado Springs for Compassion International, but when we went there to get a tour I found out the position had just been filled. Although disappointed, this was actually a blessing to find out so that I didn't feel obligated to live in Colorado Springs.  I found an apartment I really liked in Aurora which is a suburb of Denver, and I also found one I really liked in Fort Collins.  I was moving ahead with the process of getting approved for the one in Fort Collins.  I loved the city--smaller but still plenty to offer--and closer to the mountains.  I then applied for a handful of jobs in FC, but not a single one that I was excited about. 

After getting back from Colorado, I prayed a lot about moving. I began to have a few reservations about living in Fort Collins specifically. Mainly because I knew the job situation would be more limited than in Denver, but also because it is a very white, middle-class city. Many people look for that, but I like being exposed to different types of people who aren't "like me".  I prayed about whether or not Fort Collins was where I should be.  I was stressed about signing a lease on an apartment with no job. I prayed for a job. Let's just say, I was praying a lot.

Then, in the middle of a run....God began to answer those prayers.  I had gotten a call from Max who is the Warehouse Manager for the World Vision GIK Global Distribution Center in Denver.  To preface why he had called me, I should explain that before leaving Minneapolis, I had contacted the Site Manager there in Denver who had visited our warehouse in the Twin Cities.  During that visit, we figured out we were both from the same small town in northern Minnesota.  He had even played golf with my dad! I had emailed him right when we found out about the layoffs and asked him to let me know if any positions opened up in Denver.  I knew nothing about the Denver site and for some reason I figured they had a very large staff.  They don't.  They only have 4 staff (and about 10,000 volunteers/yr). And it just so happened that 1 of those 4 staff was leaving and they needed someone to start January 9th.  I knew NOTHING about this when I decided to make my move to Colorado.  To be honest, before getting the call from Max, I had kind of forgotten I had even emailed the site manager about open positions.

I talked with Max about the position which was essentially the same position I had been doing in Minneapolis and told him that I was for sure interested.  After the phone call, I knew this was exactly what God has been preparing me for.  Keep in mind I hadn't been offered the position yet, but I immediately started making phone calls.  I canceled the application process for the apartment in Fort Collins, then I called the leasing office at the apartment I liked in Aurora (... I later found out that the WV Storehouse is IN AURORA!! Well, technically Denver but its right on the border) and started filling out all the paperwork for that apartment instead.

The next week I had an hour-long phone interview with the staff which went well.  Then I waited. The position had to be posted online for a few days to be fair to any other potentially interested internal applicants. I waited some more through the Christmas holiday.  Then on December 27, I got the call from the recruiter formally offering me the position! I don't think I've ever gotten such a big hug from my dad after I hung up the phone :)

So, this Thursday I will be officially moving to the Denver area and will start my new job on Monday, January 9th.  God is SO good. 

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Here are the biggest things that make me just stand back and go "WOW". 

1.  I would have never gotten this job if I hadn't worked for WV in Minneapolis, and I would have never gotten that job if I hadn't worked for a garbage and recycling plant in high school where I learned how to drive a fork-lift. 

2. I loved working for the U.S. Programs (domestic) side of World Vision, but I had always wanted to work for the International side of it since I love learning about other cultures and my degree is in Sociocultural Studies. ...which I will be doing in Denver.

3. I wouldn't have known about any of this if someone hadn't suggested that I reach out to the Site Manager in Denver...who happened to be from my hometown in MN that most people have never even heard of.

4. The Storehouse just happens to be in Aurora...which is the only suburb of Denver in which I had looked at apartments.

5. Out of a staff of only 4, what are the chances that the one position that I actually qualify for would be available the beginning of January....

The list truly goes on...and I'm sure I am barely seeing a glimpse of what God has in store for me on this new adventure. 

Wow.  To God be the Glory!

Time to Step Out of the Boat?

In response to my very first post...I might soon be stepping out of the boat. I was going to get my ESL Certificate at the U of M, but because of many reasons it probably won't work out. So instead I might take it through LanguageCorps. In Spain. In February for 4ish weeks. I will have to travel by myself and go there not knowing a soul but as of now it seems the way God is leading me. He has closed other doors and seems to be shining his flashlight towards this door I had never noticed before. I have applied, but still need to pray about whether or not I will actually go if I get in. If it is truly where God wants me to go, I will go. It may be scary and my family and I may be nervous...but I would be much safer there than I would be in my own home of that is God's Will.
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Stay tuned to see if I am led to step--or rather jump--out of the boat =)



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