I don't know the exact date, but I know that this week is my one year anniversary of living in Colorado. A year ago this week I drove up here with my mom to start my internship at Lakewood Church of Christ. I had a feeling that my summer at Lakewood had a purpose, but I really had no idea what that was. So I went through the summer, had an AMAZING time and fell madly in love with the teens here. So in love that I decided to stay not having a place to live or a job but God provided.
God has blow my expectations away. He purposefully brought me to Lakewood and in contact with certain people so that I could stay here and have the best ministry training of my life. I have dealt with situations that I never would have encountered had I stayed in Texas. And I have learned so much from them! I have loved my life here so much even though it has not always been easy. I have dealt with fears of uncertainty, loneliness, knee surgery, learning to live and drive in snow, family, friend and Texas sickness, and the huge transition between college and working life.
As I was sitting in Rob's (the youth minister) office last night hanging out with the kids and one of the new interns I became jealous for a moment. I wanted to be the intern again. Last summer was so great and I wanted that to be me. Then I thought about it a little longer and remembered how crazy uncertain my life was at that time and as much as I loved that summer I don't think I would trade it for what I have now. Not that my life is super planned out but I do have an idea of where I will be in a month and back then I didn't.
Today is my last Monday at my job at INTERLINK and Thursday is my final day. As great of a job as it is I am giving it up to work at Starbucks. Am I nuts? Maybe so but I don't care. God brought me to Colorado to do ministry and having a 9-5 job does not allow that (and it drives me crazy having a schedule like that). So I will be living on a smaller budget but hopefully I will have more time to work with the teens and try and do campus ministry.
Also a year ago I had no clue what was going on with my mission team. We had canceled our survey trip and although we were still planning on going it was so unclear when that would happen. Now, four days from now, I will meet my teammates (who I have not seen in a year either) in Miami and we will take a quick trip to South America to see where we might want to live in the future. Ahhh! So exciting!
So happy anniversary to me. I love Colorado so much and even more I love the people and opportunities for me here. Do I know if I will still be here in another year? No clue but that is ok. I am happy for now and cannot wait to see how God will use me this summer. Sometimes I wonder why things seem to work out for me so often. Yea I had knee surgery but I have a place to live, a good job, amazing friends, beautiful mountains, and crazy future plans. All I can say is that I am trying my hardest to be faithful to God and he is doing the same for me. I hope I never take that for granted. Thank you God!
I will be praying for you! That all seems so fun. Uncertainty is not always a bad thing. By the way, I understand the jealousy thing!