Faithfulness, Part 6- My story.

I honestly did not plan for this blog series to turn out this way. I did not know that I'd be the finishing story.

If that's the case- I would have done this blog series several months ago! :-) But here it is. My story. That finally unfolded in the past week.

The Backstory:


I’ve been really excited about this particular blog post for 4 months now. I’m not joking. 4 months. And 4 months ago, I had no idea what this post would say- but I KNEW that it would be an account of God’s faithfulness. 3 months ago. I still didn’t know what this post would say. 2 months. 1 month. 3 weeks. 2 weeks. Yeah. 2 weeks ago- I was REALLLLLY excited for this blog post, but still had no idea what it would say. But again, I KNEW it would be an account of God’s faithfulness. 1 week ago. Still didn’t know. On Wednesday, September 14, 2011- God revealed to me in a most incredible way what this blog post would say. He revealed to me yet another piece of my story….Another account of His faithfulness to me.

Let’s back up a bit farther, yes?

You may remember back in May when I posted about having to move. Yeah, I moved 4 months ago. A new apartment, a new roommate, and lots of boxes. My lease had ended, as my roommate Hailey had gotten married. I’d made several different arrangements and plans kept falling through. 2 weeks before I was supposed to be out of my apartment, I still had no idea where I’d be moving to. Finally, I called my friend Rachel and asked if she wanted to be my roommate. I knew she was seriously dating someone, didn’t know what her timeline was- but knew she’d just taken a job 45 minutes away from where she’d previously been living. She said yes! I was really excited. We planned the move- made it happen- and 1 month later…..SURPRISE!!!! RACHEL GETS ENGAGED! (side note: I DID know when I moved in with Rachel that she’d be getting engaged soon and that our apartment life together would be short lived- but it DID give me another 4 months to figure out what I was going to do.)

So! That’s why I say- 4 months ago- I was crazy excited about this blog post. I knew, come October, I’d be making a move again….to where? I had no idea. With whom? Again, no idea. But what I did know was that I serve and love a God that has never failed to provide. Never. It may not always look like what I think it should- or what I imagined…But it’s ALWAYS been good. And always in His perfect timing.

So, when I moved in with Rachel in June- I started thinking about my Fall plans. I knew it was going to be a big change. The way the previous housing situations had fallen through…the way Rachel and I became roommates…it just seemed like a perfect setup for God to do something big in my life. I started to allow myself to dream a little bit. I’ll be honest, I don’t often allow myself to dream that often. Sometimes, to me, dreaming feels like setting myself up for disappointment. But either way. I began to think big.

I was thinking- come October- I wouldn’t be tied down to a lease. If I were going to have to move…Why not a big move? I even posted about it. Remember this post? Yeah, I started looking at the Carolinas. I have family there. It seemed like a great idea. Then someone mentioned Arizona. I began to consider that too. My sister lives there. Could be a good fit.

So- either way- I knew I had to move. From the moment I moved in with Rachel- I was prepared for this. I knew it was coming. So I began the out of state job hunt.

I probably applied for 40 different jobs…typed up just as many cover letters…went through a job search process that was pretty much foreign to me. All the while, trusting that God would provide. He would provide either the perfect living situation in Dallas or He would provide a job.

In the last 4 months, journal entry after journal entry has ended with these statements:

• I know you’re working for my good. I know it.

• Jesus, you are enough.

• Help my unbelief.

• I want to be where You want me to be, Jesus.

• I know you will come through.

• Your will, Lord. That’s all I know to pray.

• I know Your voice.

• I know an answer is coming.

• DO. YOUR. THING.

• I will have no fear.

• Swing wide the right doors.

• Those who seek the Lord lack NO GOOD THING.

• HELP MY UNBELIEF!

• Lord, you WILL provide.

• You are big.

• Your timing is perfect.

• Do what You do best, Jesus.

• Show off. Please.

• I know you love me.

• You. Are. Faithful.

• You are big. I know this.

• I hate Satan.

• Do your thing.

• You. Are. Good.

• You. Are. Good.

• You. Are. Good.

How it Happened:

So. In my job hunt, I was contacting friends like crazy asking if they happened to know anyone in South Carolina. One of those friends I asked was Grace. Grace is not from Texas and I know she has a huge community of friends that does NOT live in Texas. So I called her up to see if she had any connections in the SC. She said she had some things she could check into and that she’d get back to me.

Well, a month later (2 weeks ago) I get a phone call from Grace. She said “I know you’ve been looking at South Carolina, but would you be interested in Florida?”

(Also... In addition- I sent out an email 2 weeks ago to several friends asking for their 'Faithfulness' stories. I needed my faith to be encouraged...having no idea mine would so quickly follow)

I went on to get some details from her…It would be a social media job in Tallahassee. I went ahead and emailed with Grace’s contact person and got more information. Seemed like it would be an interesting job. And the opportunity to work remotely would be a huge benefit. So I sent in a proposal on Thursday evening (Sept 8) and just waited. That weekend I was talking to a friend and I just explained that while this may seem like a crazy job to apply for (um, considering I know ZERO people in Tallahassee), I really felt as though I needed to knock on every door the Lord placed in front of me. A couple days later, my little sister, who is looking to move to Portland asked me if I thought it was bad she was ONLY applying for jobs in Portland. Thinking about my previous conversation with my friend Laura, I said “Caralyn…kinda like where I am right now- I just feel as though I need to be open to whatever the Lord might want. If I ONLY apply in South Carolina- I am saying to the Lord ‘this is your box. Work within it’ and I don’t want to do that.”

I encouraged her that Monday night to just knock on lots of doors and trust the Lord to open the right one. That’s really all I could offer since that’s what I was in the middle of living out.

On Wednesday, things started to shift a little bit at work. Left a little early and headed to the gym to run off some steam. Tweeted as I left work “God, today would be a great day to so something BIG. Thanks.” I called mom and in angry tears said “HE HAS GOT TO DO SOMETHING!!!!” She responded “Minda, you’re in the 11th hour.” My response was a heart wrenching “Mom….it’s more like 11.5!!!”After my workout I went home and sat on my couch. Yes. Just sat there. I heard my phone make it’s “You’ve got Mail” noise. I opened it up to find an email from the Tallahassee job offering me a position.

I just stared. I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t express any emotion. I just sat there. All I could say was “God, I knew you would do something. I knew it…..I Knew it…….I knew it.”

I called mom and dad with the info…Dad’s response was “Minda, I knew God answered prayers but didn’t know He answered tweets!”

With thumbs up from mom and dad….with a peace in my heart….with excitement of the unknown….with a stronger assurance that my God will provide….and in HIS perfect timing, I’ve accepted the job in Tallahassee Florida.

More details to come- but that is part of the story.