You Gotta Have Faith
This week, I asked a very special friend of mine to write a guest post on Hope for the Hot Mess! I have known Dara for as long as I can remember. For the last 3 years, she has been living abroad in Asia and she has TONS of fun stories about life abroad, so I asked her to share a little bit of wisdom with us.
Hey y’all! My name is Dara, and my lifelong best friend whom I have been blessed to know since we were in diapers, just so happens to be the creative mastermind behind this excellent blog. I feel blessed that Rebekah has entrusted me to write for you. I am in awe of the work she produces every week and am honored to be featured. Let me share with y’all a little story from my life about keeping the faith.
As I was nearing my last semester of graduate school, I began looking for jobs during the Christmas break. I was throwing applications to the wind and hoping for the best. I prayed often, asking the Lord to guide me to the right job for me and taking it as a sign to walk through the first door he opens. Little did I know that the first door he would open would be a one way ticket to Shanghai, China.
I knew absolutely nothing about Asia, let alone China. Zilch. Nada. I mean, I knew that’s where the Great Wall of China is and that The Walt Disney Company recently completed Shanghai Disneyland but that’s all the knowledge I had. I had applied for a foreign trainer position with The Walt Disney Company teaching English in a training center via Disney English. When applying, I assumed that with no teaching experience, I wouldn’t be hired. You can imagine my surprise when a few days after my interview I was given an offer and ONE WEEK to decide to move my entire life abroad.
So I did it. I took the wild, insane, totally bonkers leap of faith and said yes. I trusted God that this was the route he wanted me to take. I felt his presence and knew that this was the way he wanted to lead me. At the time I couldn’t tell you why. I just knew saying no to the offer wasn’t an option.
The process to getting my paperwork together for the move took six months and was extremely tedious and stressful. I shed many tears and had quite a few breakdowns questioning if I had made the right decision, even before stepping foot in China (and let me tell you once I landed, I REALLY questioned my decision). This is when I prayed. I specifically asked God that if this is the path he wants me to take for all of the doors to open and align perfectly to have this move work out.
He did exactly that. It wasn’t until I arrived and met the group of fellow Disney English trainers that I discovered my experience was not the norm. Only myself and one other individual out of the group of 12 had everything go smoothly. In fact, every other foreign trainer I met along my journey had their visas and departure date delayed several times. I knew that my faith in God meant I was exactly where I was supposed to be. He opened and aligned the doors perfectly for me to have this experience.
Fast forward to living my life in Shanghai, experiencing extreme culture shock and adjustment, which brought me to the brink of packing up and going home. For any of y’all that may have had the pleasure of traveling to China, I am sure you remember the first sounds you heard when stepping off the plane from a 24 hour journey. It’s not the foreign language or loud airport noises; it is the hocking up of spit. Salive in all shapes and forms is everywhere you go, and no, these aren’t coming from old men, (as one might think), but often from the little old ladies. THE LITTLE LADIES. At first I thought, maybe this is just an airport thing? Wrong y’all. So very wrong. The spit habit is rampant all throughout China and no place is safe; no where is out of bounds!!
As a fresh graduate with a masters degree in Public Health, this was like walking into a living nightmare. So I thought, “Okay I can handle some nasty spit gurgling sounds” BUT THEN, I had my first day at Shanghai Disneyland. My training group with Disney English was able to go to the park a few days after its first anniversary. We had heard of some “hiccups” they were having with guests but we didn’t think we would experience them first hand. Well, we sure did folks. Before we even made it to security, in broad daylight, in over one hundred degree weather, we witnessed a man pull down his pants and do his business in the bushes right outside park check in. A grown adult. At the gates of a children’s amusement park. The best part - no one did anything about it!! They just let him finish his business. As you do, China.
After the initial culture shock, I was able to embrace life in Shanghai a bit more. I developed amazing friendships and was getting more comfortable with exploring my new home. A few months into my move, I met my future husband and the rest is history! I was ready to leave China in less than a year, but ended up living there for over two and a half years to stay with the love of my life.
I fully believe God’s plan for me to move to China was to not only grow, experience new cultures, and see the world but to ultimately meet my husband. I am so grateful to have the Lord as my Savior and to have trust and faith in His plan for me. Without God (and the support of my family and friends), I wouldn’t have been given one of the best gifts that life can offer: a life partner and best friend to travel the world with.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11