Olivia Skal

Singleness is not what Olivia would have chosen for herself. Growing up in a big family and a church with several large families, she assumed and hoped she’d be married with kids by her late twenties. While that hasn’t been her story, God has taught her there is still immense value in her life.

For the last two years, Olivia has been pursuing an advanced degree in counseling. In early 2021, after six years of working in a faith-based non-profit, Olivia was beginning to pray and ask the Lord what was next for her. Feeling the word “prepare” placed on her heart for that year, she knew God was calling her in a new direction. She hadn’t planned to make a huge life change, but a restlessness she couldn’t ignore began to grow inside of her. 

She had always heard from people that she’d make a great counselor, but she never thought she’d go that route. One morning in the quiet of her house, God kindly spoke over her that He purposefully gifted her with the attributes of a counselor. After having a massive change of heart, and realizing that she was burned out on non-profit ministry, she left her job and started researching seminary schools that offered degrees in counseling. In the interim she began working at a Trader Joe’s in Pittsburgh. 

During the summer of 2021, Olivia found Western Seminary in Portland, and applied for the program. A few weeks after applying, she found out she had been accepted into the program, and petitioned for a transfer to a Trader Joe’s in the Portland area. Transfers to different stores typically don’t happen that quickly, but her manager found an opening in Hillsboro and got her an interview. She was hired on the spot. Two weeks later, she had moved all her things cross country, and began work and school in a new state. She credits God for showing up in all the details. Every step of the way, she knew He was leading. Leading her down a new path, and towards a future she had never pictured for herself but was ready to explore.

Make sure to say “hi” to Olivia at the Tanasbourne Trader Joe’s!

Moving cross country for a school she wasn’t even sure she could afford at the time, she wondered if she was being unwise. But she chose to trust God, and God showed up. Since beginning seminary two and a half years ago, Olivia hasn’t had to pay a dime for school. Each semester God has provided the right amount of funds through donations from friends, family, and other outside resources.

The sweetest part of this journey has been the people she has found along the way. She has formed intentional connections with people and has experienced an overflow of community here in Oregon, including here at 26 West Church. She has seen Matthew 19v29 ring true in her own life during this season, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” From the family that housed her for nine months when she initially moved out here to her coworkers at Trader Joe’s and classmates at Western, her community has only grown richer over time. 

This part of her story has had its challenges. There have been moments of worry and disbelief that He will continue to provide. In those moments, Olivia believes it is God who has kept her close. In the midst of life changes and questions, God has met her, requiring nothing more than an open heart. Even in the midst of so many unknowns, she has been released from the burden to know what’s coming next. She has seen God provide exactly what she needs exactly when she needs it. He has been in each and every detail of her story. As she has stayed open to His working, God has remained steadfast to her. Reminding her He truly is the one who carries us.

Olivia admits there has been a grieving process involved in surrendering the dream she had of being a wife and a mom. She knows that dream is still a possibility, but it will look different at this point in her life. In this season of singleness and pursuing an advanced degree, God has challenged Olivia to have an open mind and heart to what His dreams are for her life. Her life can look different than what she had hoped, and still be good. God invited her into an exploration of a totally different life, and she is learning there is just as much value in it.

As Philippians 2v13 reminds us, “... it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” If Christ’s Spirit is at work within us, there is nothing we can fail at that will keep us from His plan. 

If your life looks different than what you hoped, or you find yourself in a season you never thought you’d be in, God isn’t surprised. He is holding you close. He is in the details, working all of it out for your good and His glory. It’s okay to grieve and to be upset. In the midst of those raw and real feelings, we must cling to the truth that He is the one that carries us, and planned out every detail of our life long before it even started (Psalm 139v16).