The Randomness

I am sitting in my mother and father in law's house as I write this blog. I'm curled up in Mama Gayle's comfy chair. I just finished watching Francis Chan talk about joy and the command to rejoice! I found myself examining my own life and how I respond to things. I felt humbled as I sat here and wept over the fact that my name is written in Heaven. When was the last time I rejoiced over that indescribably beautiful fact?

Well, I promised the second half of our life update. Many of you know that Will and I have relocated to Columbia, SC. Will is starting the master's program in clinical counseling at Columbia International University. This is actually his first day, and he's in class right now! I had the immense privilege of going to orientation with Will yesterday. We spend the whole day there learning about the school, the program and various other things. I was very impressed by what I heard, and it left me with a peace.

The following paragraphs will give you a little back story of how we found ourselves here...


Before leaving for Slovakia, we had been discussing what is next for us, and what God might want us to explore. We were having dinner with the Daddy Ron and Mama Gayle (Will's parents) in Columbia in early summer and discussing this very thing. We were aware that our current jobs didn't really have any potential for growth nor did we really feel we were doing things that were our passion? The idea of going back to school came up and Will voiced his interest in counseling. It had always held some appeal to him and we discussed CIU (Columbia International University). We were discussing that when our friend, Stephanie, walked up to our table...

She starts out by telling us what has been going on in her life. The first words out of her mouth are, "Yeah, I've been working at CIU and taking some counseling classes, which has been amazing!". Weird, huh? I mean we hadn't even mentioned what we had been talking about. That was our first nudge from God to pursue this thing.

Will started the application process slowly. It wasn't really until Slovakia or after that he really hit that process hard. He got his references in, wrote his essay and waited to hear back from them. All the while we are recovering from our trip to Slovakia, and the amazing time we had there. We had been praying about missions as a more full time thing, and we found ourselves quite torn. What did God want us to pursue at this time? Slovakia, seminary, some other form of school for Will or myself??

Well, in the midst of this confusion, Will had an interview at CIU on Wednesday (less than 2 weeks ago). We took an overnight trip to Columbia and Will spent the majority of Wednesday taking a personality test and interviewing, while I drove around in the rain and tried to entertain myself. The interview went remarkably well. The head of the counseling department met with Will and was blown away by what he saw in him. He thought he would make an excellent counselor and really wanted him to start fall classes. Mmmm....

We had a lot to discuss. While Will appeared to be a shoe-in, were we ready to make this commitment? Two and a half to three years of school and 2 years of a paid internship. Would the paid internship pay enough? We want to have kids...and don't really want to wait 5 years. We just weren't sure. So, on the drive home from Columbia, Will called our friend Kara, who went through the same program 6 years ago. She was incredibly encouraging, and we found out that you could have a family and live modestly off your intern salary. So that took the process from a five year one to a two and a half year process. So, can we really move to Columbia in less than 2 weeks, we find ourselves asking one another??

Upon returning to Alpharetta, we knew the last step in this was seeing where Will's boss stood on him leaving in a week. She said she didn't want to stand in the way of what God could do. She was completely encouraging and said that there were teachers who wanted more hours that could slide in. It's not natural for either of us to take such a "risk". Our faith was grown in leaps and bounds in the moment where we decided to go in the direction we felt God leading us. Doing what God tells you is never a risk, but as humans we see all of the things that aren't "perfect" about the situation. Because of the speedy nature of this thing, I didn't' have a job upon moving nor did we have a place of our own to live.

We called Will's parents and told them our plan and where we felt God leading us. They opened their home to us and have generously offered financial support. Both Will and I are completely overwhelmed by the love and support we feel.

So, I am on the job hunt, and I know that when God brings that job to us, it will be His perfect timing. I have resumes and applications out there, and I'm looking still. With the help of my beautiful Savior, I will rejoice in this time, knowing He has our best interest in mind.

I'm so completely thrilled for what God is going to do through this time here. Please pray for us. Prays for Will as he starts school again for the first time in 10 years. Pray for me as I look for a job. Pray that God will remain the center of everything we do and that in this time of change, He would remain the constant.



I know this was long, so I thank you for sticking with it. Love you all!

Sarah & Will (I know this is his heart as well)