I'm pretty sure that since I haven't posted on this blog in a year and a half, no one is reading it. But in case there are some followers out there, my blog is completely shifting gears. I just moved to Seattle, so now it's going to be about a slightly different adventure than my last one...
In the past two years, I have had many experiences which have given me a better understanding of community, and how I want that to look in my life. The community that God provided for me in Boulder over the past year and a half was wonderful. I had some amazing mentors and friends, all as a part of a wonderful church. These people that God placed in my life not only were fun to be around, but they also challenged me to grow in my faith in unexpected ways.
Through all of those experiences, I feel like God was preparing me to go somewhere new (which just happens to be Seattle). And His timing was so wonderful! If I had come here 6 months ago, I don't think I would have understood the importance of community, which means I wouldn't have worked hard to making finding community a priority. But God has blessed me with community here, even without me really looking for it.
My Seattle story all begins when I came out here for an interview in February. As I had been thinking about possibly moving, I prayed for a few months that if I was supposed to move, that God would show me that I would have Christian community there. So, when I was flying out of Denver to Seattle for the interview, I sat on the plane, wondering if Seattle would be somewhere I could find solid Christian community. As my flight started to fill up (I was in the dreaded middle seat), someone came to sit next to me. He sat down and pulled out Future Grace by John Piper (from that moment, I hoped he would talk to me, but waited patiently...). In the mean time, I studied my TMS memory verses. After a few minutes, he started talking to me and I found out he was from Seattle, and that he had interned at Mars Hill before becoming part of a new church plant in downtown. I was planning to go to the evening service at Mars Hill downtown, so I was excited about that. After talking for a while, he suggested that he meet me at church that evening (which I was happy about - going to church alone is always hard!). So we went to church together and then afterwards, a bunch of young adults went out to Dope Burger, so we joined them. It was wonderful! I met some really great people who I knew would be good community for me if I got the job, decided to take it, and decided to make Mars Hill my church home. As I lay in bed that evening, I had a huge smile on my face, knowing that God was taking care of me, He had worked everything out.
And then I got the job! I knew right away that God had paved my way to move to Seattle, but I was still reluctant to leave. I didn't want to leave my community, my church, my comfortable life. But I knew that if I didn't take a leap of faith, I would always wonder what would have happened if I had moved. So I accepted the job. And started making preparations to move. The only thing left for me to worry about was housing. And God even worked that out. He provided me with a home to stay in with a friend's aunt and uncle while I look for a place.
I arrived in Seattle on Tuesday evening and met Linda, who I am living with right now. She is really nice and I am so thankful for her welcoming me into their home (her husband is in DC for a week, so I haven't met him yet). But, still, I was feeling a little lonely for people my age. Right when I started feeling lonely, I got a message from a friend from college saying that she lives only a 10 minute walk from where I'm living, so I made plans to meet up with her that afternoon. And while I was hanging out with her, I got a call from one of Brad's (airplane guy) friends, saying she wanted to have coffee with me. So the next day, I met her for coffee and doughnuts before we both went to a prayer meeting for her and Brad's church.
And that brings me to the real reason for this post (or at least the title)... It was so wonderful to be in a room full of Christians, praying for each other and their church. I felt completely welcomed by everyone and I'm excited to see how my relationships with them develop. I am feeling so blessed to have a solid community of Christians placed right in front of me within my first few days of arriving here. God's hands are all over this new adventure of mine and it's so exciting!! :)
Pics of the beauty of spring in Seattle will be posted soon!
