A New Season

by Amy

Last Thursday I was gathering my personal items from my desk and as I went to log off my computer I realized it would be the last time. That's when I lost it. Every moment before then I kept it together. Every goodbye and every thank you was dealt with some amount of control. It wasn't until I was alone and pushing the chair in when the overwhelming bittersweetness of it all made me cave. 

After seven and a half years I closed a chapter of my life for a new one. I came to Georgetown University seeking one thing and left with something else entirely. Personally, I think it is funny how God will allow us to head in a direction thinking one thing only for Him to show us something completely different. He did it with my graduate school experience and He did it again in my career at Georgetown. This time, however, I think I had more grace than before. In graduate school I questioned Him, got angry a few times, and doubted myself beyond what I should have. This time, however: this time.

Ten years after graduate school and I am smiling at Him, nodding my head in understanding, and thanking Him for the lessons learned and the journeys travelled. Nothing is in vain and nothing is wasted when He is put first. This time around I also left doubt behind. As I walked off the campus for the last time I knew I was leaving the doubt I carried with me for so many years. I'm not walking into a new season and chapter of my life not knowing if it is the right thing to do. I'm walking into it with confidence that God is pleased with the next step - the next goal. 

I've been hearing a lot about taking next steps lately. Maybe it is because of my personal walk with the Lord right now, but it has me acting on things rather than contemplating them and then walking away. 

There is a devotional book I've been working through lately called "100 Days to Brave" by Annie F. Downs. I'm not much into daily devotional books but this one called my name when I heard about it so I picked it up at my nearest bookstore. Every day Annie leaves you with some words of encouragement and a challenge of some sort. I started taking her words to heart and the challenges seriously. The day she challenged me to do something brave was the day I decided to apply for multiple jobs. 

Here's the thing: for the first time in a long while I applied to jobs that I am passionate about pursuing; careers that I can see myself moving forward. What am I passionate about? What do I really want to do with my life? How many times have I heard these questions? Well, here is my answer:

I am passionate about Jesus. He is the breath that I breathe and the song in my heart. My love, my desire and my heart belongs to Him. I fell in love a long time ago when I was a teenager and that love has only grown over the years. I love Him so much that I want to pursue His work and bring it to others the rest of my life. I desire others to know Him like I do and even better! I want them to experience the Jesus that has been constant and steadfast in my life and watch Him do it in theirs. 

With that passion driving me, I applied for a job at a place I've admired since before it was even built in Washington, DC in 2017. After three weeks of phone calls, interviews and negotiating, I was offered the job as an executive assistant at the Museum of the Bible. To say I am excited (and nervous) is an understatement. I am thrilled to be heading in a direction that, as I've been hearing from those I've told, "sounds like me." It does sound like me. Helping others understand the Bible and its infallible Truth is exactly what I love to do. This is the right thing for me, and it is the next chapter of my life. With Jesus by my side, I know I the risk I am taking is completely worth it.

I was encouraged to create a mission statement for myself years ago and I finally made one. It goes something like this:

To encourage and support others in their faith and God-filled purposes through words, actions and the written word. 

What is your mission statement? If you don't have one I encourage you to build one and write it somewhere you can see every day. It has helped me so much!

Cheers to sweet chapter closed and a new one starting. Thank you, Georgetown University, for all you have taught me. Thank you to my friends who have encouraged me to pursue my heart's desires (you know who you are). Thank you to my family who have been my biggest supporters and truth-tellers. You have all said and done more to make a difference than you will ever know. Thank you, Jesus, for showing me that I don't have to carelessly leap, but rather take one step with hope and trust that You are showing me the next step when I do.