I've got 1 hour 12 minutes before the annual changing of my blog's name…
Reflecting on my 27th year amongst the living I have realized that this year has brought about A LOT of change for me. Well, 2 changes really, but they were big ones! New job and new home, both many, many miles away from where home had always been. The Lord has used this year to draw me unto Himself more deeply, and intimately and it has been nothing short of spectacular. I've really found that once I allowed Him to overtake every bit of me, past, future, and present His path is revealed more and more and where He leads He will provide a way if you recklessly abandon yourself and follow Him. My move to Tennessee was right in the midst of a worse then normal financially unstable time. All sensibility said "things are rough enough here, how much worse are things going to be if you uproot yourself and move 1000 miles away?" When the Lord made it clear to me that I was heading to TN in May last year, I had made a VERY tentative goal of moving in the beginning of October, IF I got the job with Unum. And just like that, I left home at 8pm on October 3rd 2013. It hasn't been a bed of roses though, not that I expected it to, I just don't want anyone to get the idea that I'm saying following Christ = no pain, no trials. I've struggled greatly in relating to culture here in the South. It's perplexing and I don't understand what's going on half the time, and don't even get me started on the driving, ugh! Regardless, I have seen the Lord's hand working in every aspect of my life. I have made some amazing friends… YES! I HAVE MADE FRIENDS! That alone should be the proof for the skeptics! Haha. I have made killer music contacts, not to mention gone to a kazillion shows since day 4 of being here. And Calvary Chapel Ooltewah, my dearly cherished church, has been such an amazing blessing, not that I didn't already know it was going to be. The family I have in my church is so beautiful, the fact that I have such an amazing privilege to serve under Christ Jesus with these brothers and sisters is beyond what I could have imagined.
I've been so blessed by the opportunity to get to know my sisters again on a much deeper level than what was happening when I was in Maine and it fills me with so much joy. We may, or may not have had a few arguments and/or disagreements in the last 9 months, but we just get into fist fights and then make up… or something like that ;-).
I am definitely missing home though. Especially now that it's beach season. It seems so weird, and absolutely wrong, to have a birthday without the beach, and with my momma! The last time I didn't see dearest mumzy on my birthday was 11 years ago when I was in Phoenix on my way to CA with my Memere. So, call me a momma's girl if you must, we know it's the truth, but I really miss her. In fact I miss a lot of people back home. I try not to think about it too often though, it kind of sucks. It will be so wonderful to see everyone again in a couple months.
So, 27 years over and done with. I can't help but think I should think "I should be here, with so-and-so, doing such-and-such" you know, someone with a career, a family, a border collie. But I honestly don't think that. I am so excited with how God has been using my life in the last year, if I had those things I never could have done 3/4 of the things I have done this year. Maybe some of my contentment can be attributed to the awful divorce all this years ago, maybe that helped put things into perspective for me so that at 27 I'm not freaked out about not having a career, or ever getting married, or never having a border collie… Ok, that one freaks me out a little ;-) Basically, all I know is it's been a pretty amazing, and very adventurous year and I am SOOOOO looking forward to #28!
My prayer for year 28 (I use the word "my" very loosely… since My Epic wrote it…)
I wanna be a new man
and set aside my old skin
cause as hard as i've been trying
I can stop wounding Yours
I wanna be a slave and
surrender all my dreams then
forget I ever had them
and live inside of Yours
I want to be forgotten
and be fully eclipsed in
just the gospel and it's sweetness
that and nothing more
I wanna be a dead man
just a body You can live in
I wanna be Your prized possession
that and nothing more
---My Epic "Selah"
Blessings,
~Jennanana
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