City of Angels

Truth: it does not matter how much you plan your life, or the perfect paths to take, because God has a way of coming in and messing it up. Correction, God improves your plan. He makes it so that you will live the life you’re supposed to if you follow his voice. But let’s face it; a lot of the times it feels like God is messing up our plans instead of improving our plans. I was reminded of this over the past week.

Originally, I was going to do my YAV year in Chinook, Montana, I have been planning this for months. Then one day I get an email from the YAV program saying that there has been a change in the development of the program in Chinook and asked if when a good time to talk. That doesn't sound good, what can it mean? I had an idea of what was happening that was soon confirmed with the phone call. It turns out that the other YAV that was going can no longer go, which meant that if I went to Chinook I would be the only YAV there. Now this is not a big problem, although, in the YAV program a big emphasis is on intentional Christian community living. If I go to Chinook I’m sure I’ll be able to connect to the Chinook community, but I would not be able to connect to the YAV community.

So the question then became, “Do I go to Chinook and risk not connecting to the YAV community, or do I reapply for a different site in the YAV program where I will have a stronger connection to the YAV community?” Oh and did I mention that I have less than a month until orientation. If I change sites I have only a month to get ready!After a day of thinking about this, I decided to reapply to a different site. At the end of the day, what I am going to need most out of the YAV program is to come home and vent to the other YAVs. I knew in order to get what I need most out of the program I needed to apply to different sites. Luckily, the people in the program were reliable with their emails (which is kind of cool when you think about the time zone differences) and by Friday I was able to interview with the site coordinator at Los Angeles.

Now I did my research on several sites beforehand, and LA sounded like it fit me most. But I was skeptical because I didn't know how the interview would go and I didn't know if I would get into a site (at this point I just wanted to get placed). After the interview my doubts went away, I knew LA was the site I was supposed to be at. How do I know this you ask? Well many things were pointing towards LA, but the main one was through a dream. I dreamed that I was taking a shower very early in the morning, about to go to the airport to catch my flight to LA. At the end of the tub was my little Mia, my cat that we had to put to sleep last summer. The part about Mia being there is super important because I have had her for fourteen years. I would confide many things in her while I was growing up, and she knew that she was mine. We had definitely imprinted on each other. In my dream, I was freaked out because Mia has been dead for a year and I had to run to show my mom. My mom was also freaked out for the exact same reason. In my dream, Mia wanted me to go to LA. When I woke I thought one of two things. A) My subconscious REALLY wants to go to LA, or B) Mia was telling me to go to LA. I believe that it is a combination of both. Well the next time I see Mia in one of my dreams I’ll be sure to tell her that I was accepted to LA J

When I am in LA, I will be working as a YAV, but I will also be working through DOOR Los Angeles (and don’t ask me what Door stand for.) You can read more about it here. This will give me a unique opportunity because I will be considered a YAV but I will also be considered a dweller (what they call people through the DOOR program). I will be living in a house with not just YAVs through the PC(USA) but dwellers through DOOR as well. While I’m at LA I will be able to witness several stories. Stories of people from different ethnicities, social economic status, as well as many other different backgrounds. I don’t know what adventures I will have, but I will listen to people’s stories with an open heart and find my story with an open mind. I believe that God has placed me where I am meant to be.