Where to begin. It has obviously been awhile since I have posted on here. There are a few reasons:
1. I moved! I am in a brand new apartment that I just love. It is in South Round Rock, which makes it a lot easier to get to Austin. It feels like I am living in the city but I am still in suburbia and my rent is a whole lot cheaper than the city. It has a loft feel to it, no door on my room. But when you are living on your own, that’s not as important as you may think. I can walk to many places which is so nice. I will put up a video tour to show all of you, but I am waiting until my new couch comes in because as of right now, I have a teal shag rug with a blue/beige floral couch and it just does not look right.
2. My family came into town to visit. My mom was here for 5 days and then my sister was here for 8. They helped me move, which was a huge help, and then my sis went to SXSW with me.
3. SXSW…last year I blogged all about it. And I was going to do the same thing this year, but I got lazy and tired and didn’t. Sorry. But it was a good year. And I think everyone should come out and experience it. If you really want to hear about the bands I saw let me know and if enough of you still want to hear about it I will do post. If not then I can just talk to each of you personally.
Those are all good reasons, but there is something bigger. I had to put off writing about it until I was able to tell my family and close friends.
If you know me personally or read anything on my blog, then you know I moved to Austin 15 months ago with the intent to begin a new chapter in my life. The main reason was to help plant a church. And I did. It has been a great experience. Definitely nothing that I expected, although I don’t really know what I expected.
In September when Summit opened its doors I was able to come on staff at the church as the admin. Being an admin. for an entire church, a brand new one at that, is very different from working primarily with Student Ministries at a large church. For awhile I thought that I may be having a hard time with feeling comfortable in my position because it was new and different. And also because I was having to adjust with being in a new place and trying to make new friend etc. But the more time went on, the more I felt like I was not enjoying what I was doing. Not that I didn’t enjoy the church, but more my job. It came to a point where I needed to make a big choice and it was a hard one at that.
I decided the best thing would be to step down. My last day was on Tuesday, April 13th. With that coming to a close, I hopped on a plane the next day for a vacation in Southern California. The way everything lined up has been a huge blessing. I have had the opportunity out here (at the moment I am in Barnes & Noble at the Santa Monica Promenade) to really relax; not think about anything and just let go. This has, hands down, been one of the best trips in a long time for this reason.
Many of you are probably wondering what I am going to do now. And my honest answer is…I don’t know. In an eerie way, I am at total peace about that. Which is not me. I am a planner. I like to know what they next thing is. But I think God is trying to teach me some big important lessons. I am definitely being stretched, and to be honest I am in a valley, a wilderness I guess you could call it. But I am trying to embrace it. And I think this is where I belong now.
I am going to be staying in Austin (so feel free to come out and visit). I have signed a lease on my new place that lasts until April 2011. There is always a possibility that I may move back to California, although if I do, I would move to So. Cal not back to Nor Cal.
For now, I am going to take the next year to really figure out what I enjoy, what I want to do. There are so many things that interest me, so who knows. In June I will be finding a job to pay the bills. It could be anything: nanny, work in an office, or something like Barnes & Noble or Hallmark.
I am still going to be a part of Summit. I will be there Sunday mornings and continue to volunteer in the children’s ministry. I am proud to have been a part of the beginnings of this amazing church and seeing it grow.
If you want to hear more feel free to shoot me an e-mail for give me a call and I would love to share more or answer any questions you may have.
Many thanks and much love to all of you for your support. I feel very blessed to have a great group of people around me that is always there, no matter what I choose to do or where I am.
I will try to blog again while I’m on vacation, but if not I know you understand. I’m hoping when I return to Austin, to be back on schedule. Looking forward to that.
Until next time…PEACE OUT!
The One... 