So yes, it's a thing.
The idea popped into my mind this evening as I was journaling in awe of all that God has done. Before we get to that part, let's talk about the challenge.
As I was blown away by all that God has done and has been doing and remembering the words I was thinking, feeling and writing on here last night - if the last two days are any indication of the next 40 days, it is going to be crazy, wild ride. One crazy, amazing, and wild ride -- He has already been transforming and blowing me away, ohmylanta.
So, the challenge. It's simple really.
To blog - every day- for the next 30 days.
Okay, so you're looking at me with some disbelief, she is calling that simple?
The catch. It doesn't have to be more than even writing one verse, or quote, or idea or thought that spoke to me that day. Some days I will write more than I knew I had in me, other days, a quote or a verse or a thought will be all that I can muster. (Also, like this post, unedited and off the cuff.)
Whatever it is, the length does not matter. What matters is that I do it.
For whatever reason it was put upon my heart to commit to this. So I will try. Though I have failed (haven't we all), at the 40 day things or 30 day things, I'm all gung-ho and filled with enthusiasm at the beginning and then the days come and somewhere along the way you lose steam.
I'm hoping that by not holding myself to a ridiculous standard of writing a blog post each day, that the simplicity and taking off the pressure of sharing more than a single sentence will hopefully help me to be faithful.
So we begin.
But today has been a pretty big day. The last two weeks as uncanny as they have blown me away.
HE has blown me away and I could not stop thinking about the things He was doing and saying and speaking to me about as I read the preface and first chapter of The Purpose Driven Life, re-reading the book with my small group right now and I came on here to reflect on the significance of a 40-day journey.
Then today happened. I asked Him to blow me away. I asked Him to do immeasurably more than I could ask for or imagine, I asked Him to use these 40 days to transform me and I don't even have the emotional or mental energy left at this point to go into all the detail, but God has been with me on a 9-month- journey since getting a marketing and communications internship at a local foundation here in Pasadena.
An internship that I was unsure if it would ever turn into a job, then God surprised me by them wanting to take me on as a paid employee and I began working part-time now as a marketing and communications assistant. And then with a sudden turn of events and the other lady I was working with suddenly quitting for another position in what we here in LA and Hollywood affectionately call "the industry" (working in the entertainment industry - TV, movies, and the like), and all of a sudden a position opened up I would have and could have never imagined opening up as she left suddenly and was well loved and liked by everyone and had really enjoyed working there, and then today, after a flurry of events the last two weeks and God blowing me away and surprising me for the third time with this particular place of employment, I was offered a FULL TIME position as the new Marketing and Communications Coordinator.
What?
Just writing it gives me the chills, you just don't know y'all what this journey and the last nine months, heck, the last two and a half years struggling to find employment out here has been like. The job market in LA is a beast. You take what you can get. With millions (literally millions) of people competing for jobs, you find yourself working whatever odd jobs and mash up of part time jobs to make ends meet.
But to finally, for the first time since being out here and since leaving a job that I loved (campus ministry) and still love and am excited to transition back into at some point when we leave here but transitioning not necessarily back to campus but ministry wherever God takes us, yet for the first time having a job that reflects some of my long-term professional/vocational interests, I have a huge heart for ministry and for that point am in the process of considering applying to Fuller Theological Seminary's counseling program as I feel having a counseling degree will further equip me for the ministry long-term I feel called to, but I also have a journalism background and while I no longer work in broadcast journalism or have a desire to necessarily work in the newsroom, I DO still enjoy and appreciate several aspects of journalism still and have forayed into the world of digital and social media marketing.
Just saying and typing all this feels so surreal.
I'm getting exhausted as I've expended so much writing and mental and creative energy at work today and then in my freelance social media marketing work I do when I get home from what was my part-time job, so I'm going to cut this short haha, but all in all, today was a day I will not forget for a while.
The ways He has shown up have left me speechless and this is only Day 2.
I can't wait to see what You will do.
--
Yes, You are my Jehovah Jireh,
My God who is a God who provides,
For You have seen of my misery, you have seen of my delight.
And You've answered me, You've heard me from the depths of my heart.
Yes, You are my Jehovah Jireh,
My God of great faithfulness,
My God of unfailing, everlasting Love.
- i am abba's child
