Hey Fam, Steph here from Team LO!

Thought I’d share a fun new part of the Live Original journey. This week, Team LO moved into a new office space! It’s a cozy little space, set inside a larger companies’ building. Totally perfect for us – they have great coffee, good vibes, and kind people all around us.

Here’s a behind the scenes peak from our first FaceTime meeting with Sadie while in our new place, working on a fun, special project for you all:

Anyway, Monday before heading to the office for our first “official day” in the new space, I was taking a few minutes alone to sip my coffee and pray over the week. Moved to tears, I realized just how special the day was – it was a full circle moment.

Let’s rewind! Six years ago, in the spring of 2013, I had just graduated from college and landed my first “real person” job. I was just thankful for the consistent paycheck and that I could stop eating ramen noodles on the reg. (Shout out to all the broke college kids!). It was a great first job, where I made meaningful connections, learned new skills, & made great memories.

Here’s the odd part – our new office is located in that very same building, where I worked six years ago as a bright-eyed, new employee in the working world!

Six years ago, I would drive to work, park in the same parking lot, and enter the same front doors of the building where our new office is and wonder, what God had planned for me in the future.

Can I tell you, there were days in that building where I would sit at my desk and think, has God forgotten the desires deep in my heart? I wanted to work in ministry but also had a passion for the music and entertainment industry. I couldn’t see how all of those desires were going to possibly be woven together or what the next chapter looked like.

Naomi, from the book of Ruth, was no stranger to this feeling.

She was a widow, without sons, who believed her best days were behind her. She moved from the land of Bethlehem to Moab, where she experienced unbelievable pain and heartbreak. She was so hopeless that she asked her friends to call her “Mara”, which means “bitter”- yikes!

Years later, God led her back to Bethlehem and showed up in her life in a powerful and redeeming way (check out the full story in the book of Ruth). Leaving Bethlehem, the first time, Naomi would have never imagined the journey ahead. God led her back to the same place, to remind her that He is always navigating a bigger story. One that is bigger than we can ever see or imagine for ourselves.

Our futures are always on God’s radar but often times we can never imagine what’s ahead.

How could I have ever imagined that I’d be working for Live Original in the future? Six years ago, Live Original didn’t exist on paper. It was just a dream in Sadie’s heart. Fully on God’s radar but nowhere on mine.

In the years in between, God led me on through some bizarre twists and turns. My path crossed with Live Original and it’s been a joy to be a part of this team in the last few years.

Walking into our “new” office space on Monday, opening the same door I’ve opened hundreds of times in the past, I walked in with feet that have traveled the world and since worked for 2 different companies. I’ve experienced tremendous personal growth, victories, joys, and celebrations. Since I worked in this building years ago, I’ve also experienced heartbreak, trials, and many bumps in the road. Yet, I know God has been with me through it all.

I certainly have not “arrived”. I know the next few years will bring many more unexpected twists and turns, opportunities for growth, pains, and more joys.

However, this week was a sweet reminder to me that many times, God is orchestrating a path for us that we have no ability to see, but He is so worth trusting in the process.

Maybe you are waiting for your full circle moment. You are waiting for that moment when you can look back and see that all the dots have connected and all the up’s and down’s have been “worth it”. Perhaps you just left home for the first time and you are wondering what’s ahead of you, trying to pen a thousand stories in your mind about your future.

From one sister to the next, trust that God is writing a bigger story than you could ever imagine.

Don’t resent or resist the journey. Sometimes it’s a long path before we see what God is doing or before we might get to see a “full circle” moment.

Hold on, it’s worth the wait.

Steph Vandermolen is a member of the Live Original Team. She loves watching hockey, drinking coffee on chilly days, and knows too many random facts about Iceland.