My God Story in San Francisco | “It Takes A Long Time To Be Where You Want to Be”

Let me tell you God has a plan. Even when everything is messy, nothing is clear, the path seems muddy, your story is planned. God knows every mess up, slip up, stumble and fumble. So trust in what He is telling you…

In high school, I didn’t know what in the world I was going to do in life just like most high schoolers. I figured I could become a physician’s assistant and hopefully specialize in dermatology. So, I began going to college as a Human Bio major with fashion being a dream swept under the rug. It wasn’t anything I deemed to make a living out of in any way possible.

One year into college, I left to study Fashion Design in San Francisco. It was AMAZING. Just one class was 5 hours long and let me tell you that time went by so fast. I’d be there way after class ended from all the work we were doing. My teacher would have me help out other students since I usually finished first. My class had industrial machines, really hot irons and everything you would expect in a sewing class. Except it didn’t look like home ec, it looked like a legit designer sweatshop. I loved it! Yet, I felt so misplaced. Something didn’t feel right. As hard as I tried to shrug it off, I couldn’t escape the feeling that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.

I had an option to leave, to go back to Bakersfield where I couldn’t study fashion. I wouldn’t be able to get back in my old University, because it was too late to enroll in classes. I didn’t know what I’d do if I went back. So I endured longer.

I worked at a luxury fitness training facility. I mean FANCY. We trained American Ninja Warriors, Professional Snowboarders; we even trained Kanye West’s interior designer who apparently was even featured in Vogue Magazine.

I carried on in this beautiful city all the while feeling so lonely & so misplaced.

About 2 months before leaving to San Francisco, I began seeking God and let me tell you He was showing up. I craved Jesus and I continued to pray and communicate with Him.

I heavily depended on Financial Aid to provide for me while I was in SF. For some odd reason, the money wasn’t coming to me. I would go every week to the financial aid office to check the status and find out what was happening. No one ever had an answer for me. I was living paycheck to paycheck and worried about how I was even going to fill up my gas tank.

One day, I left school early in tears. On the drive home, I cried out to God, “ God I’m so lost. I’m in a place where everything sounds to be perfect. Im studying what I always wanted to study: FASHION. I have a great job; I am the business operations assistant for an amazing company!! I’m in a dream city!! Why doesn’t anything feel right? If I go back, I have no clue what I would even do?!? I feel like I’d be backtracking. Please give me a sign what do I do?!”

And as I gave Jesus my long ol’ monologue, I look and see a graffitied wall down the freeway in big writing, “It takes a long time yo be where you want to be.” And as I spoke of feeling like going back to Bakersfield would just bring me 5 steps behind, I knew that sign was Jesus telling me to go back.

As soon as I got to the basement I was living in, I packed up as much as I could and with $6 in my bank account, I drove back home.

It took a couple weeks to fully be back in Bakersfield. My job needed me to work for a couple weeks until they found my replacement. I stayed in hotels and brought more of my stuff back home with every trip.

On my last trip of getting all my things, as soon as I got home…. $3,000 was deposited into my bank account. Yes the $3,000 that financial aid wouldn’t send me, for no apparent reason, was deposited into my bank account when I was fully moved back into Bakersfield. Come on tell me that wasn’t confirmation I did the right thing. Tell me things don’t happen for a reason.

That was God.

I had no money, no job, no school, back at mom’s and I received more than enough money to keep me afloat for a while.

And I never regretted or doubted that decision. That was one of the first times I heard Jesus loud & clear, and stepped in with faith.

If you feel God is putting something on your heart, take a step in HIS authority and MOVE. This is your sign. DO IT.

xo,

e