A couple of days ago, I made plans to meet up with this amazing woman, who I think of as sort of a mentor to me. I really value her opinion, so I wanted to prepare my explanation of the recent developments in my life. Only trouble was this - I had no idea what to say, or how to explain it. The reason? It didn't even make that much sense to me, and I was the one who made these decisions.
All I could come up with while driving to meet her was this:
1) God works in mysterious ways and 2) sometimes things just feel "right".
Fast forward to us sitting on her couch, me clutching a glass of water, nervously explaining the adventure I was about to create for myself. Here's roughly how the conversation went [with some tidbits added]:
Michele: "So what's the exciting news you want to tell me?"
Me: "Um, I'm not sure where to begin...K, I'm at the library, and I'm bored so I'm reading this book [happened to be the 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss] and I come across the name of this city. I didn't think much of it, it was just like one paragraph about the city, explaining how you can visit there for cheap. Days go by, and for some reason, the name of this city keeps popping up in my mind. Well, no apparent reason to me at least.
Then one afternoon, I'm on the internet, and out of random curiosity, I google short term mission trips, because I have always wanted to do some service work abroad. I see this one page showcasing a volunteer opportunity in Africa (of course) and I showed my Mom. But it didn't grab me...I wasn't convinced.
The next day, I kept thinking about this other city, the one I'd read about, so I googled it. I was like, oh what the heck, it can't hurt right? And then I came across this link to a British organization, one that hooks up university graduates with positions around the world to get work experience [called a "Gap Year" in Britain] and I read the position description. And it sounded, like, perfect for me. Freakishly so, really. I went to their website, and read all about it, and I was sold. Like immediately. But I figured I should check out some other stuff they offered, you know, just to make sure I wasn't jumping to conclusions. Nothing else held my attention though, I kept wanting to back to that city. So I clicked back, and decided to view the photo gallery for the position I was interested in. And then, weirdly enough, I know, I know, this sounds bizarre, I saw this one photo of this kid and was like, holy crap God, I am supposed to do this. I'm supposed to go to Rio de Janeiro and work in a community centre, speaking only Portuguese [which in case if you don't know me, I don't speak a frickin word of Portuguese]. Honestly, I was just like, sitting there in my kitchen by myself, tearing up at the craziness of it all".
Michele and I talked about the position, and what I'll be doing , and who with, etc., etc. All useful, but slightly boring information, and instead of me telling it to you, I'll post the link to the gallery:
But later on in the conversation, things got interesting when I asked Michele about whether I was right to make such a big decision in a relatively short period of time [about 2 weeks and I had put a payment down and was about to book my flight]. She explained the whole concept of God's will/gut feelings in such an eloquent way I feel it would be a shame if I didn't include it. To Michele, and me as well, life is like a series of green lights. We try things out, do what we think is best and chose certain life paths. Only when we get an obvious red light, or a proverbial door slamming in our face, we should stop, take a moment, and question whether or not this is what the Almighty has in mind for us/me. If we are diligent in pursuing a life of service and love, God has given us the go ahead. Yeah, if my flight is cancelled for some unforeseen reason, and my visa isn't accepted, it might be a good time to rethink this decision. Otherwise, go for it!
I guess I'm going to Rio for a month this June then :)
I hope to use this blog to keep you updated.
See ya,
Claire
