Connecting the Dots

The best way between any two points is a straight line – except when God’s connecting the dots. So when I returned to the States, I had my two dots. I knew where I was and the dream God wanted me to chase. The way to go about the chase was a bit ambiguous so when God didn’t clarify the steps to me right away, I began drawing my own straight line.

I’ve been working on drawing my own straight line for the past year and a half and the entire time, God has been reaffirming that I was in the right place, headed to the right point. But no doors were opening. I felt like so many great opportunities presented themselves this past year and a half but they never panned out. I heard a lot of no’s, waits & silence. It seemed every time I’d try to draw a new straight line, I had to stop, erase & start over.

I couldn’t understand why God wasn’t allowing me to move forward when I knew where he wanted me to go. I felt like I was doing all the right things yet he wasn’t letting things line up. I had a lot of honest heart to hearts with God trying to get on the same page as him.

I eventually came to a point not too long ago where I told God I couldn’t do it anymore. I asked him to either take the dream away from me or make it a reality because I felt I had tried everything. I had exhausted all possibilities. There was nothing else I could think of to do.

And then God gave me the dream job I didn’t know I was dreaming about – an editor for a company called Friendly Human.

I realize now that I wasn’t the one who was supposed to be drawing the line – God was. And his not so straight line turned out so much better than all my attempted straight ones would have been. God was using the time it took me to figure this out to show me areas in my life where I needed some major healing in order to move forward.

To be honest, if I’d been offered this job just a few months ago, I would never have considered it. I had no interest in working for someone else, in committing to an organization for an indefinite period of time, to working in an environment where I couldn’t thrive.

While I was busy trying to draw my own line, God was actually drawing his line – one that led to healing – preparing me to come to the point where I would even consider taking this job. He pushed me to my breaking point so that I could actually see where I was broken. And because of that, he has provided me with the dream job I didn’t know I was dreaming about.

I now work for a company that has all the values and priorities I thought didn’t and couldn’t exist in company cultures based on previous experiences. I joined a team where everyone is considered equal and everyone is encouraging. Questions, learning & growing are promoted – both professionally and personally because they understand that each one affects the other. I’ve already learned more in the one week I’ve worked than I’ve learned on my own since moving to Atlanta in January.

As a bonus, this is one of the first groups of people I’ve met in Atlanta who know when I’m joking. I don’t think I’ve had to clarify once that I was joking. For some reason most people I’ve met in Atlanta have no idea when I’m kidding or when I’m serious.

The building I work in is also awesome. It is home to a lot of startups. They serve Octane coffee all day and have a kitchen stocked with snacks and a break room with a pingpong table. Oh and did I mention they have a rooftop patio?

I have no idea if this job will work out past the trial period. But even if it doesn’t, I’m soaking up every minute of it and I can see God working in me, healing me, growing me through this experience. If my straight line had worked out, I would have missed out on this amazing opportunity. But because God connected the dots with his less than straight line, he prepared me for a dream job I had no idea I was even dreaming about!