Indonesia

       

Photos courtesy of my dad

Don't worry I took a bigger suitcase

Just a little bit excited!

I'm moving to Indonesia . . . tomorrow. I have signed a two year agreement to teach math at a private Christian secondary school. Never, ever, would I have guessed this would be me. At sixteen, I was the girl who didn't want to drive and who's family joked about her having phone phobia. I was the girl who wished Neverland was real and always ordered chicken strips despite the restaurant. I hated change, loved home, and called my parents every night my first year of college.

Its been awhile since I was sixteen, but even 9 months ago I would have never seen myself picking up and moving to the other side of the world. Living overseas was not in my life plans, however, it is God's plan that prevails.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

This last fall I began asking the Lord what specific purpose He might have for this season of my life. Working as an adjunct at Corban University, I walked past a bulletin board filled with teaching opportunities, some of which were overseas. One night I stopped and just decided to pick up some flyers. Next thing I know, my best friend emails me from Indonesia saying her school has an opening. The same week another friend invited me to a Mission Connexion event. I found myself thinking this couldn't all be coincidence. The thought of living overseas had alway brought forth fear. How could I leave my family? How could I leave the comfortable and step into an unknown? Yet, I just couldn't shake the thought that possibly God was answering my prayers regarding a specific purpose.

Looking back, I see so clearly how God has prepared me for this adventure. He took a heart functioning in fear and filled it with peace. At times I have said, "Lord, my life is yours, I don't want to hold anything back." Yet, I've always wondered if I really could follow through with that prayer. Indonesia is an opportunity to give action to my words.

My job in Indonesia is not support based. I do not feel that somehow teaching in Indonesia is a "greater calling" than teaching here in the United States. Rather, I feel it is an adventure that the Lord is allowing me to take. An adventure on which I hope to grow professionally, personally, and spiritually. Whether in Indonesia or in the United States my purpose is the same. To live a life devoted to worshiping, serving, and getting to know God that I might bring Him the glory He deserves.

This is not how I imagined me life, but it is SO good. I am excited to see what the Lord has to teach me in Indonesia. While I am tempted to be anxious about many things I keep remembering the verse I read the night I decided to go:

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139:7-10

No matter how far I go from home, God will be with me. He deserves all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. My life is not my own.