The Plunge

So some of you may know, some of you may not, but in a month from today I am flying out of Australia and back to Paris. Not to stay - Paris is a cheeky stint on my way to the lush hillsides of South East France and maybe a cheeky dip into the Mediterranean followed by (if time permits) a frolic in Italy. And from there, it's business time. I am moving to the UK. 

Originally, the plan was to go for a stint at Leeds - study for a semester, travel a tinsy bit and then head back home to reality. But I'm putting in the hard yards now and made a brash (but long-time-coming) decision to apply for a proper work visa and after the semester is over find a proper job. Writing, waitressing, whatever. Just being and living there, for realsies.

This morning I had zero funds. A call to my Grandmother and an exuberant application fee later and tomorrow I am heading to Sydney to submit my application and then its to the Church pews for the next couple of weeks, praying and hoping that my passport gets back to me in time for the flight out (which is in around 32 days...... oh dear).

But you know what? Fear has been replaced by faith and freaking excitement, my friends. Because suddenly I am filled will more purpose than I have felt in a long time. Suddenly a sense of rush and deadlines pumps through my veins once again. I am living a dream, no longer dreaming it. And it is all because I took the plunge.

Things will fall into place, if you let them. You pave the way for them to occur naturally, and they will. Border them up and throw distractions in the way, and they will rot rather than manifest. I am certainly a believer in God's grace, in his eagerness for us to see the World He created for us, and invest and harvest talents rather than burying them in the dirt to "keep them safe" (Matthew 25:14-30). It is one of my favourite parables, the parable of the talents. And so if I am given the gift of being able to walk through this world and enlighten people in passing, in the line for a gelato, emailing them a delightful photo of their family that I took candidly in passing, sharing them my blog to share this sense of purpose and inspire one within themselves - then I will absolutely use this gift. No more hiding it in the dirt, no more hiding myself away. I am a vessel for his work, and while it may not be preaching the gospel or being a missionary - when people ask why I am happy - I will say "because by God's grace, I'm here. I'm here!"

I'm here.