About a year and a half ago I graduated from college in western Kentucky and moved to the big city of Washington, D.C., to begin my career. As I packed my clothes, books, photo albums and Disney movies (yes, all 30 of them) and told my friends good-bye, I envisioned this new job and new world to be my biggest adventure yet! Yet, "adventure" is a matter of perspective. Sometimes we end up calling them "trials." But no matter what you call them, they help you learn and build character. And when you can finally look back and evaluate them, you realize they really are adventures! Let me illustrate.

I had spent a good portion of the previous three months before my move finding out all I could about the big city and trying to find a place to live. But since so many places kept telling me there was plenty of availability, I didn't make any concrete plans with the intent of scoping out the apartments for the pick of the litter. Piece of cake, eh?

However, when I finally made it to D.C., all of the places I had called that had "plenty of availability" seemed to be booked to capacity. The places that did have empty apartments would rival my old dirty college dorm on any given day (minus the friendly college neighborhood and double your monthly tuition payments). I had three days to find a place, move in, get settled and start work and it wasn't looking good.

After all other options were exhausted, I put a deposit down on an old high-rise building with a monitored front entrance that was in a less fortunate side of town. To kill time until I could move in, my father (who was kind enough to help me move) and I went looking at the expensive apartments and eventually were referred to a free apartment search service.

After an extensive interview and search, we were directed to a small apartment in a reputable complex. As it turned out, the place was gorgeous and I ended up signing a year lease. Of course, they wouldn't let me move in right away so my father and I had to kill time for another day. When I finally did get to move in, I had no power, no water and no phone. But, eventually those kinks were worked out, the moving truck was returned and my father was on a plane home. Then, sitting in my tiny 613-square-foot new apartment, I started to think, "What have I gotten myself into?"

I knew no one in the city, I couldn't even find the grocery store and I started having thoughts like, "What would I do if my car broke down?" and "How much are utilities?" I wondered, "Am I strange because I have an apartment with no furniture?" and "Who spends $820 for an apartment, anyway?" Needless to say, I was overwhelmed.

For the next few months, things seemed to become more and more hectic and my attitude became more and more frustrated. I realized several important things rather quickly. Banks in the big city put a six-week hold on every paycheck and, according to the nasty letters I kept getting in the mail, all of my checks were bouncing.

The transmission and brakes on my car were in desperate need of repair and no matter what garage you go to, it costs a fortune--especially when no one knows your family and you can't offer to baby-sit anyone's children as payment. I found out quickly how much air conditioning costs per month and it isn't pretty. And since I could never remember the combination to the alarm at my apartment, I was developing a very close bond with the local police and they pretty much considered me a nuisance.

To make matters worse, the day my boss was supposed to conduct a big training class to show me how to train others on our products, he was called away leaving me to conduct the class myself. I was supposed to be the trainee and now all of a sudden I had to pretend to be a trainer. Here I was, a 22-year-old college grad in her new black suit, standing in front of 30 directors of security who were expecting a thorough explanation of a secure extranet program.

I was half all of their ages and half their size. And I didn't have a clue what to do. I think my knees and my hands shook for the first hour and I drank so much water to keep my throat from drying out that we had to take an abnormal amount of potty breaks.

I remember eating an inhumane amount of ice cream and cookies in the first six months I was here. I can skin a Dove bar in 90 seconds. Needless to say, I had lost perspective.

It's been a year and a half now since I moved to D.C. and I'm happy to say my attitude and I are doing much better. My project at work had done so well that we spun out into a commercial company of which I am the training manager. I run the help desk and training programs for all of our clients. Since my move, my car has undergone several more operations, my rent has gone up, my purse has been stolen and I'm still tight with the police over the security alarm issue.

But you know what? I also was baptized, received another promotion at work, found a ton of new best friends, and started a great volunteering job working with children. This move has definitely been my best adventure ever. And so far I've made it!

God doesn't give us anything we can't handle. And if we rely on Him, He sees us through. It's all a matter of perspective and I think I had to learn that lesson to get through it all. Some people call them trials. I call them adventures because they give us the opportunity to learn and to take a step forward.

I have definitely learned a lot since moving out here and now I'm smarter, stronger and definitely closer to God. I'm sure I have plenty more "adventures" to come. I'll try to keep the right perspective! YU