Choices

  "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made ALL the difference." -Robert Frost

I am so amazed as to the amount of choices we must make in life. Every single day gives way to even more choices. Some are simple, like what to wear, while some are a little more complex and have a greater effect on the future.

  Right now I have a choice. I know what I must do, and I know what I want to do. Is it possible that I want to go in two different directions at once? As most of you know, I am a baker. I have loved cooking/baking for as long as I could remember. I remember one evening when a friend of mine spent the night at my house we baked a pumpkin pie for fun. :) Growing up I always thought I wanted to open my own restaurant, then later a bakery, and after that a coffee shop/bookstore. After working for two and a half years at a bakery I decided it wasn't what I wanted to do anymore. Or so I thought.

  Baking is a part of me. I don't think I can ever erase the fact that I like creating food for people to sit together and enjoy. As I began to plan to attend school in Colorado my boss began to plan to open another cupcake store in Lawrence. I knew I would be leaving, I knew I wouldn't be a part of this store. I did not realize the difficulty of embracing this fact. We are in the planning/beginning of construction stage for the new Billy Vanilly Cupcakes store in Lawrence. I went to the new location last weekend. While there my boss pointed out another store in Lawrence that has the name of the store manager on the front window and said "That could be your name there if you weren't going to Colorado." Ah!! How crazy is God's timing!? I know that He knew Way before me that Billy Vanilly would be opening a new store where I could be granted a chance to further my career RIGHT when He was calling me to Colorado. I am most definitely positive that God knew that given the chance I would have taken that new opportunity. Yet He has other plans for me. I feel as if God is telling me now that I have the choice to either follow what I believe are the desires of my heart or choose to trust Him, who knows the desires of my heart even better than I do. :) God is So awesome and I choose to trust Him!!

New Beginnings

 So here I sit, less than 3 months away from a new and exciting adventure. I am moving to Colorado Springs for the year and attending Desperation Leadership Academy (DLA)!!!!! I might just be slightly excited. Now, you are probably wondering what in the world DLA is. I completely understand. Most people give me a blank stare when I tell them where I am going. I am copying the description from the school's website for you to read because I like it. It gets me excited every time I read it.
  "DLA is a full-time prayer, discipleship, and leadership training academy. We spend time in prayer, college-level theology classes, and doing hands-on local church ministry training. By focusing everything we are and all that we do on first and foremost the pursuit of Jesus Christ, we hope to produce the leaders of tomorrow that will lead a generation to the heart of God. DLA will equip you with the tools you need to lead in the gifting and area of ministry or business that God is leading you to."
 I am spending the next year in pursuit of God. I am SO excited!! I am not working a part-time job while I am here. No work to stress me out!! No Calculus class to steal all of my time! :) I am simply going to devote myself to prayer, worship, and ministry. Along the way I get to have fun and go skiing and camping in Colorado! I am going to be attending Bible classes and serving in several different ministry areas in New Life Community Church. I am going on a missions trip to another country. I am going to travel to cities across the US and minister to people. I am going to pray and worship Jesus like there is no tomorrow, because only God knows if I will be granted a tomorrow.
  About two years ago I was up late one night. Extremely late. 4 o'clock in the morning late. I guess you could say I was up early. ;) I have decided it was a God thing that I couldn't sleep that night. My church plays a few worship songs that were written by Desperation Band. I love the songs and decided to look them up on my late night. I found out that Desperation Band is actually the worship team for a huge church in Colorado Springs called New Life Community Church. This church has several different worship/ministry/prayer schools connected to it. I clicked on the link for DLA and immediately fell in love after reading about the school. I literally started crying because it was as if God was showing me my future. As soon as I found out about DLA I knew I would be going. I wasn't sure when, but I knew I was going. God spoke to me and told me I had to reach a certain point in my life before I could go. About a year and a half after I found out about DLA God got my attention again. He told me, "Stefanie, it's time." :) I applied to DLA over Christmas break, had a nerve racking phone interview, and found out I was in! God is so SO very awesome.
  I am leaving on September 3rd to start a new journey in my life and I couldn't be more excited!!!!!!