How last week came to be…

Previously posted on the Ethnos forum due to blogger being down...


This past week I have been reminded that God is amazing. He truly does have plans for our lives, amazing plans. He does do things in His time. Wow, His time is not our time.

Let me explain…

God gave me a great family. I have a mom and dad who have been together for over 30 years. I also have two brothers, one younger and one older. God placed me in a Christian home. Not a perfect little home, but one where I learned much about serving Him and trusting in Him. I’ve come to learn over the years that God does things on purpose.

Why exactly did my art teacher submit my artwork for the parent newsletter in Jr. High? So that God could open my eyes to the real kind of talent that I had locked away within. Sure, I’ve always been creative. My parents have always known that. But when I saw the newsletter, my heart skipped a beat. Wow, I was really good at something. I wasn’t just the quiet, smart girl. My art teacher thought I was good. All my peers were going to see my artwork too. I think it also caused my parents to also take a second look at my artistic skills. That year for my birthday, they gave me art supplies; a sketch book and a couple dozen berol prismacolor pencils. God was beginning to work His plan.

Over the next few years I really grew as an artist. I took art whenever I could. During my freshman year, my art teacher introduced me to watercolor. I love watercolor. I also made a decision that year. I had been thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. I had two real strong loves at school, art and math. So I put them together and discovered architecture. From that point on, I was going to be an architect. Did I pray about the decision? No. I just made a decision. Was it the decision that God wanted me to come to? I believe so.

After my freshman year, I had an opportunity to go on a mission trip to Mexico. It’s the only mission trip I’ve ever been on. It was an eye opener. It broke my heart the first time I laid eyes on the slums. It wasn’t right. People needed real homes. These were glorified cardboard boxes, large cardboard boxes made of wood, tin and tires. It was in that moment that God first called me. He gave me a gentle tug on my heart. It said, “you could do something about some of this, some day.” I felt that I would be back, that some day I would design a home for some of these people. Not big fancy American dream homes, but something they could be proud of, something that would offer these children a safer place to sleep at night. God was working His plan.

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do , and your plans will succeed.” It’s the way I felt. I didn’t spend a lot of time praying about all these decisions. (I know my mom did though.) But I felt that God knew that whatever I set my mind to, I would do for Him. I also felt that He would slam the door in my face, if I wasn’t going a direction that He had in mind for me. I asked Him to write me a letter with detailed plans for my life. It never came.

My senior year I applied to one of the best architectural schools, our own UO (hurray for instate tuition). As part of my application I was required to write two essays. My parents went to Bible study one evening and I began to write. I was done by the time they got home. They had prayed for me while I was writing. God poured an essay out through me. It really was His essay. It wasn’t just an essay to get into school either. It turned out that it was an essay to get money for school as well. God paid for my first year and a half of school with that essay.

Architecture was a lot of work. It was a tough course of study. Lots of people said it would be tough; my architecture mentor, my drafting instructor, other people who claimed to know. I laughed. After all, I was a strait A student. I knew tough. I took all of the highest level classes that were available to me in high school, with one exception. (I had to skip Spanish 4. It was only offered once during the day. Architecture 3 and 4 were also only offered once during the day. At the same time as Spanish 4.) They say that architecture students have the largest files at the health center, larger even than the highly stressed law students. After five years and 231 credit hours at the UO, I understood way. (Yes, it takes 231 credits to earn a Bachelor in Architecture.)

During my last year of school, I took all my classes from one instructor. I took three classes for a total for 20 credits. Ginger taught us how to design a camp. We had a large site on which we had to build various buildings; cabins, dining halls, kitchen, ampatheater, gardens, etc… God was preparing me for his plan.

After school I got married. Then I spent some time trying to get a job in the field of architecture. It’s a tough place to get your foot in the door when you’re an unassertive quiet kind of person. But being a domestic engineer wasn’t so bad. It gave me a chance to learn autocad more in depth. I got involved with children’s ministry. I took up photography. Eventually, I became a mommy. So it’s been a good seven years. Seven years for God to mold me, grow me, and shape me. Seven years for me to find out who I really am. It’s been good.

A few months ago Josiah and I were downtown at the mall. There was a display set up. It was for the people’s choice architecture awards. Josiah had fallen asleep in his stroller. So I spent an hour picking through my options and then voting. During that hour I began to remember what it was about architecture that I loved. I longed to sit down at my drafting table and draw. I didn’t know it, but God was reigniting a spark in my heart, a passion and desire for architecture.

Last week, God called. He called in an email from a friend. A friend I met just one year ago. She has a vision for the children of Kenya. I’ve fallen in love with that vision. The email was a request for help. It was a request for the knowledge that I had spent five years gaining. It was a call from God to do my part in His plan. The part of His plan that He has been preparing me for.

I didn’t expect the call. I didn’t expect it to come at this time, or in this way. I didn’t expect it to be for Kenya. But that was God’s plan all along. I’m designing homes, for children in Africa. I’m designing them a school. I’m designing the buildings where they will grow and learn free from the struggles and hungers they once knew. Why? Because God has a plan for their lives too. Because God has given my friend a vision. I’m amazed by God’s plan. I’m astounded by His timing.