Step 2: Do something drastic (but do it wisely).

You know how they say that things will always gets worse before they get better?

Well, that seems to be the story of my life sometimes.
(kind of like Murphy's Law:  "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.")

I had found my means of motivation to change, and I was willing to do whatever I could to change...
...but somehow it always seemed that no matter how hard I tried, trouble always followed.

Not bad trouble - don't get me wrong.
It just felt like no matter what I tried, I would find myself in a similar boat that I had previously been in.

I didn't like it.
Not even a little bit.
Not even at all.

It became hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

How could I expect to change if it felt like the universe was out to get me?  like the universe didn't want me to change?


Then one Sunday I was sitting in church, and it hit me... camp.
I needed to go to Camp Sumatanga.
So, I leaned over and told my little cousin that it was time for her to go to camp and that I was going with her as a counselor, as I had with her oldest brother.

A few months later, off we went...
and that was drastic for me.
I was going to camp to spend a week with a bunch of people that I didn't even know.
Not even one of 'em.

It scared the day lights out of me, and then?
About two days in...
I felt like I had known them my entire life...
and then came this picture:

It was upon viewing this picture back on the screen of my pink Polaroid digital camera that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my life was changing for the better.  God was doing something wonderful with my life, and I was headed down a new and happy road.





It might not make much sense to anyone else, but it sure did to me.

Camp Sumatanga and the wonderful, wonderful people that I met there (and still remain close with) was my first drastic move in my life.  None of them realize how much of an impact they've made on my life, but it has been quite significant, and I will love them forever for it.  :)
Looking back, it wasn't drastic at all, but at the time?  At the time, it was majorly drastic for me.

Then came drastic move number 2:
After going through a tough break up (emotionally) because of betrayal of both me and my family on his part, I decided to start over fresh.  That's when I moved to Gulf Breeze, Florida.

for 5 months
I lived with my aunt and uncle and their kids,
and I worked with infants at a daycare down the road.
It was so hard... but it was the best thing I've ever done.
for myself.
for my life.
for my future...

then I moved BACK home to Alabama for school...
or I thought it was just for school...
God had some wonderful plans for me once I got back here,
and they're unfolding very surely.
and wonderfully.


Just don't take your drastic steps too quickly.
Take those steps like baby steps, too.
The slower you take them, the easier it will be to catch yourself if you even start to slip.

And do more than one drastic thing, more than one big game changer...
that way you really get to see what God has laid out for you.

You'll never fully know what the future fully holds, but if you take those baby steps, if you venture out little by little...

finally finding your way into that end zone will be so much more victorious.
(...who knows, maybe you'll even do a little celebratory victory dance)