The long-procrastinated update (8/22/09)

While I was overseas I was in such a good habit of writing updates every month or so to let all of my wonderful friends and family know what new and exciting developments were occurring. I have now been back in the states for eight months and in that time have done a completely horrendous job of communicating and sharing my life with those I love and do not see on a regular basis. So, for anyone still maintaining a shred of interest in the exciting --though not quite in the same way -- life that the Lord seems to perpetually amuse Himself by granting me, here's what's currently unfolding in the Michelle state-side saga.

Our protagonist returns to her homeland, nearly penniless, but with a new enthusiasm for her country and the exciting new steps before her, in the midst of a nasty and growing recession that has dried up nearly all jobs in her field. After months of unsuccessful job searching, scrounging and begging, she manages to land a temporary position that will provide her with minimal income for a few months more. Prayer seems to yield little direction, until a passing suggestion sparks into a possibility - a Masters Degree in Media and Communications from a seminary just over an hour away. Possibility leads to pursuit, which leads to acceptance, which leads to ... the word dreaded more than most any other, commitment.

And here the saga comes to a middle.

Okay, for the serious version: I want to say how much I appreciate ya'll's prayers as I've been going through a really stressful month of getting things together and making decisions as to what commitments I was able to make. I'm still in the process of procuring work. My last day at my summer temp job was Wednesday and I had to say goodbye to all the kids at the Children's Home where I was working which was kinda sad.

News on the job-hunting front has been the most insane part of the drama of my life lately. After deciding that seminary was something I was going to pursue seriously, I began looking for part-time jobs and apartments in the Dallas area. FYI part-time job salaries in the Dallas area are not quite equivalent to rent in the Dallas area!

As I was in the process of interviewing and applying for part-time jobs, I got a call from a full-time copy editing job that I had applied for back in March. They had had to put the job on hold for some reason or other (like the aforementioned NASTY recession) and were opening it back up. They wanted to know if I was still interested. The job would be 8 to 5 every weekday, no leeway for seminary students, but would have a salary that would make it possible to get my own place and possibly just be able to pay off some of that schooling as I go. This would mean putting Seminary on the back burner and taking only a class or two at night and working all day. Getting the job is still far from a certainty. I still have two more interviews to go through and deadlines for school registration and payment have come and gone.

So, classes start on Monday and I'm supposed to get a call sometime this week to set up a second interview for the full-time job. If I take the job at this point I will lose a whole lot of money in classes that I will have to drop after deadline, but I will have a steady job and a salary. I also would not be able to finish my degree taking only evening classes, so later on I would have to make a decision on which to abandon, the job or the degree.

I'm stuck with a decision to make. Do I take the job and have stability, a good income, a place to live, and put seminary and what I really hope to do with my life on hold; or do I continue to live with my parents, commuting over an hour four days a week to Seminary and Trust that God will somehow miraculously take care of my tuition and textbook bills (not to mention gas bills!!!)? At this point I'm leaning toward the latter. I've still got a couple part-time job possibilities that I can pursue and some loan money coming in in the next month. But oh, does the stable income and a place of my own sound really good!

So, in conclusion, I'm still really conflicted and having a hard time determining which direction God is leading me in. However, He has lead me this far and I know He will not stop leading me now.