By Elizabeth Girardy
Four months ago, I couldn’t have imagined myself being part of a program like the Louisville Bridge Fellows. At the time, I knew that I was at a point of transition having left my previous job, but I figured the transition would be to a job similar to the one I had before, in New Jersey close to my family. Currently, I am in Kentucky and just started a job with Family Scholar House. How did I get here?
I couldn’t have made the choice to come here without other people speaking into my life. I left my last job in May and came to Louisville to do a summer program called Love Thy Neighborhood, which was an organization that hosted discipleship programs for young adults. I knew that I had to make a decision about where to land next at the end of the summer, but I figured it would be a similar place to the one that I had left. Towards the end of the summer, I heard about the Fellows program from a friend who introduced me to Theresa. The more I learned about it, I found that applying was an exciting idea but an unsettling one. While I had committed to not worrying about what was coming next and trusting that God had something good for me, I had a vision of what that was supposed to be.
When I started to experience these feelings of being pulled in two different directions, I talked about my concerns with a friend who gave me some good advice. She said, “Sometimes God shows you the path that you’re meant to take right before you need to take the first steps.” I spent the next few weeks trying to find out if this was the path. At that time, I contemplated the person I was trying to become. I knew I felt a pull toward service-oriented work, which was different from what I was doing before. I also had a desire to learn more about God and to be part of a community that would encourage it. The Fellows program aligned with my values, and the more that I thought about it, the more it felt like the right decision.
Reflecting on this experience fills me with gratitude. If I had gone with my original plan, I wouldn’t have found Family Scholar House, which is where I am working this year as a Fellow. I’m very blessed to be working with an organization doing work about which I am passionate. I’m grateful for the friends and family that helped me make this decision. I’m excited for the new community I will experience while I’m here in this phase of life. Looking ahead to the very end of this program, I will be making another transition. I hope I’m able to read this back and take encouragement when the time comes.