These last 6 months have been the craziest of my life.
Does that sound dramatic? Totally. Is it accurate? Definitely. And it's been amazing to see how God has guided my path and decisions all along the way.
Let's rewind to last February... In good old 2016. I was majorly struggling. I had no idea where to go next in my life. I was working from home at a job I loved, but after having been there for almost 2 years I was ready to try something new... but what?
I had no idea what God wanted for me and my future. At the time my boyfriend Braden was planning on moving to Nashville after he graduated college in May, and I was left wondering where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.
I had stayed in LA the two years after graduating from Biola University because it was so comfortable and familiar, and most of my friends were still there. I had a job that allowed me to work from home, and I figured it would be great to explore continued independence after college somewhere I was familiar. And it was great at first! Lounging around in my pajamas every day while working was a dream. I became intimately familiar with the time it took Papa John's to deliver pizza to my apartment, and when I could snag the best parking spot in front of my building.
But that February in 2016, I realized that everyone I knew and loved was graduating or had already gone, and I was going to be left behind.
And so I felt stuck.
It seemed I had hit a dead end, and yet I was only 23. People don't always tell you just how hard life is after you graduate college. And I was experiencing the brunt of it in that moment. I was tired of Los Angeles, my job, and the status of my life at that point.
I wish I could say I instantly turned everything over to God and trusted that He would guide me... but in that moment I just wanted to complain. And cry. And stress. And toss and turn instead of sleeping. And eat all the Hot Cheetos and Thai food my stomach could handle. It seemed my destiny was to continue my relationship long-distance, stay with the same job, and move back home with my parents in San Diego.
But I was ready for a new adventure.
So I gritted my teeth and started the big online job search. I swear it's like a black hole. I scoured the Internet for nights on end, applying to any jobs that seemed to somewhat fit my career plan in a variety of cities across the US, focusing mainly on San Diego and Nashville. I knew I wanted to get into publishing, and Nashville was the #2 location for that in the US, New York being #1. I mulled over New York for 30 seconds... and then passed. I've never been a big city girl, and figured I wouldn't have the $$ or grit to survive in the Big Apple for long.
And finally... I started praying. For God's guidance on this journey, and for Him to have me land wherever I was meant to. It was hard to give up complete control over my future, because I'm such a planner. Ask anyone I'm close to, and they'll tell you I LOVE planning stuff in advance. It's in my DNA. So not having my next steps all sorted out was killing me. And yet I had to coax myself into handing over my dreams for my future into God's hands, knowing that He would put me where I was meant to land.
So for a few months, it was job searching, stressing, crying, and trying to still trust in God that He knew what He was doing. I had a few interviews, many rejections, and still wasn't seeing any perfect opportunity come through. There had only been one job I was really dying to get at HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP), but I knew that there was no way I'd get it. No one ever gets that dream job they've been pining after.
So after applying, I set it aside in my mind and focused on what other opportunities could provide me with that adventure and new start I so desperately wanted.
Weeks went by...
But then I got the email I'd been waiting for. A phone screen interview with HCCP. I was so giddy I'm pretty sure I danced around my room after reading that email because I was so darn excited. I still knew there was no way I was getting the job, but was so stoked they even saw my application through the plethora of other ones I was sure they were getting.
And so I had my phone screen interview with the sweetest HR recruiter I've ever chatted with... and I was starting to get confident again.
Cue the dramatic music.
After just one phone screen interview, I was told the job position was on hold, and I was crushed. The position would now not be open until closer to the summer, and I wanted to move and have my life sorted out before then. I figured all was lost, and pulled myself up by my bootstraps to figure out what to do next. (I told you, I'm a planner.)
So I ended up packing all my things and heading back to San Diego with my parents. Something I told myself I would never do - throw myself back on the mercy of my parents instead of being able to work things out as a strong and independent woman.
In the same weekend I moved back home, my boyfriend Braden graduated from college, and we planned a big road trip leaving just a few days later to get his car and all of his stuff from California to Nashville where he was starting his new adventure.
And then right before we were about to leave for our road trip that last weekend in May, I got another email from HarperCollins Christian Publishing asking if I was still interested in the Assistant Marketing Manager position. I don't think I've ever responded to an email faster in my whole life. "THEY REMEMBERED ME!!" kept playing over and over in my head as I once again danced in glee.
Here's where God's timing and perfect planning still shocks me and reminds me how much I just need to trust Him with everything I have and all that I am.
HarperCollins Christian Publishing asked me to come in for an in-person interview in 2 weeks... and that was the week I was already planning on being in Nashville to move Braden in. How perfect is that?! So in the span of 2 weeks I went from having no idea what I was going to do with my future, and dreading long-distance, to having a final round interview set up for my dream job in Nashville, TN... where I was ALREADY going to be visiting!
It still blows my mind how God works. No matter how much I doubt Him with things in my life, and don't trust in Him as I should, He still shows up in big ways for me, reminding me that He is sovereign and knows way better than I do what I need.
Long story short... (just kidding, I know this is already super long)... I got the job. They called me just a few days later with an offer and I screamed and cried and very happily accepted.
And so I went from having no idea what to do with my future, to landing my dream job in the same city my boyfriend was.
Goodbye to everything I knew. Hello to the greatest adventure yet.
3 days after accepting the offer I found my perfect apartment in Nashville. 2 weeks later I moved from California to Nashville. 1 week after that I started my new job. 1 month later my dad drove out my car and all of my worldly possessions to Nashville for my new beginning. And 1 week after that, I moved into my perfect apartment.
In the span of 2 weeks, my life changed forever. And I never could have planned it myself even though I desperately tried.
As cliché as it sounds, the verse that kept me going through all of my struggles was Jeremiah 29:11:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
And boy did He deliver on that. In bigger ways than I could've ever dreamed of.