Deeper Roots

It's hard to believe as I sit down to write this post that a little more than two months ago, I was boarding a plane to return from Namibia.  Alot has happened these past couple of months, so I thought I'd update y'all!

If I could pick a few words to describe my last two months since I've been back, I think I would choose these:  balanced. sweet. refreshing. fulfilling. clarifying. exciting. affirming.  I have been spending my days balancing my three part-time jobs (working for my church assisting the children's ministry director, nannying, and elderly caregiving) to pay off my car and interest on my school loans, as well as getting involved deeper in various ministries at church.  The Lord has provided some rich, new discipleship opportunities for me as I have begun to be equipped and trained to help launch (with a core team) a new small group in my neighborhood come January, and have started to co-lead a weekly after-school program for teen girls in a low-income, at risk housing community downtown. I have also enjoyed the budding of new friendships with 3 international students at the University of South Carolina from Taiwan and China.  I have been at Riverside Community Church for almost a year and a half now, and recently have been enjoying more opportunities to dig deeper with the women in our church body, as well as their families. Being a part of a church plant is not for the faint of heart (did I mention that we meet in a museum?!) but it has been one of the most shaping and meaningful parts of my life here in Columbia.  Riverside has become my Columbia family, as my biological family is ten hours north in PA, and we as a church body are seeing the Lord guide and provide for us one step at a time as we continue to walk by faith.  He is increasing our faith and trust in Him, the Great Provider, as He continues to build His church and we humbly co-labor alongside Him.  What a privilege, what a joy:)

The one thing missing from what had become a regular part of my life here in Columbia, however, is school! CIU is the reason I moved down here two years ago.  But right now, I find myself in a season of rest (at least from studies!).  More free time to read for pleasure, move past playing just chords on my guitar to actual songs, and learning how to actually work my new camera?  Yes please!  Oh, and I'm looking forward to the start of rec volleyball next week.  It's been fun allowing the Lord to grow my roots deeper here.   Columbia is feeling more and more like home these days, and for that I am thankful, seeing as it looks like I will be staying here for at least another 1.5-2 years!

But let me back up...

Last spring, I had reached a point where I was no longer interested in finishing my degree, a MA in Global Studies, which would have taken me another year to complete.  The Lord completely took away my desire to be in the classroom (at least for that degree), which if you know me well, is a huge thing.  I love learning. I love books. I love being in the classroom.  But I had just come to realize that I wanted to walk away from CIU with a more practical degree, one that would equip me with a tangible skill set that could take overseas with me, in my specific case southern Africa.  So, I decided to stop at CIU at the end of last semester with my certificate in Bible and Theology.  I went to Namibia over the summer very prayerfully, asking the Lord to affirm me in either teaching or counseling, two paths I was interested in potentially pursuing a masters degree in a few years down the road.  

Upon returning from Namibia, I began to process my 6 week experience in Namibia and reflect on how the Lord had used me most effectively there.  It turns out that I did some of both while I was there--teaching first and second grade, and doing informal counseling with the teen girls and foster moms in the ministry as I came alongside them--and I felt that I had been used most effectively in the counseling realm.  It had also been the most life-giving for me.  So, when I came back to Columbia, my tentative plan for this fall was to work my various part-time jobs and get involved in more ministry.  Then, in the spring (after my part-time job commitments were up) I was thinking I would find a full-time job and work for 1-2 years to pay off my existing school loans from CIU, as well as prepare to head back overseas to southern Africa full-time (possibly in the areas of mentoring/discipleship, Bible teaching with children and youth, and equipping/training local believers to do the same).  I had in my mind that maybe after being overseas for a couple years, I could pursue a counseling degree online through CIU's distance learning program.

However....

That was before I met with the head of the counseling program at CIU.  After meeting with me for an hour and explaining that the MA Ministry Care program (essentially pastoral counseling) was not offered online and that it would only take me another 1.5 years full-time to complete it, he strongly encouraged me to start the program then and there (this was mid-August, just as fall classes were starting up), but I knew that I couldn't because I was already committed full-time to my various jobs and wanted to honor those commitments.  So, he suggested I sit in on one of his classes, a counseling techniques course, to get a better feel for the program.  So I have been attending that class each week this semester as an auditing student, soaking up as much as I can and loving every minute of it! The Lord has been giving me opportunity after opportunity to begin putting into practice what I have been learning in my relationships at school, work, church, and ministry.  My prayer since I even began auditing the counseling class would be that if the Lord wanted me to do this program, He would fully provide for me financially to be able to do so come the spring; I really did not want to take out more loans.  Well, last week I paid a visit to the Financial Aid office to ask them an unrelated question, and they pulled up my student account and informed me that I have nearly a full scholarship for the spring!

So there you have it.  Come January 2014, I will be a student again at CIU and I can't wait!  I am beyond thankful for and amazed at how the Lord has guided and affirmed my steps over these last nine months, these past two years in Columbia, and for that matter, my last 26 years of life:)

May He count me worthy of His calling.  Great Shepherd, equip me with everything good for doing YOUR will.  Work in me what is pleasing to YOU.  May Christ be glorified in me. 

As I allow Him to grow my roots deeper here in Columbia, may this also be true of me:

"Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done. " -Colossians  2:7 (NLT)