What brought me to Colorado in 2016

The story behind moving to Colorado in Spring 2016? Ever since the Wild West enchanted me in adolescence, summer after summer, I wanted to move here. An entire state revolved around mountain culture, tying Eastern and Western America together. That was in high school. Then I went to Athens and fell in love with the city and its people and spots. I stayed for ten years, and it seemed like I would never leave. In spring 2012, the Lord began to do a new thing in me: something called breaking me apart. Somehow He kept leading me to make choices that seemed to lead to one closed door after another. This was after seven years at @ugawesley, in and of itself some of the most incredible of my life. But I decided to stay in Athens post-interning at Wesley and tried about 4 things in 5 years- God teaching me to wait, trust, serve, go with the flow, refining my desires, learning about the real world, gaining expertise in content marketing, becoming a self-starter, having healthy friendships and so forth. But I finally grew bored with Athens. I have a dream to do media for missions and I still have yet to see some of that come to pass, but I definitely was led to do my first season of it from April to December 2015. I thought I was going to a refugee community in Atlanta to join staff and stay for 2-3 years after ministry training school bootcamp (August 10- Dec 23). However, after moving from Athens to Atlanta and raising a lot of support, I felt like The Lord kept speaking to me to be “true to myself” and not waste my time or others’ time. I felt like He showed me so many powerful things that can’t fit on here, I encountered Him like no other time in my life up till that point. He stirred my heart and made me ask myself what I really want to do and where I really want to go. All of the classmates around me were leaving everything to go tell people about Jesus in some of the world’s most dangerous areas. I wanted to and still want to play a role in supporting people in that, but my role looked different. We read a book required each week. And the day before Thanksgiving week is when I realized that I wouldn’t be joining staff with the missions organization. At first I started looking at options locally and kept hearing God say “MORE. How big can you go, how far can you go?” 
Then I looked regionally… athens again, Nashville etc. But that wasn’t big enough for God. My dream was still too small. It had been my intent from the start of 2015 to dream big and live big even while adulting. 
Finally, I was reading this book at the gym for class while cycling late one night the week after Thanksgiving. I had no idea who John Bevere was before this week, or his wife Lisa and their four sons. Little did I realize they live in Colorado Springs. I read a few lines in the middle of the book about repentance, and giving things up to God. 
And that was the defining moment for me. What was my one thing? My one thing was Colorado. I had not given the Lord Colorado. 
He had been closing doors for almost four years while that still small voice had been nudging me all along to not be afraid and to go after my biggest attainable dream in front of me thus far in life. The absolute scariest thing for me was leaving behind the beloved Christian community that had surrounded me for most of the last decade. Friends like I’ve never experienced in my whole life, seeing God move in ways very few Americans get the privilege of seeing. 
I was inspired by all the millennials moving from all over to Atlanta and realized that I needed to do that for someplace I am truly passionate about. One of my biggest fears in life up to this point has been fear of letting go to go after some of my biggest passions, no matter the cost. 
So I repented to God and felt a huge release of peace and comfort. A couple of days later, I found myself weeping like I had not in along time in repentance. And that’s when it started. It hit me that this dream could be a real thing. 
So I started looking at people and places in Denver and Colorado Springs and telling everyone about my plans and intentions. The Lord made me fall in love with this state all over again and reawakened my heart to feel lovesick for this place, just as many people do for a certain country in the world they want to be a missionary to. 
I couldn’t stop thinking about Colorado until Christmas, and intended to do what I had wanted to do for 12 years- drive from Georgia to Colorado and take a vision trip. 
But then for some weird reason Colorado fell on the back burner again and I felt very open and indifferent about the next step. I kept telling people the first week of 2016 or so that I had no idea what this year had in store. I could go anywhere and do anything. I had no idea what the next month had in store. I put myself out there in leaps of faith to see what would fall in place.
Then I found myself leaving for this trip to Colorado. I never believed it would truly happen until the day I got in the car and drove west first to MS to pick my friend up so she could go with me. She didn’t believe it would happen either. 
But a couple days later, as we crossed the border from Kansas to Colorado and for the next eight days afterwards the Lord opened door after door after door after door doors doors doors galore!! I was ruined for anything else.
I didn’t want to leave Colorado. When I returned from the trip, nothing felt the same. I felt complete closure with Georgia, Atlanta and Athens that I didn’t have in the fall of 2015 in Atlanta. 
My eyes were fully focused forward and I decided to take that leap of faith and move. Again door after door opened. My friend happened to have a spring break free to help me move and the same friend who was trying to figure out the next step in MS ended up coming back out with us while I stopped in to Oxford to see my brother. Moved and again doors galore open. Got a job in four days and found a dreamy homey home.
I could go on and on. I haven’t had a single red flag out here the last 3 months. It’s been exhausting, exhilarating, amazing and so many more emotions. 
So- God used that book to change my life. I even got the chance to speak with Messenger International on the phone while looking at moving to Colorado. And while reading it a few days later at a restaurant in Atlanta, a man came up to me out of the blue and praised the Bevere’s ministry. Yay God!!!