memphis!

I remember sitting around the kitchen table on Dec 28th, 2005 in Wilmington with my family, praying about where God would lead our family next. The next day dad took the position at Hope in Memphis. When he said we're moving to Memphis all I could think was Memphis?... Tennessee?? that is soooo random. I thought, "oh my gosh it's taken us 22 years to get from the middle of Kansas to the beach, wasn't the paradise of the beach our final destination? aren't we taking steps backwards along the latitudinal line? what is even in Memphis? I really didn't want our family to move there. But I thought well at least I don't have to live there since I am going to graduate. Mom and Dad can just give me the house in Wilmington and I can stay and they can go wherever they want. They didn't really go along with the idea of giving me the house....

After my decision to go to Spain, I realized I needed to go home to raise support.... which meant ten hours away from Charlotte and like 14 hours away from the beach. So in the beginning of October I moved to Memphis to live at home, home but not really home.... yet!

I can't imagine having never come here. I have fallen in love with Memphis, not because of the place but because of the people here. I have never seen a group of people so welcoming and with such open arms to a new person. This church totally embraced me, took me in and made me a part of who they are. Janna Oakes invited me to be a leader with the youth group. I have fallen in love with their students! God placed so many friends in my life here! He provided a really good friend, Jessica, who has been there for me since the day we met, especially during the difficulty of support raising and just someone to always hang out with! Yesterday these friends devoted their whole bible study time to pray for me and I felt so encouraged and loved. They really showed me some of God's purposes in bringing me here.

Even though Memphis has been far away from "my paradise" it has taught me how to find "paradise" in people and in God by watching how he does what is best for us even when it seems random, hard, confusing, and leaves us with a lot of questions. This experience in Memphis, this experience of these people proves again to me how he knows me better than I know my self. He is not random, but has purpose in every detail...even "moving me backwards along the latitudinal line."

When Jesus was going to the cross, surely all the dicsiples were like "a cross?" Why would God use a cross for his means of salvation and glory? Isn't a cross kind of random? Sometimes things don't become clear until later...now a cross makes perfect sense to us, but in that moment I'm sure they were like,"wait...what?" SO as I go to Spain (such a random place to me right now) I am confident that "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than my ways, and His thoughts higher than my thoughts." ~ Is 55:9

plus i never would have found my awsome hair stylist, Amber! haha