A month of changes

Have you ever followed a cloud by day and a fire by night? Hmmm, you're wondering. What's she talking about????

Let me explain. Do you remember the story of the Israelites and how they wandered in the wilderness? In Exodus 13:21-22, it says "And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people."

Clear leading. If you have a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire in the night, it's kinda hard to miss the twists and turns in front of you. That's how my life has been this past month. God has made it very clear where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to do. It doesn't always happen that way, let me tell you. But it's exciting when it does.

I'm in Texas right now. I was in Tennessee. How did that happen, you wonder. Me too, sometimes. And yet it did. A series of events unfolded before me -- that cloud by day and pillar by night -- that began with getting laid off from my job in Tennessee and moved into a clear leading on what I was supposed to take with me to Texas (I stored everything that I couldn't fit in my car and it waits for me back in Tennessee) and when I was supposed to leave (there was a small window of opportunity between the snow storms that kept pelting Tennessee).

So I left the Volunteer state and drove for two days to Texas. On the day I pulled into Austin, I got a phone call from a newspaper that I had sent a resume to the week before. Now mind you, I had been sending resumes out for several months, and had not received one call about it. This paper is two hours from Austin -- close to Emily and the kids, and closer to Houston than Austin. I did not care for Austin.

I drove out for the interview, and was hired that day. Amazing? No. One more step along the constantly illuminated route. I had been trying to find a cheap weekly hotel in Austin, but when the job came through, that plan quickly changed and I paid for a week at a hotel 25 miles from my new job. I started work that next Monday, and began looking in earnest for an apartment, as I only had enough money for one week at the hotel and did not get paid for two weeks.

Was I going to be homeless after that week? No. Pillars again. I looked at several apartments and none seemed to be right. Finally, I was directed to a man who owned several apartments in town, and he let me move into one with no cash outlay until my paycheck came. People have brought me a couch, a tv, a mattress and more.

I am where I am supposed to be. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. No doubts. I am working at a newspaper as an editor, and I am enjoying it. And I am very aware that God has me here for a reason.

It is satisfying to know that God has been leading me so obviously. Scary, too. It has been a month of big changes, but God has comforted and led me through it all. I await the next twist and turn on this road before me.