I am writing this note to explain my story and new transition in life so I don’t have to repeat it several times (though, it wouldn’t be a terrible thing). I know some of you believe in and love Jesus Christ. I also know some of you are at the other end of the spectrum and many of you are in between. I want to be sensitive to each of you, Facebook friends, and preface this saying: I love Jesus and have faith that He is living and actively involved in my life. Because of that, this note is full of Jesus-talk (so... if you don't like that, feel free to dismiss). I understand if you don’t believe in Him and I still love you, accept you and think you are neat :). That being said, here is my story:
For the past year, I have been wrestling with a growing desire to serve the poor, oppressed, marginalized and those generally in need of love and redemption. The past year has also sustained an incredibly dry season in my faith. It has been hard to believe, feel, understand or seek Jesus. These things smashed against each other during a mission trip to Omaha, NE. Omaha allowed us to visit several different ministries and see incredible things that are happening in that city. It was in Omaha that I sincerely found Jesus at work, alive and real.
And I wanted to be there, where He is.
Since then, I have debated going to graduate school and getting my Master’s (Masters? Master? Grammatical clarification would be helpful so I’m not a graduate student who doesn’t know how to spell her degree LOL :)) in Social Work. This would equip me and provide experiences to serve and help people find restoration in their lives. I wrestled so much with it that I finally decided to not think about it for a week and see how I felt after a week off (I know, I’m such a Feeler). At the end of that week, I had a prayer time with some ladies at church for some other matters (they had no idea I was wrestling with this). During that prayer, they prayed things like, “Lord, renew her calling… show her Your plans for her.” I told them about my situation when the prayer was over and they prayed again this time asking the Lord to clearly move (not me) and the one woman sensed that something was being birthed within me (LOL, this was slightly disturbing… I have no intention or desire to be the next Virgin Mary LOL).
I left the prayer time and decided I would just apply to graduate school at Loyola University in Chicago (I picked there because it has rolling admission, no pre-requisites, smack dab in a huge city and was a Jesuit institution) and if I got in and received full financial support, I would consider that God’s confirmation of His call. You see, it was important that it was truly God calling and not just me wanting to go to school in the fall because I would leave my current job in a precarious situation. And if it was God asking me to move, I know He would provide for Third. If it was just me wanting to leave, I would wait another year and get things in order at Third before I left.
It was supposed to be a 4-6 week time frame between applying and finding out the result. I prayed for sooner and 2 weeks later the letter of acceptance came as well as my financial package that covered my tuition fully.
My response: “Okay… well, does just everyone get in? And the financial assistance is loans… do those things count as You calling?
After finding out, I went on a mission trip to Cincinnati, OH and returned to a staff retreat with my student ministries teammates. On this retreat, we were thinking about the concept of change and who God is in change. During this time, the words from Psalm 147 jumped out:
2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds…
13 …for he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
14 He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
The parts about healing the brokenhearted, gathering the exiles and building up Jerusalem hit me in a unique way and I wondered, “Lord, is this your Scriptural call for me?” (I had prayed for this a bit earlier too – I wanted to be like Sherami :)).
Still doubtful, I had another meeting later that day with our HR guy at church. He is a man of great wisdom and discernment and had been walking with me on this journey since the March mission trip. I told him about all of the things that had happened and he said, “Leah, it’s very clear you’re being called to go.” That was nice, but I still wasn’t sure and I couldn’t leave my current job without things being sure.
The last part of that day had me driving home to Fort Dodge. As I pulled out of Pella, I was crying and I half-heartedly begged, “Will You just give me a real, tangible sign?” I knew that this may or may not be answered since God is really into having faith and taking risks and stuff like that :). An hour and a half later, I was talking on my phone on Hwy 20 and it suddenly died due to the battery. Being in the quiet, I looked around and it was sunny, yet rainy and I felt like I should just pull over, get out and look around.
When I did, I turned east (towards Chicago, where Loyola is) and stretching across the horizon was the biggest, most full rainbow I have seen in a long time (picture/video below). The other interesting thing is that the road I was on looked like it was going right under the rainbow towards Chicago.
When I saw it, I just laughed. I had to take that, by faith, as the tangible sign I prayed for. So I took pictures, people honked (Regina Spektor, “Human of the Year” anyone?), I waved and I got back in my car. I drove for about one minute and I turned around to see if I could see it again and the rainbow had almost all disappeared.
It seemed that it had been put in the sky for just that moment.
After that, there was much more peace about the decision to go. In addition to those things, rooming, insurance and a myriad of other details have fallen into place so smoothly and easily that I just can’t ignore it. Also, I just returned yesterday (7/22) from a visit there (getting all the details in place) and while there, I had such a sense of excitement and a feeling of “I belong here for such a time as this.” (as a sidenote, what’s also interesting is that my potential fieldwork placement will be working with refugees and immigrants… it has an interesting tie to the verse from Psalm 147… “gathers the exiles”…).
So… I am leaving Pella. A place where I was deeply and dearly loved. A place that I deeply and dearly love. I feel like this has been rich soil for a little seed like myself to push out of her shell and poke her head above the dirt. Now, it seems, Jesus is carefully and gently taking my roots and tender shoots and transplanting me into the concrete and brick of Chicago.
How do I feel? Very excited, curious, like this is crazy, deeply sad, nervous and incredibly ready.
Thank you for reading, for your joy, prayers and support!
For the past year, I have been wrestling with a growing desire to serve the poor, oppressed, marginalized and those generally in need of love and redemption. The past year has also sustained an incredibly dry season in my faith. It has been hard to believe, feel, understand or seek Jesus. These things smashed against each other during a mission trip to Omaha, NE. Omaha allowed us to visit several different ministries and see incredible things that are happening in that city. It was in Omaha that I sincerely found Jesus at work, alive and real.
And I wanted to be there, where He is.
Since then, I have debated going to graduate school and getting my Master’s (Masters? Master? Grammatical clarification would be helpful so I’m not a graduate student who doesn’t know how to spell her degree LOL :)) in Social Work. This would equip me and provide experiences to serve and help people find restoration in their lives. I wrestled so much with it that I finally decided to not think about it for a week and see how I felt after a week off (I know, I’m such a Feeler). At the end of that week, I had a prayer time with some ladies at church for some other matters (they had no idea I was wrestling with this). During that prayer, they prayed things like, “Lord, renew her calling… show her Your plans for her.” I told them about my situation when the prayer was over and they prayed again this time asking the Lord to clearly move (not me) and the one woman sensed that something was being birthed within me (LOL, this was slightly disturbing… I have no intention or desire to be the next Virgin Mary LOL).
I left the prayer time and decided I would just apply to graduate school at Loyola University in Chicago (I picked there because it has rolling admission, no pre-requisites, smack dab in a huge city and was a Jesuit institution) and if I got in and received full financial support, I would consider that God’s confirmation of His call. You see, it was important that it was truly God calling and not just me wanting to go to school in the fall because I would leave my current job in a precarious situation. And if it was God asking me to move, I know He would provide for Third. If it was just me wanting to leave, I would wait another year and get things in order at Third before I left.
It was supposed to be a 4-6 week time frame between applying and finding out the result. I prayed for sooner and 2 weeks later the letter of acceptance came as well as my financial package that covered my tuition fully.
My response: “Okay… well, does just everyone get in? And the financial assistance is loans… do those things count as You calling?
After finding out, I went on a mission trip to Cincinnati, OH and returned to a staff retreat with my student ministries teammates. On this retreat, we were thinking about the concept of change and who God is in change. During this time, the words from Psalm 147 jumped out:
2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds…
13 …for he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
14 He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
The parts about healing the brokenhearted, gathering the exiles and building up Jerusalem hit me in a unique way and I wondered, “Lord, is this your Scriptural call for me?” (I had prayed for this a bit earlier too – I wanted to be like Sherami :)).
Still doubtful, I had another meeting later that day with our HR guy at church. He is a man of great wisdom and discernment and had been walking with me on this journey since the March mission trip. I told him about all of the things that had happened and he said, “Leah, it’s very clear you’re being called to go.” That was nice, but I still wasn’t sure and I couldn’t leave my current job without things being sure.
The last part of that day had me driving home to Fort Dodge. As I pulled out of Pella, I was crying and I half-heartedly begged, “Will You just give me a real, tangible sign?” I knew that this may or may not be answered since God is really into having faith and taking risks and stuff like that :). An hour and a half later, I was talking on my phone on Hwy 20 and it suddenly died due to the battery. Being in the quiet, I looked around and it was sunny, yet rainy and I felt like I should just pull over, get out and look around.
When I did, I turned east (towards Chicago, where Loyola is) and stretching across the horizon was the biggest, most full rainbow I have seen in a long time (picture/video below). The other interesting thing is that the road I was on looked like it was going right under the rainbow towards Chicago.
When I saw it, I just laughed. I had to take that, by faith, as the tangible sign I prayed for. So I took pictures, people honked (Regina Spektor, “Human of the Year” anyone?), I waved and I got back in my car. I drove for about one minute and I turned around to see if I could see it again and the rainbow had almost all disappeared.
It seemed that it had been put in the sky for just that moment.
After that, there was much more peace about the decision to go. In addition to those things, rooming, insurance and a myriad of other details have fallen into place so smoothly and easily that I just can’t ignore it. Also, I just returned yesterday (7/22) from a visit there (getting all the details in place) and while there, I had such a sense of excitement and a feeling of “I belong here for such a time as this.” (as a sidenote, what’s also interesting is that my potential fieldwork placement will be working with refugees and immigrants… it has an interesting tie to the verse from Psalm 147… “gathers the exiles”…).
So… I am leaving Pella. A place where I was deeply and dearly loved. A place that I deeply and dearly love. I feel like this has been rich soil for a little seed like myself to push out of her shell and poke her head above the dirt. Now, it seems, Jesus is carefully and gently taking my roots and tender shoots and transplanting me into the concrete and brick of Chicago.
How do I feel? Very excited, curious, like this is crazy, deeply sad, nervous and incredibly ready.
Thank you for reading, for your joy, prayers and support!
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