careening through the universe

I can't believe that i've been in chicago for 8 months already because it has flown by. If ya'll remember, my contract with the Field Museum is only for a year, so come the end of may (a short 4 months away), I'm done. When I accepted the job, I thought, yeah, a year...that's a good amount of time to be in chicago and a good length of time to have my first job. Well, like I said, it's absolutley FLOWN by and now I'm faced with a dilema that I'm not ready to face: Should I stay or should I go??

I've been thinking about this decision for a long time, I dream about it, I pray about it, and I definetely cry about it. Why does this job that I love more than I can express have to be so far from home?

I had a really good convo with a friend last night about growing up. She says there comes a point in your life when you realize that you're your own person, your own little life, and you can make decisions that are yours alone to make. Before you get to this point, all your decisions are affected by how your parents, siblings and others think you should live your life. It's a part of growing up that hopefully everyone is faced with at some point...if not, are we really growing up?

I think I'm facing that point in my life right now. I'm trying to decide where I should be right now, with a strong arguement for me to move home and a very strong arguement for me to stay in Chicago. My family has always been and will always be influential in my decision making process, but I need to make decisions that I can live with myself, and even though I LOVE my family more than anything, my decision may not be what they're hoping I decide.

That being said....I'm staying in Chicago. My boss is going to hire me as a permanent employee as soon as this exhibit is finished. I'm going to be in chicago until God tells me to re-think this decision. Isn't that awesome?! God is allowing me to make this decision for myself...and I know he'll be with me the whole time.