Change

My life...is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. - Gilda Radner

ditto. -Amanda Workman

This time my adventures are turning me towards the Dallas/Ft.Worth metroplex.

As most of you are aware, my passion lies within the cross cultural world. I was raised in a cross cultural environment, spent time in high school with an expert in this field, and subsequently pursued this area of study in my studies at Hardin-Simmons University.

Since graduation, I have found the field a difficult area to get into and yet have continued to pursue volunteer activity on the side.

I spent my JR/SR year with Ruth VanReken. She is a specialist in transitional studies and a well known author on the subject. We have kept in touch in the years since our Africa adventure. In fact, many of my long time readers will remember “Tigpan’s adventures in Thailand” where I met Ruth and her husband for an adventure filled week.

Now that you have that background information….

Ruth emailed me about a month ago and talked to me about a fellow MK (missionary kid not Mary Kay) in Dallas who was looking for someone to come along side her to do some cross cultural training, but it would probably be more piece meal work. Her name is Nancy.
I met with Nancy about three weeks ago in a whirlwind trip to Dallas. It was there that I found out that she was a MK in The Sudan and she went to boarding school in Ethiopia, and then later on to west Africa. I asked her how old she was; and after her revealing that to me, I asked if she knew the Konnerups. She said that Jackie Konnerup was her roommate in college. Jackie is the sister of my father's best friend Ole, who I consider my uncle. Yep once again my world is tiny.

It gets tinier. In May of last year some of you may remember, I sent an email to a company in Dallas called Cultural Awareness International. I found them on the web, and saw that they did relocation assistance and cross cultural training. I send them an email asking if they had ANYTHING available in their company. They called me and asked me to come up to Dallas for an interview. I drove up and back in the same day. They ended up offering me a position in the relocation department as there was not a lot going on in the cross cultural side of things. I decided at that time to turn down what was seemingly the job of my dreams. I just did not have a peace about taking this job.

When I turned it down, several people who I respected told me that I should have taken it; that I could not live a life where my feelings of peace controlled my actions. No offense to those parties, but they were wrong. That is how I have always made decisions and the Lord has protected me in so many areas. He did again here. In speaking with Nancy I found out that the company that she works for is the EXACT same company. The cross cultural training department has taken off, (which I knew with the right person in charge it would), and the relocation department has had some set backs and has even had some lay offs. Now what if I had taken that job!?!?

Long story…longer…..I went up again last weekend to interview with CAI again, and have been hired on as an admin in their cross cultural training department. It is the ground floor, but with plenty of room for movement! I am so very excited.

So, once again God has brought an opportunity that I really wanted, something I am incredibly passionate about!!, to me in His timing not mine.

In His timing, I have struggled....in His timing, I have learned more about Him than I ever would have before....in His timing, I am now more equipped to do this job....in His timing, I have a business that easy supplements any short comings in salary (one of my reasons to turn down before)....In His timing, I have gone against all things that made sense to everyone else even me and waited on the Lord.....In His timing, I do have peace.

One more time...."That's God!" From my tiny tiny world...I bid you adieu....I will keep you updated as I know more (i.e. my new dwelling place, etc)
Love you all