If someone would have told me two years ago, that I would move to Raleigh, North Carolina and completely fall in love with it, I would have laughed in their face and changed the subject. The even more intriguing thing, is that I never had North Carolina on my list of my most loved cities where I would want to move someday. I can remember confidently proclaiming to my mother that I would move to New York or Chicago when I grew up.. but no. Here I am, exactly where I am purposed to be in Raleigh, of all places.
I found myself, feet planted in the RDU airport looking for my new supervisor. He was there to pick me up, and drive me to my new home and job. I knew no one, I had absolutely zero clue where I was, and I was convinced that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I cried myself to sleep that night. Little did I know that God was about to completely blow my mind in the days and months to follow.
Lesson 1: Even through transition, there will be always be provision
It may come in a different form for you, but for this transition, provision came first, in the form of my grandparents. They drove themselves and my tv, down to Raleigh, North Carolina from Columbus, Ohio. Their sacrifice to spend a couple of days with me and help me transition however they could, truly gave me the strength and confidence to push through, and not hop in the car with them, back to Ohio.
“Don’t go crying to your mama, cause your on your own in the real world” It hit me in that very moment, mid cocktail, at a long table, in the middle of a karaoke bar. The song was booming so loud from the speakers, that I can literally close my eyes even now, and take myself back to that same emotional space. I remember how I felt, and I remember the smile that swept across my face because I had just accepted that I was in for a new adventure. I was finally experiencing the realization that I was on my own, in deed in the real world.
But provision didn’t stop there. Provision then came in the form of a particular college student. God provided a bold and brilliant young woman, who invited me to visit the Summit Church here in Raleigh. Her invitation and my willingness to try something new, has without a doubt contributed to the friendships and spiritual maturity that I have embraced this past year. As I reflect back on my experience, I can see how God orchestrated every single relationship that I have begun here in North Carolina. It is evident that each of our paths were meant to cross in those exact moments, and I am so grateful that they did.
You see, he wont lead you where he hasn’t already made a path. God knew that I would need friends here in Raleigh, and he positioned them, he knew that I would need spiritual guidance, and he provided a place of worship. Nothing that happens to you in transition, happens to you by chance. It’s all on purpose!
Collectively, every single moment that has transpired in my life over the past year and a few months, has been leading me to this moment, this blog and this website. I am confident in this. I had no idea that the creative concepts that came to me years ago would be the foundation of the work that I am doing today with this blog.
Lesson 2: Without Transition, we may never reach our purpose
Had I shrunk in fear and not taken the leap of faith to move to Raleigh, I may not have ever completed this blog or website. I surely wouldn’t have created this particular post, because there wouldn’t be any content to share with all of you. Fear, is a powerful force that keeps dreams from becoming a reality. Even now as I gather these thoughts to cultivate this post, the fear of disapproval from a viewer attempts to keep me from completing what I have started. That fear will most likely never go away, but I chose to take the risk anyway. Reaching the other side of a transitional period in your life, will make you believe you can achieve anything, and it’s true, you can. Whether your transition is in a new job, a move or what have you, I encourage you to take the risk, you’ll either leap and fall, or leap and soar. Either way, leap! There aren’t any mistakes in this life, just lessons. What if the very thing you desired in this life, was on the other side of you entering a transition? Would you drop everything to go for it then?
As a believer, I believe in the bible, and a particular chapter in Psalms truly speaks to life’s transitions and God’s promise to see each and every one of us through it all. Whether or not you are a believer, all of us can find encouragement in this passage to take a leap of faith and try something new today, because in the end, everything falls into place, for the good.
Kasai Marie
Psalm 139:7-16
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.