Life Remodel...please pardon the dust

A few weeks ago I came home from church and God said hey let's have a chat.  My first thought was ok I have a feeling this is going to be a big one.  Last "chat" we had  God told me to pack up and move hundreds of miles away from my home to Atlanta. Step one of this life altering journey. Moving was such a whirlwind experience. After months of contract negotiations my job was secure and it was time to move...in just 6 weeks! Did I mention it was in the middle of the holiday season.  God always likes to make things a little more interesting. So here I was in a new town...just me and God. I knew that God had moved me here for more than a job. He had a bigger plan for me.  Within the 1st month I started attending Buckhead church and joined a small group. I knew that getting into a small group was essential for my survival.  I am a social creature  and can only stay at home watching reality TV for so long.

Month after month goes by and I patiently waiting on the big reveal for my relocation.  At this point I am missing my life in Gainesville, FL.  I had lived there for 12 years since college and had made friends who I consider family and developed a life there.  Why did I have to move to keep waiting? Why I ask...the answer was so that I could develop my relationship with God.  I no longer had a hundred distractions that would silence His voice.  He was teaching me how to be dependent on Him.  I have always been a very good at being dependent on myself. That's probably the middle child in me but to depend on someone else is a much harder task. 

God said to me...BCB I want you to spend some time with you this afternoon.  What else can you say but yes. It's not like I could tell the Lord weeellll can we do this in like an hour or so I have Toddler and Tiaras and Housewives on DVR and I really want to catch on my shows. No, not really an option. He then proceeds to reveal to me that He wants me to go back to school. Umm excuse me (twisting my finger in my ear) did I hear you correctly? Yes after 10 years of graduating college as a nuclear medicine technologist He wants me to go back and pursue a degree in christian counseling.  I firmly believe that God has been preparing me for that exact moment over the past 10 years.  All the the counseling and mentoring I have done has shaped this passion.  I want people to understand that their identity and worth comes from Christ.

It is amazing that God had to move me into solitary confinement to get me to truly listen. There is no more of an opportune time to go on this adventure than now.  I am not over committed or too busy like I was in Gainesville.  I have the time now to truly devote to going back to school.  So here I am walking down a path that God had planned for me all along. 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

God declares that He has plans for us. The key is having a deep relationship with Him and allowing Him to guide our everyday lives.  Amazing what happens when you quit focusing on the puzzle pieces and step back to take a look at the whole thing.  So starting September 19, I will begin my first college class in ten years at Liberty University in their online psychology program with an emphasis in christian counseling.  All the reservations I had about going back to school have been  pushed aside and replaced with excitement for this new phase in my life.   Told a friend the other day can you imagine all the things I will learn about counseling...her reply "are you going to start charging your friends for advice now?" Ha!!!