I am a thirty-something female living in Atlanta. I moved here in May 2010 after a five-year stint in New York City, where I relocated after having been roughed up by the South for twenty-eight years. After an especially grueling two years spent finishing my education and witnessing my carefully-constructed identity crumble in Alabama, I drove a thousand miles north. Also at issue: Alabama requires you to be married by your twenty-eighth birthday or leave the state, and though I had just served as my younger sister’s maid of honor, I was nowhere near true love myself. Crank up the U-Haul.
Once in New York, I found counter-intuitiveness to be the name of the game: I became closer to my family from further away. I built up a resume for a career I may or may continue to pursue. I met, laughed, cried, traveled, and racked up stories with people I am proud to call friends, most of whom happened to be Southern transplants themselves…except for one. I met, fell in love with, and became engaged to my California-born best friend. I realized how little I know and how much I have to learn. I scratched out all the plans I had made for myself and made space for better ones that I’m still discovering, now from a north Atlanta suburb with my husband.
The biggest part of my journey has been finding out how wrong I was about God. Reworked and nurtured by the message of grace I found at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, my Bible-belt-born faith has moved from “God in a Box Marked Sunday” to “Jesus, Take the Wheel”–and I’ll tell you one thing: he may be a good driver, but he doesn’t heed all the traffic signs I put up. So this is not the account of a safe, smooth, perfect ride, but an unforgettable one. That’s where the title, Plans in Pencil, comes from. The life I planned (safe, smooth, perfect) is not the one I am now living. I am so thankful. A greater wisdom than mine ultimately dictates my story.
Steph, I’m still getting caught up on your blog . . . we really have such similar stories. Except for the fact that I did the married at 22 and have 2 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat and a fish thing . . . blah, blah, blah. Funny how we can think we are so different from someone else just because of little externals. Or, is that actually sad? All I know is . . . KEEP WRITING!
Thank you for your gracious inclusion of my wee corner of the web on your blogroll. I’m humbled by that company.
The Lord be with you and strengthen your trust in Him even when He drives like a super-spy.
I have been thinking about you lately and your search for an agent. You are tricky, as you aren’t scrubbed-clean (ie–Thomas Nelson), but you’re not well-known (HarperCollins…) YET. But I was thinking that your writing reminds me of Anne Lamott. Have you tried her agent? (does she even have one?) or sent something to her publisher? (or just sent her some of your stuff–she would love you). I go to church with my former boss (when I was at Moody Press) and he is now an agent and has a literary agency. Though for the life of me I can’t remember the name. But I will pass along your blog the next time I see him. Good luck! You’re a great writer!
That is a fantastic idea, and I’m looking through my copies of her books now to find out who her agent is. And thank you so much for passing my blog along to your former boss. Your encouragement–and total understanding of my tone and support of my work–mean the world to me. THANK YOU!!!