Hi friends,
Did you ever hear the old Michael W Smith song, ‘go west young man”? That was one of my favorite songs when I was growing up! If you’ve been following my “Twitters” (see www.twitter.com) you’ll have heard a lot about me packing up my apartment in Nashville and taking a road trip West, via Estes Park, to California. Its been a busy and exciting few weeks of transition, so let me sit down and tell you all about it!
Since I was a teenager, I’ve always wanted to live in California. It was a pretty unusual thing to want, as my family had never been to the States and had no desire to go there. So God planted a love and a huge prayer burden for California in my heart at a young age. In my later teens I researched the Azuza street revival, read all about the Jesus movement, and spent much time praying that God would touch the ‘Golden State’ and one day allow me to live there and serve him in that place. When I was 20 I visited the States for the first time, going to a songwriters retreat held by the Anaheim Vineyard Church. I fell in love with Southern California instantly and it hasn’t gone away since.
Nashville has been home for the past 4 years, and I’ve loved being there. But over the past year my heart has grown more and more excited at the thought of making a move to CA. My job is totally mobile – songwriting happens wherever me and my guitar are…. recording happens wherever my laptop and a microphone are… and traveling ministry just needs an airport nearby to fly out of. So I began to realize that I could live anywhere and still continue everything as normal!
After a lot of prayer, thought and planning over the last 6 months, I finally arrived here in CA last week! I chose San Diego as it’s quieter and more laid back than LA, but I can still head up there for any writing or recording stuff in Los Angeles. The chilled out, surfer vibe here in San Diego is awesome, and there are lots of musicians, writers and creatives to inspire me and team up with!
It was a beautiful and long road trip across the country, aided by my trust GPS! (I need a name for my GPS… all suggestions welcomed!)
In a truck stop I saw this mileage chart and kept realizing just how BIG america is!
I saw incredible scenery….
And having crossed the CA border on the final night of the road trip, celebrated with the classically Californian meal of “In and Out Burger” : )
The beach is about 5 minutes from my house, so I’m loving that already…and I love all the palm trees…. you don’t see any of those in England so they are still quite novel to me!
This week has mainly been unpacking suitcases and getting furniture for my apartment… as you can see I”ve been busy….(this was day 2, so now it looks WAY more organized!)
So I am now based in San Diego and am very excited about it. There is so much going on for me at the moment – finishing songs for my forthcoming record… just about to sign a book contract for a book about worship and revival… lots of concerts in the US coming up, plus a 2 week tour of Canada in October… looking at great ideas for more events in the Fall… So San Diego feels like the perfect place to base those activities out of – when I need inspiration and rest, all I have to do is jump in my Jeep and go walk along the beach. I’ve also found the perfect beach-side coffee shop where I can do all my writing and blogging. Awesome!
So that’s my update : ) How about you guys – where do you live now, and is there anywhere else you have dreamed of living? Do you sense that God is calling you to your current location for a long time, or do you feel called to a different location or nation?
Love,
Vicky