June 27, 2017 was a momentous day for us. It's the day that everything changed, when Rob was laid off from his job of almost 4 years and we felt God asking us to trust Him and take a big step of faith. 1 year and 7 months later, we're still on that journey of faith, and we've seen God moving in many unexpected ways.
In writing there is a moment called the "inciting incident" which thrusts the protagonist(s) into the main action of the story. Sometimes this is a father dying suddenly, or war being declared. For us, one year ago our inciting incident came in the form of a sudden job loss while on vacation.
Mid-March, I (Kristy) felt a nudge from God to apply to Renovaré Institute for Spiritual Formation. I have been interested in Renovaré for a few years and have regularly listened to their podcasts, participated in their book club, and received their weekly digest. The application process involved completing an application and having people submit a character reference and a pastoral reference. Next, I had an online interview with Carolyn Arends, the Director of Education for the Institute, recording artist, author, speaker, and college instructor.
It's easy for people to get so used to the way we do things here in the USA that we forget that other places in the world do it differently. We even might know that things are done differently elsewhere but, because of our past experiences and preconceptions, we think that certain things are a given across everywhere.