transitions

I was starting to give up. Time and time again I caught myself going over the possibilities of where I might find a job back home, how I would buy new furniture and possibly a new Volkswagen Beetle.... I just kept thinking that I came to Israel for more than just sitting in my apartment doing freelance design work all the time. I could do that back home and not have to deal with all the cultural issues of daily life here.

Even though this has been in the back of my mind, I still went ahead and purchased my return ticket for March 26. I guess I just couldn't let go of what I thought God had instructed me to do. So with that in mind, I started trying to extend my tourist visa until March 6 when I'm scheduled to return to the States. I tried to do a visa run by land, basically just crossing the border into Egypt in order to get an extra month. I'll never do that again. The border control officers treated me like a criminal, and only gave me one extra week. So then I tried to get an appointment with the Ministry of the Interior. They're booked solid until April. Add a horrible sinus infection to the visa situation and I was really ready to call it quits this past Sunday. I was feeling like such a failure.

But then Monday came and I decided to call Bridges for Peace, a Christian organization that promotes unity between Jews and Christians in very practical, servant-hearted ways. They need a graphic designer here in Jerusalem. I'm a graphic designer. I'm here in Jerusalem. Their mission statement describes my heart's desire. Their office is two blocks from Sandra and John Mark's. I went for an appointment on Tuesday and I left feeling so hopeful and encouraged. This may truly be the place for me. The application process takes a while, so my timing is really perfect as I'll be going home and could start as soon as I get back.

I came to Israel in faith that God would sovereignly lead me to the thing that He has called me here for. God told Abraham to go, and Abraham went, not knowing where God would lead. I never thought I could do that, but looking back, I guess that's exactly what I did. I really hope that it works out with BFP, but even if it doesn't, I still want to follow wherever God leads. This open door has shown me that He would never lead me on a wild goose chase or abandon me as long as I'm trying to follow Him. It's worth every minute.