I feel like I have neglected an old friend. My blog. It used to be the place I went to whenever I had a thought to share (mostly when Rodney was busy writing a sermon or Bible study, Cindy was doing paperwork, and I NEEDED to talk to some one or my brain would explode ((haha))). Here's my latest update on where I'm at in my transition:
I still know nothing.
Yup. That's about it. I thought when I came home, I would take a month off to rest and reintegrate into North American life, get over reverse culture shock, start looking for work, and have a job within a few weeks. Ha. That's what I thought. Jesus has had something else in mind.
The Lord has me waiting. I feel like so many Biblical characters who were put in divine holding patterns: Elijah in the desert waiting to release the rain, Abraham and Sarah waiting for their promised child, Joseph waiting for his childhood dreams to be realized, and David in the cave of Adullam waiting for the king's anger to simmer down.
In American culture where we can have anything at the snap of our fingers, waiting is not productive. In fact, my friend just told me the other day that the average amount of time an American will wait for a YouTube video to load is 2 seconds. Two. Then it's click click click onto the next video, or frustration and revolt. In Kingdom culture, however, it seems to be the norm. There are so many verses that say "wait on the Lord". I think I have been ignoring those or something.
So here I am. In December. Still waiting. But more comfortable with the wait. I am learning to wait on the Lord, and not on myself. I am learning that Jesus has a better plan than I could make for myself, so I should just relax, or as they say in Costa Rica, "take it
easy". I have also learned this: when you're in the will of God, you're not going to miss the will of God. If He tells you to do something or go some where or not to anything at all but to wait, you ARE doing the will of God and won't miss out.
I am still sending out resumes and applying for just about any job that sounds interesting :) Some times I get calls back and an interview and some times I get rejection letters. I am doing everything I can to reintegrate back into the US of A. Nothing has opened up yet, but I am confident that at the right time, the next chapter in my journey will unfold. And you'll be the first to read about it. I promise :)
Normally I am a fairly lax house keeper. I don't mind a meal or two of dishes lying in the sink. If I forget my laundry in the dryer a night or two, oh, well, I won't run out of clean socks or underwear. I like things clean, but cluttered is not a problem. My mom calls it piling. I like piles. Very organized, systematic piles. I know where everything is and I like it that way. My mom likes to remind me that when I was 8 she pulled me into my cluttered room one day and asked, "Julie! This room is a mess!! What does this room say about you?!?" And in all my innocence I responded, "It says I am a very creative person who has been things to do with my time than clean my room."
Of course I am not living in my own house. I have been very conscious of that the entire time I have lived here. And as such, have been keeping it impeccable. Partly because I never knew when my parents would show up. They came up several times in the fall for visits or just to get away. I wanted to show them how appreciative I was that I could stay in their house while I was transitioning. While I've been here, especially the last few weeks before their move up, the dishes are always done, the bathrooms sparking, and there are constant vacuum lines in the living room carpet (my mom loves vacuum lines in the carpets) just in the event of a surprise visit from the rents. Today in preparation of their arrival I made sure absolutely everything was in order. No clutter of my own in the living room. No dirty dishes in the sink. No excess shoes strewn by the door. Vacuum lines properly in place.
