The Journey Continues

     All things pending, as far as I know at this moment, I am moving from Raritan Boro, New Jersey to Warsaw, Poland in 5 weeks.
     Did I really just type that?
     In order to avoid rambling through all the boring details, I will just share a brief overview of how this huge change came to be. When I was quite young (somewhere between 10 and 12), I very distinctly felt God telling me to offer myself for a life in mission work, so I did. From there, I began making choices that built a foundation on this commitment, i.e. short trips, having dialogue with missionaries whenever I could, taking an International Ministries/Cross-Cultural Studies degree in college, and then most recently spending three months in southern Poland with Send International. I had long felt a pull towards that part of Europe and the short time I spent there served to grow the desire to serve my Savior in Poland in a more permanent way.
     When I arrived back in the United States in May of 2012, it was only about three short weeks until I moved out of my parents house and into my own apartment for the first time. Again, skipping over a lot of rambling, the past two years have been an incredible journey of growth, joy, adventure and learning for me. Through all of those changes and new experiences, the one thing that occupied my mind at some point in almost every day was my time in Poland and how much I longed to return. I left it as a matter of prayer and for the most part, kept my thoughts to myself and pursued God through the Bible, Zarephath Christian Church (zarephath.org), constant Lewis and Tolkien reading, and priceless conversations with family and friends. This past Autumn, though, I began bringing the subject up to a few people and just speaking out loud what was in my mind regarding a return to Europe. Over the Christmas holidays, one day I mentioned to my mom something like "I just really want to go somewhere next year", to which she very firmly replied "Then do it. Start looking into things." Brilliant, moms are brilliant.
     The search began for which specific opportunities were out there. I applied to a few positions in both Christian and secular work, thinking that even some sort of regular job would at least put me over there and open the door for ministry opportunities. It was something to just pray about and see where God led.
     I remember saying I was not going to ramble, but I think I've failed. Apologies. What happened was I was contacted by an international preschool in Warsaw (meaning all the teaching is done in English) and told there was a position open for the taking as a teacher. After a few emails back and forth and a skype meeting, I was informed that the position is meant to be immediate, like, by March or April. It was only a couple weeks ago that I found out how quick the move would be, if I decided to take the position. I was told I could go and teach through June and then decide from there whether or not I will stay for the following school year. I asked for the weekend to decide and spent that time in a lot of prayer and seeking advice from a few wise souls who know me well and whom I trust. Every time I thought about saying no to the opportunity and just staying where I am, the question that clearly came to mind was "For what? If overseas ministry is the life you intend to live, the life you're dreaming of, why on earth would you stay here and build a foundation that you plan to leave in a few years anyway?"
     Realizing this has become far too long a first entry, I will end it here and sum things up by saying that this decision has felt different each step of the way from decisions in the past. I have thought through details and sought out other people's counsel far more than I usually do. With the support of my closest friends and family members, I am stepping out in quite a large leap of faith and making the move March 24th.

This is a photo I took in the town square of Opole, Poland in 2012