If you’ve been following or reading my blog for any length of time, you may have noticed a change in perspective throughout the 2009 calendar year as my faith was tested, my mental tenacity was stretched to its limit and I had a tough time dealing with a lot of things overall.

Instead of giving up on my faith as it would have been so easy to do, I used the events of the past year to strengthen my faith in Jesus and His promises for my life. Those promises are beginning to see a tangible result.

In my last post I shared about how I have gained employment in the journalism career field once again and I believe it to be a major door that God opened.

God’s been opening doors for His children throughout history, but it takes a vision beyond what the human eye can provide to sometimes walk through that door.

Let me explain…

During Bible study and prayer time this morning, I was reading about how the Lord opened up the door for the children of Israel to walk through to the Promised Land. The only thing stopping them was themselves.

And stop themselves they did…even though God had promised His hand upon them, those who went out to scout the land (except for Caleb and Joshua) reported seeing giants in the land. This in turn filled Israel with fear, and to make a long story short God made them stay put for forty years. All because they didn’t shift their perspective beyond what they could see with their own two eyes.

I take that story to heart personally today, because I honestly believe I wouldn’t have been able to walk through the door God opened in my own life if I hadn’t shifted my perspective.

Upon moving to the Northwest, I was excited that I would be living in the Portland metro area, a major metro area with which I am very familiar. The fact that there is a lot to see and do in the area cemented my desire to move back from Springfield, Missouri, a town lacking in scenery and things to do compared to the Northwest in general.

However, upon repeated visits to Centralia to play poker over numerous Saturday nights, I began to make friends with some very neat people. The thought popped up in my head that I’d love to have these people down in Vancouver to visit and hang out with frequently.

As mentioned before, I visited Life Center, a nondenominational charismatic church in Centralia about three Sundays ago — and it was there that the Lord challenged me to institute a paradigm shift in my mind. Their pastor, Derrill Corbin, had closed his sermon out with an invitation for prayer, asking those who felt like their lives were stagnant and needed direction to simply raise their hand and he would pray with them. I didn’t raise my hand, but at that very moment I felt something in my heart and mind resonate and click.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that at lunch after that service, someone told me about a job opening at the Chronicle, the local paper. My initial thought was that it would be a neat thing to apply and try to resurrect my journalism career, but something stirred inside me and fueled a desire to go all-out for this job opportunity.

That afternoon, while watching the Cardinals-Packers game on TV and nothing else was going on, I heard a voice as clear as day to my left telling me something I needed to hear.

“You really need to think hard about this,” the voice said. “There’s a door opening.”

There wasn’t anyone sitting around me, so I knew good and well Whose voice it was. I had all the inspiration and reason I needed to apply for the job.

As my previous post details, I did end up getting the job. It will be my first opportunity as a print reporter, as I will be making a transition from video and photo to the written word. I don’t think that’s a coincidence as the Lord has put in my heart a desire to write from a very young age…now I’ll get to do what I love, meet a ton of people, and hopefully be a blessing to everyone I come in contact with.

Speaking of coming into contact with people, I’ve met a lot of great new friends from the Centralia area even over the past couple of weeks, and am beginning to get to know them even before I move up. I think it is absolutely great how afore-mentioned people know how to get together and have a good time without having to resort to alcohol or other less desirable methods of spending time. That speaks volumes to me.

For me, my impending move to Centralia all boils down to a paradigm shift: my thinking has evolved from wanting to focus on the superficial (i.e. things to do, sights to see, etc.) to the more important (i.e. people to hang out with, spiritual opportunities, etc.). The Lord knew what He was doing, and I’m happy to follow along.

Do I know why he’s doing it? I’ll venture a guess. I believe the Lord is finally leading me to a place where I can settle and be mentored in my job, in my spiritual life and even in life itself. I can’t stop stressing that I’ve met some incredibly wonderful people in Centralia and I believe they are going to be a blessing to me in the months and years to come.

I can’t wait for February 8.