On the Road Again

It's been two years in the making; two years have passed since I moved back to Charleston after an amazing journey through Europe.  If you recall, I had moved to Ireland in June of 2011 in hopes of spending a year abroad.  I was in Dublin for six months, but without ever applying for a visa, wore out my welcome.  A little depressed about having to give up on my dream of spending a year abroad, I went home for Christmas, but the Lord presented me with an opportunity to move to Italy, so I left in January and moved to Milan.  The next few months were a roller coaster, but so worth the ride.

At the end of May 2012, I was eager to get home to Charleston to see my best friend and her new baby. I was excited to return to teaching at Stiles Point, the wonderful little school where I have now spent seven years, the majority of my teaching career.  I was happy to be home with family and friends and to be back to the wonderful city of Charleston. I love this place.

Pretty soon though, I struggled with my return.  Just like culture shock when moving to a new place, a person can also suffer from reverse culture shock.  Definitely check out the link if you want more info about this very real condition.  I don't know if I got it worse than some of the others with whom I traveled, but to me, it seemed VERY hard to adjust to being back home.

Almost immediately, I started talking about ways to go abroad again.  They say once you're bitten with the travel bug, it's hard to let that urge to travel go.  I got bitten hard at age 15, my first trip to Europe, but living abroad made it even harder to adjust to being back in the states, and after that, I desperately wanted to move again.  I started looking for jobs abroad, but as I hadn't worked full time when I was there, I needed something permanent, something I knew would bring in a steady income.  Tutoring here and there, nannying, and volunteering in Ireland and Italy were fantastic experiences, but those things didn't really pay the bills.  I needed stability.  I wanted to move and to do it right this time. (This I battle with because I do believe my previous experience abroad was "right." Actually, I think it was more than right, but I needed to make a move this time that I knew was a responsible one.)

I prayed; I even consulted a tarot card reader (contradictory to some, but I do all things with God's guidance. I have a very strong faith and no matter what you believe, I know my God is guiding me).  I went through the phases of day to day life, but I wasn't happy. I was really unhappy actually.  I felt guilty about this because I've been blessed with SO MANY things, but I knew in my heart something wasn't right.

Two years passed, lots of friends celebrated marriages and births of their first children.  I enjoyed and am honored to have been part of those experiences, but they weren't mine. I want more than anything to have a family, to be a loving wife and mother, but it's not my time.  I've prayed a lot about this too.

After spending 7 weeks back in Ireland and the UK last summer, I thought, "I can do it.  I can live in Charleston."  I went house hunting and put offers in on two different properties.  I thought for sure I'd make it work.  I thought I'd be happy if I bought my own place and made a fresh start here.  The Lord had other plans.  Both houses fell through. There was a reason for that.

Just in the last month or so, through my prayers, I've finally heard God's will.  I've struggled with this over the years and felt like I just wasn't a good listener, so I was never going to know what He wished for me.  Up until recently, I've been completely lost.  I am so happy to announce though, that God has shared His plans with me, and although I don't know exactly what He has in store, I know I'm being guided.  I know, without a doubt, that I am being called to China.  He tried to show me this last year, but something wasn't right with that experience either, and so I turned down a job in Shanghai.  I spent a lot of time researching recently, deciding which school I'd join for the 2014-2015 year, and after weighing all the pros and cons (but actually from the first moment of reading their mission statement I knew) I decided to join the team at the International School of Dongguan.  I can't tell you how excited I am for the new adventures ahead and I can't wait to be "on the road again!"