"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
-Isaiah 55:8
I've heard over and over in the past few weeks "Oh, Lindsey! Tell them the story of what you're doing this summer! But make it the short version..." I've tried and tried to cut the story down to a quick summary, but I've found it nearly impossible to cut out some of the incredible details Christ has worked out along this journey so far. So, here is the "not-so-short" version of the first step of my summer adventure.
In March, I attended the South Eastern Theatre Conference's professional auditions, hoping to get a summer acting job. I was proud of my audition, I got quite a few callbacks, and a few companies seemed genuinely interested in hiring me, so I started the waiting process, checking my email every few hours in hopes of a contract offer. The weeks passed, and I didn't hear anything, so I started putting in applications to other theatres and theatre camps, knowing that I had prayed fervently about where Christ wanted me to work over the summer, and trusting that with every door that closed, there would be one open door, leading to the summer God intended for me. While I knew he would provide, I started to get really frustrated with the fact that He hadn't shown up yet and wondered if He had forgotten about me completely. At the point when I was ready to give up, I made one last plea of surrender, begging God to just give me a hint that He was still working. Only once I had truly surrendered did the Lord start to reveal his plan... a plan I would have never imagined for myself.
During the spring semester at UM, we had a guest artist scheduled for a dance workshop. She is not only an incredible dancer, but she is a wonderful woman of the Lord who had recently earned her MFA at NYU. I had the chance to ask her about Manhattan churches, and I expressed my interest in living in the city at some point. She told me about a website, Redeemer.com, hosted by the Redeer Presbyterian church, that had a classified section for members or guests of the church to rent/sublet apartments (A Christian Craigslist according to my dad). At this point I had no idea I would be looking into apartments so soon, but Alisa was one of the first road-markers God put in my life to point towards a summer in Manhattan.
Now, I've always wanted to live in Manhattan, and I knew I would be there someday, but as I started to discuss options with my parents and professors, I started to realize New York could easily be in a more immediate future than I initially planned. I started to look through Redeemer's classifieds, as well as Trinity Grace and Craig's List options. I emailed 10-20 individuals in the first few weeks. Some were looking for more long-term roommates, some had just recently filled the vacancy, and others proved unavailable for various reasons. There were a few, though that seemed promising. I started an email conversation with a girl, Shelly. She was offering a three month sublet for a reasonable price on the Upper East Side, an area I knew fairly well from previous NYC visits. She asked if I had a friend in the city that would like to check out the apartment before I committed to a contract. That seemed logical. I called my friend Kathryn to look at the building and let me know.
Kathryn and I worked together at Student Life, Inc. two summers prior. Student Life, for those who don't know, is a wonderful company that provides youth groups with opportunities to go to Christian summer camps. Kathryn and I were both actors, and while we were on separate teams, we kept in touch throughout the summer and became close friends. I stayed with Kathryn at her Upper East Side apartment when I visited the city in January for a Broadway Intensive. I knew Kathryn lived just a few blocks away from Shelly, so I gave her the address and asked her to check it out. As soon as she saw the address, she called me and explained, "that's not a few blocks away... that's in my building." Shelly was living in the apartment directly under Kathryn and her roommates!
When I visited in January, I remember heading out the street one day on my way to a workshop, and getting stuck trying to unlock the front door. Fortunately a girl from the second floor came down at about the same time and was able to help me. We were both wearing the same black/white trench-coat-esque jacket, and laughed at the irony. As she pointed me towards the subway, we started chatting and she explianed to me that she was an "opera singer who did some musical theatre"... I emailed Shelly after Kathryn told me about the apartment and asked what she did in the city. She wrote back that she was an "opera singer who did some musical theatre"... I couldn't believe it. Of all of the thousands of apartment buildings in NYC, I had been lead to one in which I had already stayed. Of all of the millions of people in Manhattan alone, I was renting from a girl I had already met!!
I don't believe a bit of it was coincidence. God's timing is perfect and his plan is incredible.
Just two days after I had signed the sublease contract and sent in my first month's rent, I received a call from a company in Atlanta, offering me a wonderful job. I froze. This job, I knew, would offer a steady income and would be safe. Days would be scheduled for me, I would be interacting with other performers, working with kids, and even take some classes. It was the safe choice. There were still gaping holes in my New York plan- mainly the fact that I still have no job. For a split second I started to doubt. I realized though that God had not worked out all of the details so perfectly for me to drop the opportunity for something safe or familiar. I've committed to stepping out on faith, trusting that God will continue to provide as he already has. Turning down the job offer was easier than I expected, and I started to see the call as more of an encouragement than anything else. The Lord knew that I needed affirmation that I was qualified for other jobs, but that He had something better in store. Just two hours after I received that call, Shelly emailed me with possible income opportunities to fill in for her while she's away this summer. Whether or not these options pan out, it was just another confirmation that Manhattan is exactly where I'm supposed to be this summer, and that Christ is sufficient and will provide.
Grace be with you.
Lindsey Shea
