..Detour

Well, the last couple of days here in the UK have gone a bit different than I had imagined them going. The plan was to recover from jet-lag and help eMi prepare for the upcoming trip. I also wanted to get a lot of reading in and spend a lot of time in prayer. However, the first night I arrived here, I received an email from a friend who I actually worked with last summer when I was with eMi. She just moved back to Wyoming and recently scored a job in her home town of Casper. In her email she informed me that one of the junior architects working there just put in his two weeks notice, and that if I was looking for a job I should send her my resume. She described the firm and it seemed like a great place to work and that they'd be very willing to help me work on my IDP hours (internship hours required to get licensed) while there.

At first I really didn't know what to do, but after a bit of thinking I felt like I should at least send my resume to her and see what happens. I mean, I hadn't yet heard of an opening in an architecture firm that I qualified for. Not to mention that I have someone working there that would recommend me. The only catch was that the only resume I had was old and outdated as I haven't created a new one in quite some time (that was one of the first things on my to-do list for when I get home). Also, I had only just started working on my portfolio and didn't have any of my work with me. The one good thing was that eMi was already prepared for the project trip so they didn't really need my help with anything.

So, I got busy. I spent the last 2 days creating a LinkedIn profile, a new resume, and a blog to showcase some of my work (mostly via links to other course blogs I'd made). I sent her my resume yesterday and she replied saying that she turned it into one of the principles today and that he said, "he knows revit! - top of the list" so that sounded promising, haha! So now I wait. I can't really do anything about it for 2 weeks since I'll be in Uganda so there's no use worrying about it. I'm still not 100% sure that I'd take it if I was offered the job. Lots of praying still needing to be done on that front.

Speaking of prayer, I really felt like I needed be doing a lot of that today. So, after another restless night of sleep last night (it didn't help that the sun devils game was super early here in the UK - w00t!), I got up and spent the morning in the Woods' garden - or 'yard' for us Americans. After a lot of wandering around the garden (it's rather large), I the perfect tree to lay under and just rest in God's presence.

[i love tree canopies]

I had a lot on my mind today, so it was really nice to clear my head and just talk with God. I really want to focus on this trip coming up tomorrow and not worry about what the future holds. I want to be invested in the present. On that note, our flight to Uganda is in 31hrs! Can't wait.. oh!.. yesterday, I met one of the volunteers at eMi UK who is also going on the trip too - an awesome Egyptian engineer named Andrew. We'll be sharing one of the rooms of the MAF guest house in Uganda so I'm sure we'll get to know each other pretty well.

[my view for the morning]

Today has been great. It's so good to just spend time with God in His creation. It's times like this when you realize that as long as you have Him, nothing else matters. Such a great reminder - especially considering the circumstances I'm in. God is in control. I trust that he'll continue to guide me through this crazy thing called life. Please pray for me to know if He is leading me to Wyoming (crazy thought! - I don't want to leave all my friends and family) or to stay in Phoenix (or quite possibly come back to eMi UK long-term). Also, please pray for the project trip. I mean, that is the reason that I'm where I am right now. Pray for the team as they also prepare individually for this trip. Thank you so much. Any prayer is much appreciated!

*random thought: you know that awkward moment when someone asks you a yes or know question and you answer "no" but then they didn't hear you so they ask you if you said "no"? Well, that is much more awkward here in the UK and for some reason it keeps happening to me and I'm never quite sure if I should answer "yes" or "no" to that second question.

Anyways.. I'm off to go spend some more time in the garden. I think it's time for a nap. Cheers.