Plan O……BU

My mom always jokes that when the Lord is ready to move me, He moves at lightening speed! I think the easiest way for me to explain what has happened is to do this by dates. That way you’ll get the whole picture. 🙂

February – From prior blogs, you’ll know that I gave my notice back in February to my boss. We decided my end date would be May 31.

March – The Lord appeared to be leading me to move home and help my parents move and downsize.

April – Pack, prep for the next RD, pack, tie-up lose ends, pack, pack, and pack.

May 21 – I stumbled across a Director of Housing/Assistant Director of Residence Life position. I almost didn’t look at the position details because I didn’t think I would be qualified. Plus, I had no interest in being a director. I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk just making decisions (my definition of a director), I wanted student interaction.

May 22 – The Lord brought to mind a childhood friend who had previously worked at this particular institution. I reached out to her to ask if I could pick her brain about the position.

May 23 – I decided I wasn’t going to apply for the position, but I would still ask my friend for her insights. We chatted on-line for a little while that night. I found out that my friend had worked in the exact office for which this position was posted. She even knew most of the people who still worked in that office! She gave me some great insights and I appreciated her honesty. I realized that I had done almost all the things listed in the job description and I met all the requirements. This was a new experience for me! Nothing my friend told me was scaring me off. I talked with my mentors and they encouraged me to apply.

May 24 – I worked on the application. Have I told you how much I hate job searching and applications? I’m pretty sure it is just slightly above my dislike of the physical part of moving. 🙂 Needless to say, I passed a few unenjoyable hours filling out the paperwork (which was actually shorter them some applications I’ve filled out), but was unable to submit in until the next day. I figured nothing would come of the applications (since nothing had come of any of my applications over the last year and a half).

May 25 – I had the day off due to my brother being in town to help me move a couple of my larger pieces of furniture to a storage unit. I finished up my application and submitted it at 0932.

May 29 (after the long holiday weekend) – Early afternoon I received a call from the Dean of Students office requesting to set up a time for a skype interview. The only day they had available was Thursday. This was slightly complicated because I had movers coming early that morning to move my piano, I had to work a few hours in the afternoon to finish up at my job, and turn in all my keys and tags. Followed by a 3.5 hour drive to my parents’ house (where I was going to start helping with all their house/moving stuff). I was under the impression that the interview would be a basic interview and last roughly 30min. We set up the time for 11am and I started praying that my movers would be on time!

May 31 – I woke up early and packed up my few remaining belongings. Thankfully, my movers arrived 30min early and did a great job. They moved my piano and two other pieces of furniture and I was able to get myself presentable for the interview. We were able to connect by face-time and I realized that I was actually interviewing with the Vice President of Student Development, the Dean of Students, and a lady from admissions. I quickly discovered that this was a more serious interview then I had initially thought. It lasted roughly 50min and I believed it went well. They told me that they were interviewing 7 people for the position. They would finish up the interviews hopefully by June 4-5 and then call two people for on-campus interviews. I thought I was safe from the next step until sometime the following week (have I told you I don’t like change and have to have some process time?!? :)). After I finished the interview, I quickly went to a goodbye lunch with friends, worked my last few hours, and hit the road.

June 1 – Late afternoon I received a call from the VP stating that they would like me to come out for an on-campus interview. It was scheduled for June 13. I would be interviewing with the president of the school, have lunch with the RD staff, get a campus tour (I had never been to this campus before), and then sit down with the Dean of Students and VP. I also found out that day that I had actually met the lady I might be replacing two years ago at an Association for Christians in Student Development (ACSD) conference and that I was the only one they were inviting for a face-to-face interview. *GULP*

June 2-12 – I tried to focus on helping my parents, processing all the possible changes, trusting the Lord with everything, enjoying my birthday, and treasuring the time with family.

June 13 – I ended up being on campus for 7 hours and 19 min. 🙂 It was long, but good. I enjoyed my time with the staff and felt the Lord showing how He had equipped me over the years for this position. By the end of the day, they offered me the position. I asked for a couple days to pray about it and said that I would let them know something by the morning of June 15. I used the time to pray and seek wise counsel.

June 15 – I officially accepted the position as Director of Housing/Assistant Director of Residence Life at Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. With a start date of July 1.

June 17 – Submitted paperwork for background check.

June 20 – Passed background check and contract was drawn up.

June 22 – Drove down and looked for housing. I had a difficult time in the beginning finding a place, but through a crazy set of circumstances, the Lord connected me with the manager of a great apartment complex. She thought she would have sometime come open sometime in July or August. I knew this would be fine since I couldn’t find anything else and my parents only live 50min away from the campus, so I knew I could commute for a season if necessary.

June 25 – Signed official OBU contract

June 26 – Got a call from the apartment complex saying they had an apartment open up and I could move in on July 1.

June 27 – Went and signed the paperwork for my apartment and got all my utilities set up. Found out that I could actually get into the apartment that day. The complex staff knew I was starting a job in July and that I didn’t live in the area. They talked with the people on the list ahead of me and explained my situation and the people graciously passed on the apartment so that I could have it. What a blessing!

June 29 – Took down my first load of belongings and set the apartment up to be functional for my first week. Worked out the details to get the rest of my belongings from out-of-state.

July 2 – First day in the office = Start of the next adventure.

God has been so gracious in this whole process! In less then a month, the Lord provided a job and home where. The Lord has walked before me in so many ways (whether it be my childhood friend who had worked in that department or the people who passed on the apartment). Believe it or not, there are several other ways that God provided throughout this whole process! Thankful!

There are definitely things, and most of all people, who I’ll miss from my prior job. They gave me treasured memories and friendships! Thankfully, I have also felt welcomed by this new community already and I’m looking forward to journeying through life here. I know that God will stretch and grow me in great ways through this new season! Thanks for taking time to see how God is moving!

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