When I decided to dedicate one year to serving with those facing injustice, I had a sense of being “called” toward something God was leading me to. The idea of participating in a year of service was something I could not seem to get out of my head when thinking of my post-graduation plans. Lately, I have been reflecting on the story of Jesus’ call to the apostles, where it is written that the apostles left their fishing nets and their father to follow Jesus. The reckless abandonment which the apostles display in this story has continued to strike me. They left their livelihood, their families, and their community to go with Jesus, not knowing much of what the journey would have in store. I only recently realized that moving to Savannah to do a year of service was my own act of reckless abandonment to go with Jesus.

Doing so, however, has not been easy, and has not always fulfilled me in the way I thought it would. I left my community of family and friends and the plans I had to begin advancing my career. By doing so, I entered into an experience that removed the things I had begun to lean on and grow comfortable in. Recently, I have begun to reflect on what, then, remains, especially during this Lenten season of fasting and preparation to more deeply follow Jesus. What can I learn from recklessly abandoning what I knew and was comfortable with to follow my calling, like the apostles, without knowing much of what the journey would have in store? This is a question I hope to continue to answer in my remaining months of service in Savannah. So far, I have realized that, even though deciding to enter into this experience has removed a lot, it has also given me the opportunity to more heavily rely on and trust God, to practice non-attachment and instead to sit in the freedom of the unknown, and to intentionally seek consolation during moments of frustration, sadness, and hardship by finding God in all things.

Victoria Chiulli: Savannah, Georgia