Pack it up, Pack it in
January 17th, 2006
A month ago Jen and I decided to quit our jobs with Campus Crusade and embark on a new direction in life. The process of coming to that decision has been stretching to say the least, since the choice we eventually landed on is the one involving the most change and unknowns.
I was telling a good friend last night on the phone that when I graduated from college nearly a half dozen years ago I skipped the senior panic. Back then, when I was on the verge of completing my degree I really wasn’t too stressed about my future. I knew with a relatively high degree of certainty that my future was working full-time with Campus Crusade. The next couple of years before joining staff were just a holding pattern during which our major goal was to pay off school loans. As I thought to the future, I envisioned myself as one of those CCC staff lifers, the ones who stand up at conferences and are praised for their 25 years of service.
Well, that vision clearly is not going to become a reality. Now nearly four years later here I sit and I wonder what’s next?, and I feel that senior panic nipping at my heels. What am I going to do with my life? What do I want to accomplish? What am I passionate about? These questions are running through my head, and I feel it especially when I tell people about the change we’re making. When I get to the part about “what are we doing next?” I feel a pressure to convince others that I’ve got a plan and not to worry because everything’s gonna be fine.
But to tell the truth my plan can pretty much be summed up as follows:
- Pack up the apartment
- Go to L’Abri
- Come back from L’Abri
- Find a job
- Find a place to live
Yee-hah, it looks like we’re off on an adventure. But then again, my parents raised us on adventures. Now that I’m all grown up, Mom and Dad have let me in on a little secret: those “adventures” were usually their method of turning a mundane trip driving across four states on family vacation into something to look forward to, or putting a positive spin on a difficult expereience like moving to a new town and starting over. Ten years ago, I scoffed in that cynical teenage way at the prospect of one of mom and dad’s “adventures.” But now at twenty seven, with a third of life under my belt, I find my mother’s outlook much more attractive. In fact I think I’ll follow her advice on this one and look at this change as a new adventure, one filled with opportunity, growth and discovery.
So what’s my plan you ask? Well, we’re at step 1: pack up the aparmtent. And it’s funny because now the reality of what we’ve decided to do is starting to set in. A week from today I and my wife of five years will offically be homeless. I feel as if I’ve started a ball rolling that can’t be stopped, and whose path is TBD. But you know what, as my mom would say, it’s just the start of a new adventure…