Mountain-Top Experience

While a lot of people need mountain-top experiences to find God, I just needed a mountain-view experience to be encouraged. This past weekend I went on a rafting/cabin trip with my singlas group at church and had a great time. I wasn't going to go because I didn't know who was going and felt embarrassed that I haven't been to life groups in a long time. My last "summer camp" experience was when I was a counselor in 2006, then in 2004 as a camper! All of us girls laughed at how we felt like kids at camp again, sleeping in bunk beds at the cabin site. We stayed up late talking about life and laughing at ourselves. I was just so happy to meet new people and share the experience with my sister. There were a few bumps in the road but in the end, the whole trip encouraged me to connect to other Christians for friendship and support. Everytime I talk about my faith and where I'm struggling, it's been even more frustrating because I haven;t had anyone that is able to say "Yeah, I've totally been there but this is what helped me or how God provided..." it's more like "I mean, whatever you believe is cool. i'm not really into that but sure"

I really see a change in my future and at this point I am planning to move to Tennessee for a new career/life opportunity. Although I will miss my new and old friends, this trip encouraged me to let me know I can make new friends at the next spot and know that i'll just have a cool place for my old friends to come visit! I am seriously hoping that the CEO of The Next Door emails me back soon so I can make definite plans. For back story: I was looking for non-profit employment in Nashville on Friday morning and came across this non-profit The Next Door. It sounded awesome so I researched the organization a little more. I got busy and had coffee with my friend Andrew who stopped through town so I put that off. He had really great advice and it was just nice to talk to another free-spirited person. Anyway, as I was waitressing that night, my very first table happened to be the CEO of that SAME ORGANIZATION!! This may be hard to understand but this is kind of ridiculous that the CEO of a non-profit is in Jacksonville---on vacation--at my restaurant--at my table. I tell God I don;t need a sign, but this to me is a nudge. I'm willing to take the risk and I think I'm just going to move there job or not. That will be my leap of faith. I'm also praying tonight that my bank will allow me to skip a payment for my car loan (which they said they couldn't because the loan is too new--ive had it for 5 months with this bank but 2 years with my previous bank). If they don't I'll need prayers for financial peace. I'm really willing to sacrifice to make the move and start an adventure.

I will definitely keep you all updated and we will see how God leads me in the next few weeks! I hope that I can spend as much time as possible sharing time, love, and laughter in the weeks to come! So, I didn't need a "Mountain-top high" to get me synched into to the love of God, but just a vision of the mountains to help me soar to the latter part of being 20-something....