Swimming with the current

I don't mean for this title to seem negative. So often we are told to "go against the grain" or "swim against the current." I think my dad has a t-shirt with tropical fish on the front of it and one is facing a different way from all the rest. There is obviously honor in this if you are swimming in the right direction. It's not always easy. But in my case, I have found that swimming in the blessed direction is often incredibly easy.

Let me clarify. It is not easy as in, "It is easy for me to read one of the Boxcar Children books." But it was easy for me to take this direction because it seemed that the moment I reached for something it was in front of my face. The consequences of my choice to spend the next year in Brazil may be realized when I find myself sweltering on a humid 90 degree day in January, in an office without air conditioning. It won't be easy when I miss my dog after only two weeks. It will be exceptionally hard when I come face to face with the realities of the corruption of the Brazilian government and the continued aftereffects of communism in that country. And, as may happen soon, I will wonder what I have been doing if I am denied a visa.

But in October, when OMS was still a twinkle in my future's eye, it was easy for me to see what God may have had in store for me. I was at work again, a place where God has used fellow Taylor alumni to speak into my life in ways they will never realize, when I called a young woman named Michelle. After a little discussion she casually mentioned spending a year in Mexico with OMS after her senior year at Taylor. I asked her to share more about that experience and she asked me if I was interested in working with them. I shared my story.

After I was finished explaining, in short, why I thought God was leading me southwards, she said, "That's interesting...you know, I really think the Lord is calling you to Brazil..." and went on to explain about two friends she had with OMS who are still working in Brazil after spending a year there like I wanted to do. She was trying to remember the name of the town they lived in when her husband began interrupting her. She apologized and said "oh...he's Brazilian."

Well that's convenient.

Needless to say, she encouraged me to contact OMS and ask for some information. I was convinced and filled out a contact form on their website that evening.
The next day I received an email from their head of recruitment saying he would be at Taylor the next week.