ON A DIFFERENT AND UNEXPECTED LIFE

If you would have asked me five years ago as I entered college what my life would look like when I graduated, I never would have described the life I currently live.

I thought I was going to be one of the blonde, Dutch girls that met a boy at school, went on late night coffee dates at Johnny's, had library study dates, and was wearing the shiny diamond ring by spring. I think I really wanted to be part of the (West Michigan) cliché. I thought I was going to be part of a "we." I thought we would get a cute little apartment in Grand Rapids and we would have couple-friends, and I would work at the Christian non-profit I had interned for, and I would spend my free time at the lake with my family. It sounded really good and really comfortable.


But today…

I live in Chicago.
I'm single.
I work for a magazine in the hair industry. 
I am part of the most alive and Jesus-filled church I've ever been to.


I freaking love this city and the neighborhoods I've discovered, the people who have become important parts of my life, the keep-yourself-busy-every-night-of-the-week mentality, and the abundance of brunch spots.
I've gone on handfuls of dates since moving to Chicago. Some weird, some okay, and some actually good but none of them giving me those butterflies I know I deserve. So I guess we'll keep looking.
My job in the hair industry is a far cry from the Christian non-profit I used to work for, but I absolutely love it. I travel all the time, my coworkers are some of the best people I know here, and I cannot imagine having more fun in a place of work. Plus, I get to wear ripped jeans or shorts or sweatpants, or whatever I want, any day of the week. I thought I would work a mediocre job because first jobs are supposed to be mediocre. But I'm organizing awards shows and implementing new social media software and life. Is. So. Cool.
I don't think I ever would have included church in a descriptor about me before this point in my life. I showed up to church on Sunday and I did my devotions. But now I find myself at worship nights, and teaching nights, and talking to God throughout the day everyday and wanting to become a leader.
I find myself asking God what His calling is on my life and how I go about doing His work on earth. I constantly ask God how I can do what he needs me to do, and am asking to let go of the comfort I so enjoy for it.

I think this is the first time in my life I've ever done this with Jesus. The first time I've grasped that life moves at the speed of relationships, and its important to be invested in the good ones. The first time I've thought I'm comfortable somewhere and that might be a good thing but it might also mean that I'm coming up on a time where Jesus is going to ask me to do some pretty scary (but right) things, and I'm actually going to lean into it rather than run from it.