Where Past and Present Collide

One year ago this week I said goodbye...

Goodbye to everything I had known for 9 years.  I said goodbye to my friends.  I said goodbye to my church.  I said goodbye to my coworkers.  I said goodbye to my city.  I said goodbye to my province.  Goodbye.

It's hard to imagine that a year has already gone by.  In a sense it feels like it was just yesterday...the memories and emotions are all so raw still, yet it also feels like a lifetime ago because so much has changed in me.

I miss Kamloops so much.  A part of me always will.

As tough as the past year and a half has been (including moving preparations, etc) I know God has used it to change me and shape me.  He has used it to mold me.  There are still what if's running around in my head about what would have happened if I stayed, but as I know from previous moves those will be there no matter what.  Yet despite all the questions I still have I know I'm right in the middle of God's will for my life.  I may still want to go back, but God has me here for a reason.  A reason still to be seen.

Thinking about 'moving week' last year brought the song "Whatever You're Doing" by Sanctus Real back into my mind.  It was my theme song last year. 

"Whatever You're doing inside of me it feels like chaos but somehow there's peace.  Though it's hard to surrender to what I can't see, I'm giving into something heavenly...Whatever You're doing inside of me it feels like chaos but I believe You're up to something bigger than me, larger than life, something heavenly." 

Moving was chaotic.  It was hard.  Yet in the midst of it I know God has a plan.  It doesn't mean I have to forget BC and all the memories I had there.  It doesn't mean I should forget the friends I have there and keep my distance from them.  No way!  It means that chapter of my life has ended and a new one has begun.  It means that I treasure the moments God gave me in Kamloops because they were used to shape me into who I was last year.  And the new memories and new friends I'm making here are shaping me now.  It's a place where the past and present collide...to fulfull God's plan for my life!

This has been something that has been on my heart for a few months now, ever since someone I know told me they weren't exactly going to stay in touch with me just because they had moved away...  Ever since the day I got that message in May I've been reminding myself over and over again that I will never, ever treat anyone that way.  I am blessed to have known all the people I have known, and while I may not continue to be close friends with everyone I've ever known, they will always hold a very special place in my heart...for God brought them into my life for a purpose, and I am so very grateful for those purposes!