Arkansas: Part 5

Colorado could always be home.

To be honest, I really don’t know if I will ever live in Colorado again . . .

So much was changing. So much was happening.

As I finished my drive to work . . . I knew that everything was going to be different.

A month or so passed and communication with anyone in Arkansas had been difficult. Random phone messages. Unanswered emails. Doubt. I couldn’t get a hold of Lisa to tell her that I had decided to move. I wanted to tell her I was very interested in finding out if the room at her home would be available to rent. Without any communication, I assumed that it was finally time for me to do something . . . take action . . . play a part in all this. I asked God if I could get on-line and start looking at apartment possibilities in the Conway area.

His voice was gentle yet firm, “No.”

Alright. . . . well can I email Ms. B and see if she knows of anyone else I can live with?

“No.”

Ok . . . well then what should I do?

“Be still . . . and know that I am God.”

Of course.

How quickly I had forgotten.

How had I already forgotten??

In my world I only had two months to get things settled before I left.

But in His world . . . two months was an eternity.

As more time passed there was something that I was going to have to DO.

Only me. No one else.

And in doing this . . . my move to Arkansas would be settled.

No retreating. No turning back.

I was going to have to give my notice to my boss, Brent.

Because of the position I was in, I didn’t feel like a normal two weeks notice would be sufficient. My position was not going to be easy to replace. So with careful thought, prayer and consideration of what all it would take for Brent to replace me, I decided to give him five weeks notice. This would be plenty of time for me to “phase out” of my current position and help, in any way I could, with my replacement. When it came to the physical moving part, I also needed some time to pack and clean my town home. I decided that my last day would be October 20^th. I pulled out my calendar to see how far back five weeks would be, the date just happen to land on September 15^th. Now I know what you’re probably thinking . . . September 15^th? What’s so important about September 15^th? Well September 15^th just happened to be my first day back to work from my time in Dallas for my brother’s wedding. It was perfect. The timing was absolutely perfect!

Now you would have thought that after all I had been through with this Arkansas adventure that I would not have been surprised by God’s little winks toward me.

But that is what makes the winks so special . . . they are always a surprise.

September 15^th, 2009

It felt like any other day.

The sun rose.

The air was clean and clear.

The mountains stood to the west in all their majesty and beauty.

But . . . there was something different about today . . .

This day would forever mark my life.

Memories flooded my mind and my heart.

June 6^th. Starbucks. My conversation with Stephanie and Becca.

The telephone call with James and the invitation to come check out Arkansas.

“My heart longs for something more.”

Ms. B and Lisa. Two amazing women, who welcomed me and

didn’t even know me. Maybe a place to live.

“It can really be this easy.”

Three months of loving my family and friends.

Three months of not having to do anything.

“Be still . . . and know that I am God.”

I knew that when I looked back on this story . . . I would never forget September 15^th.

I walked into work with an anxious heart.

I would have to sit through our manager meeting before I would be able to talk to Brent. As we all gathered at our normal meeting spot and sat down, my heart began to race!

Could they tell? Did anyone know how nervous I was? Someone’s gotta know!

I’m pretty sure I could have given myself a heart attack at this point. So I closed my eyes for a brief moment and breathed. “Lord . . . I can’t do this. I cannot make it through this meeting without You. I cannot make it through this conversation with Brent . . . without you! I cannot make it through this day . . . without YOU!”

Without fail . . . or even hesitation the calm, soothing, soft voice whispered once again,

“I am here. I am right here. I am in the rays of the sun . . . I am in the freshness of the air . . . and those . . . are My mountains. Do not be afraid. We will do this together.”

The meeting was long. And of course everyone needed Brent’s time after the meeting . . . Everyone! So towards the end of the meeting I looked across the table, at Brent and said as calmly but as seriously as I could . . . “Brent. . . I really, really need to talk to you after the meeting.” Without much consideration of what I had just said, he quickly responded, “You and everyone else.”

Great. . . would this even happen today? I didn’t think I could handle another day of nerves, sweaty palms and a pounding heart. So frustrating. Even though four of us needed to talk to Brent, in all reality, he would be lucky to get to two of us. His schedule is so crazy after manager meetings. He had conference calls, numbers to run . . . ugghhh . . . the next thing I knew, everyone was getting up from the table and three words were spoken that rang through the room . . .

“Liz, you’re first!”