25, Homeless and Unemployed

Who would ever have guessed that on my 25th birthday I would sit here without a job and no place to live. It is true, yesterday (with the help of many loved ones) Cami and I packed up all of our belongings into a moving truck and hit the road. We are currently in my hometown (Redmond, OR) visiting my parents and then tomorrow we are off again. The hope is to arrive in Compton on Monday afternoon in time to view an apartment before its office closes and if it is right, have a home come Tuesday!

This is all such a new experience and my mind cannot quite grasp it - reality has not sunk in yet. For the first time in my life I will not be an Oregon resident, will live in a town where I am the minority and be surrounded by a culture I am only beginning to understand. Sometimes I ask God, "Are you sure I am the one you want to send? A small white girl from a tiny hick town in rural Central Oregon going to the inner city of Los Angeles? In addition to that, you want me to teach in the public schools! But I am not yet qualified and I have never taught in a high school classroom." Thankful my God is big, my God is powerful and my God accomplishes the impossible. So yes, He wants me to go. He chooses the foolish to shame the wise. It is not about who I am or who Cami is, it is about who God chooses and He chose us. So yesterday we said goodbye to Portland and tomorrow we will say goodbye to Oregon.

Our last week in Portland was emotional, full of excitement, adventure and heartbreak. It was perfect. The week started with an emotional last day at church. Walking into the classroom for the last time and having a handful of girls run up to give me a hug was enough to make me cry - man am I gonna miss those hugs. In service Pastor George called us to the front and had all the youth in the sanctuary come stand behind us. Then with sincere, passionate hearts a few prayed for us and the tears were flowing once again. At the end of service Pastor challenged the body to dig deep and bless us as we go. By the end of the week our church had given us more than one month's worth of our expenses. We were awe struck and fell to our faces thanking the Lord that He had allowed us to be His vessels in this family as their lives dually impacted ours. Thank you Northeast Community Fellowship - you will forever be a place we call home. After church we had a last lunch with family and that night some friends threw us a going away party.

Tuesday we hiked up Mt. Hood with our dear friend D'arcy. Although we did not summit, I was proud of how far we made it for my first time mount climbing. And besides, now we have a goal for this July. Mt. Hood, be afraid, D'arcy, Cami and I will conquer you soon. After the hike we had a wonderful dinner with the Bruce/Bell family (pictured above) before going home to crash for one of our last nights. Wednesday was the last day of youth group followed by a sleep over with some girls from church. The rest of the week was filled with packing and friends stopping by to send us off. And that is where we are now.

To some of you this decision may seem a little foolish, but it is a decision we did not make out of logic. This decision is one made in faith through the prompting of the Holy Spirit and nothing is going to keep us from pursuing it. God has given us too many confirmation to for us to be thwarted by simply things like no home and no job - those are just minor details that He will work out soon :)