Getting to the Promised Land Series: I Had to Know

…even if it meant leaving my family and the familiar.

He called. I answered, and allowed him back into my life. At the time, I still didn’t realize that he was the brown/green-eyed guy I wished for after watching a love story in my teens. Over the years, I continued to refine my wish. I wanted a husband to be less than five years older than me, to have big, strong hands and to have the ending like the one in the movie, The Notebook, all of which I asked for while living in my Saint Louis apartment.

I picked an apartment complex that was located 10 minutes from my mother, enough space for me to further my growth, but within a nice driving distance to continue to spend time with the one who provided me with life principles that helped me build my moral foundation. I didn’t want to go out of life not having traveled, loved, and had a family. Plus, I was living in Saint Louis, another childhood wish come true.

During the time I wished for my love, I also desired a curly head boy and girl, a one-and-done pregnancy. Now that I had gotten over my fear of bringing children into a world that I thought was violent at the time, I transcended my anxious thoughts with the conviction that I could raise children who could bring light into the world because of the principles I treasured.

I put the mental knowing I had as a child and mixed it with principles from The Secret, the same mental power that got me my 2007 Ford Fusion, the car I drove to Ohio several times to see my college sweetheart. When I felt like it in my one-bedroom apartment, I declared I would move to the North and be with the one I love. I applied for an Ohio nursing license, scanned the internet job sites for jobs, and continued to travel to Ohio to spend time with the “love of my life.”

I had to know if he was the one.

After some three unsuccessful job interviews, one position opened up just for me. The words I uttered to one of the people who interviewed me locked me in. I knew it. I had said the right thing, and his warm smile confirmed what I felt in my gut. An offer letter within days after my interview positioned my hope higher.

I booked a truck, started packing, and cleaned my apartment room by room. My youngest brother would help drive and move us, and I would fly him back. There was a moving drop off right down the street from his condo. But on the day of pickup, the agency didn’t see a truck in the system. Yet, he was determined to get me one, and lo and behold, there was one, and I got it for cheaper than the original quote.

So, after several long-distance calls and trips to Ohio, in November 2008, I left Saint Louis, Missouri, for an opportunity to be with the one I loved, my college sweetheart, and to teach nursing students (another declaration I had and my first teaching position since I had graduated with my Master’s as a Nurse Educator in May 2007). It had been a long road full of tears, bumps, detours, doubts, hope, and faith. I didn’t want to leave my mother, two brothers, and a city full of nursing opportunities, but I also didn’t want to be plagued with “what could have happened if I took a leap of faith?

Sometimes the more enlighten road is the one of greatest resistance.

For now, I plan to continue to enjoy the holidays, and I hope you do too. Be on the lookout for my continued sharing of how I got to my Promised Land—a mental and physical disposition.

Happy Holidays to you, and I will be sharing more in 2026!

Sharing a 2015 picture of my husband and me in Las Vegas!

As always, make this lifetime great because you have it within your power to do so!

May you be blessed, prospered, and choose to live the rest of your life in divine harmony, peace, and love

Timika