Trailblazin Ministries Blog

LaRosa

Right Place, Right Time

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, 06 August 2007
Filed under: Faith, LaRosa, Ramblings

I'm sitting here right now finishing up my lunch break, and I was just thinking to myself about how grateful I am to be exactly where God has placed me. The more I look at my life, I can see the sovereignty of God all over it, and I personally wouldn't have it any other way. More recently, I've been reflecting upon my move to Austin, Texas and leaving behind everything I've ever known in North Carolina; the one word that I can use to describe the entire experience is awesome.

I remember very vividly how it all went down (although it wasn't that long ago), and it is truly a testament to God's hand in every part of my life. I was frustrated all around in North Carolina; I was frustrated with church and everything I saw there, knowing that it would be very hard to find a well rounded Bible teaching church in the local area; I hated my job and dreaded going to work every morning (even though I was very thankful to even have one). That's the small of it, but I just knew that I needed a change of scenery and was looking to move to a larger city, preferably in North Carolina (i.e. Raleigh or Charlotte) or the Nashville, TN area. With that in mind, I applied to LOTS of jobs and didn't hear back from any of them, except for a phone support position with Dell in Nashville. Long story short, I got a job working for WORDsearch Corp. in Austin, TX and I haven't looked back since.

So, why is it the right place at the right time for me? Let me start with the job. Can I say that I absolutely love my job?! Having owned their software since first hearing about it back in 1999/2000 and using it on a regular basis, this job seemed like the perfect fit for me. On a job level, it utilizes my HTML and programming (Perl) knowledge on a daily basis in order to format the books to use in the software. On top of that, some of the projects are complex and require quite a bit of thinking and problem solving to have a finished product with the least amount of manually working with code (why do it by hand when a Perl script can do it for you?), which I truly enjoy in a job (most times anyway). Don't forget to throw in the fact that I have a vested interest in this company and product because I use it at home almost daily for ministry and personal use; knowing that, it keeps me motivated to make sure that my work is the highest quality possible. Seriously, this is the first job that I've ever had where six months into the job, I still have a desire to want to come to work everyday (I don't think I ever had that at a previous job). Like last week when I was out sick, I hated the fact that I couldn't make it in. Who in their right mind feels that way about a job? Apparently I do about this one. I absolutely love the job, and couldn't think of a better company to work for. Definitely the right job at the right time, and one that I plan on being at for a long while (read: until the Lord calls me to full-time ministry, even though I see this as ministry).

If it weren't for the job at WORDsearch allowing me to move my family to Texas, I never would have found a church like Austin Bible Church and Pastor Bob Bolender (at least not where I was living in North Carolina). This ministry had everything I was looking for in a church, down to the last letter of the doctrinal statement. What's more is that ABC has a very focused directive towards teaching its members the Word of God and training them to be productive in their spiritual gifts, which is exactly what I was needing at this point in time. I didn't need fluff and classes that didn't teach me the Word; I wanted a ministry that would teach me the Word and to use it properly, which is what I found here. Like right now, we're about to start a (free) course on Systematic Theology for the month of August. How many churches would offer a course like that, let alone for free?! I mean really, this is seminary level stuff that is being taught, and I'm able to get it all free of charge (minus buying books here & there, which I have no problem with). Even though the church isn't what I've grown up with, it's what I had always wanted and couldn't have found a better church to call home. I really think that as a result of being a member of this church, my entire family will be equipped in the Word of God and use it to teach and train up others. What more could you ask for?

Definitely, God is sovereign and set this all up. By no means could I have orchestrated something like that. Knowing me, I probably would have goofed up somewhere. I would have found the church and had a crappy job or vice versa. I truly thank God for where He has placed me. I am determined to use it all to His glory and let Him use my life for His purpose. I couldn't ask to be in a better situation, not at all, and it is all because of God.