God's very capable hands.

I am confident that LCC is the next step in my journey. I have felt God's peace during the decision making process in a way that I have never experienced before. He spoke to me in times of prayer and through those around me. The door is open and now I must step through it.

I am confident and at peace with the decision. Those two things made it a bit of a surprise to me this week when I began to feel anxious about the move. Somewhere in my mind I thought that if I was truly at peace with things that all the anxiousness would be taken away from me. So rather than admit it, I stuffed it down and put on my happy face.

Thousands of questions run through my mind all day long. Some I can take an educated guess at the answer and others have me completely baffled. I dread saying good-bye to my close friends, family member, colleagues and friends at GC, my church family, and all that is familiar to me. I am (trying to) wait patiently to hear from the school about the long list of budget/transition questions that I have sent them. Oh the list goes on and on of things that have me feeling anxious and unsettled.

Mid-week I began to have some stomach issues. Every once in a while I get a horrible crampy/tight feeling in my stomach. I pause to take a deep breath and then it goes away. I thought it was some sort of bug a first, but since it wasn't accompanied by any nausea I didn't know what to think. Someone at home group last night pointed out that it could be stress related. A little bell went off in my head when she said that. I then poured out a small fraction of what has been rolling around in my head and realized that that's exactly where the pain is coming from. I stayed late to talk to Kev & Pat. That helped a great deal and I went home feeling a tad better and my stomach didn't hurt the rest of the evening.

I woke up this morning to more stomach pain. I was praying about it when my friend called to chat. I told her what was going on and she also offered some good words of council. She reminded me that even when we know God has something for us, that it doesn't take away all the fear of the situation, it just means that we go ahead and do what He asks us in the midst of that fear. We don't let the fear stop us. WOW! That was huge for me. I had been trying to convince myself that because God was calling me to this that I shouldn't be fearful/stressed out about it at all. What I really need to do is remember that God is in the situation and that He will get me through it.

When I talk about being single I say that I allow myself to visit the world of self pity at not being married on occasion, but that God doesn't want me to set up camp and live there. I think the same is true about this move. I can visit and experience the moments of fear of the unknown, but I can't set up camp & live there. I need to live in the faith that He will walk with me even in those really hard times.

So for now, I am trying to remember to leave things in God's very capable hands.

Word is out

So, the word is out! I've announced my move to the world via Facebook! :) Responses have been very supportive and excited. There's a fair amount of grief mixed in there as well. I can honestly say that is my general feeling as well - overwhelmingly excited and ready for this new adventure, but I also am feeling a lot of grief at leaving a place and people that I love so very much!

This week I am working on three main tasks:

1. I am working with the Migration Affairs Manager to start the process of getting my visa to work in Lithuania. The person I am working with is a very helpful woman who has a great deal of patience with my little questions. God bless her!

2. I am working on coming up with a budget. I don't think I mentioned it in my first note, but all Expats (international workers) at LCC raise their own support through donations from friends & family much like many other missionaries do. Before I can begin to ask for contributions I need to figure out how much I will need to raise. Once I have a solid and realistic budget amount established I will work with my support team here in the states to begin the process of raising funds.

3. I am working with LCC to determine where I will live - in residential housing or in an off campus apartment. Both option have pros & cons. I am just trying to figure out what will suit my situation the best. This decision is key because it will effect the amount of support that I need to raise.

Prayer request:
I remember when a very dear friend told me that she was moving to England to live. Even though I knew she was doing what God wanted her to do and wouldn't have wanted her to stay given that was His plan for her life, it was still really hard to see her go. I prayed that God would send me another friend to help fill some of the void her departure left in my heart. God did so in a delightfully unexpected manner! So, my prayers this week center around those that I am leaving behind in Goshen. I am asking God to bring people into their lives that will listen, love, and enjoy them as much as I have. I don't want someone to take my place in their hearts, but I do want others to help fill that day to day void that my absence will cause. And I know He will because God loves us enough to take care of those kinds of details.

A new blog for a new season.

Hello All!

I am about to embark on an incredible journey! I have been blogging about my life as an RD, aunt, traveler of the US, and cook for a couple years now. I decided that I will continue to blog the those things on that blog and will use this one to chronicle my journey to Eastern Europe!

Let me start by copying a post from my original blog where I announced the big news...

So, if you are my facebook friend and read my status updates you may have noticed that recently I that have been a bit cryptic about something going on in my life. I have been praying for several years now about what my next steps should be. What could my life after GC look like? I've applied for a couple jobs along the way, but it's been clear that ultimately I am suppose to be at Goshen. And I was fully expecting to be at Goshen again this fall. Ultimately God had other plans...

On April 1st I received a phone call from a former colleague. He is on the board of another university and heard of an opening there that he thought I would be a good fit for. It came out of nowhere, but I felt God telling me to at least entertain the thought. So, I've spent the last 3 weeks praying, talking to my mentors and a few close friends, praying some more, contemplating what a change like this would look like, fine tuning my resume, applying, and interviewing for the position. I received an email yesterday afternoon offering me the position. While I haven't written the acceptance letter yet, but I am going to! :)

The position is the Director of Community Life at LCC International University. I will be in charge of the Residence Life Program and the Intercultural programs. This is a step up in the world of Student Life administration. It will be a great deal more responsibility and I'm grateful for all the wonderful experience that I've had here at GC to prepare me for it. I am so excited to use much of that knowledge and learning to impact the lives of this new group of students.

While work is going to be an exciting challenge, the biggest challenge will be the move! You see, LCC stands for Lithuania Christian College. Yes, I am moving to Lithuania! It's a country in eastern Europe - bordering Poland, Belarus, Russia, Latvia, and the Baltic Sea. Don't worry if you have to look it up on the map...I did! :) Wild, huh?! :)

I am in the process of telling my close friends before I make it public on FB early next week. I know that my regular readership includes some of you who I would want to be "in the know" before others, so I thought this would be a good place to get the word out as well.

I look forward to telling you more about the position, the process of discernment that I went through to make the decision, and for you to learn about ways you can partner with me in this exciting adventure!