From T-Town to T-Town

From Tucson to Tuscaloosa...

from the University of Arizona to the University of Alabama...

from "Beardown, Arizona!" to "Roll, Crimson Tide, Roll!" 

That's the journey our daughter Jillian has begun.

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Jillian is exchanging the desert for the Deep South.  Leaving Tucson yesterday on the first leg of her move to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, she has Kate, her roommate from the past three years, along for the ride.  They spent last night in Abilene, Texas and plan to stay tonight at the home of friends in Jackson, Mississippi before arriving in Tuscaloosa tomorrow.  Kate will fly back to Phoenix this weekend.

This journey begins a new chapter in Jillian's life.  After studying these past four years at the University of Arizona, Jillian will now join in The Navigators ministry at the University of Alabama.  This move to the Deep South might include some culture shocks for her, but I think she is more than ready for this challenge.

You see, she has learned to navigate life under the guidance of her heavenly Father.  She joined a small group Bible Study led by a Navigator staff member during the fall semester of her freshman year.  That was the year she chose to live in a dorm on the University of Arizona campus to broaden her circle of friends, accepting a "potluck" roommate.  While that year-long relationship worked, it was, in its own way, a culture shock with the addition of the roommate's boyfriend as the third person living in that room.   

Jillian's participation in Navigators, an interdenominational ministry whose mission is to equip Christians for a life of faith, led her to develop many close friendships with other believers on campus and gave her a deep desire to share her faith with those who seek to know God in a personal way.  Jillian started her own Bible Study group during her junior year which grew to include fourteen young UofA women.  Along the way, Jillian's own faith grew exponentially. 

When she graduated early from the UofA last December, Jillian had a B.S. degree in sociology, history and political science; but she decided to invest the next two years of her life in ministry with The Navigators.

Early in January, she attended training at Glen Eyrie, The Navigators headquarters, in Colorado Springs.  One eye-opening statistic she shared with us from that time is that fewer than 20% of American college students profess a belief in God.  There she also learned more about discipleship training and about raising her own financial support as a staff member. 

Jillian with her Grandpa McClure, one of her staunchest supporters

Asking people to donate towards her $30,000 goal was a scary prospect for Jillian, who has worked steadily at her own PetSmart job since she was sixteen.  Still, she prayerfully assembled a list of possible donors and began to contact them.

In May, she learned of her assignment to the University of Alabama so she said goodbye to her UofA Bible Study friends and quit her full-time job as the concierge of the PetSmart Pet Hotel to devote this summer to fund raising.  She needed to have at least 75% of her goal deposited in her Navigator staff account in order to report to the Alabama campus.  When we called her this Sunday, we learned that she has 79% of her funds currently committed, an impressive amount given the current economic downturn and enough that she could leave as planned for Tuscaloosa yesterday.

Today, while I cannot track her route with FlightTracker technology, I know that, with God's help, Jillian is navigating her way across the country.  I have no doubt that He will carry her securely into the future.