What in the world have I been up to??
And like I said, my life is a roller coaster so my journey did not stop there, that was just the beginning of the incredible story God had in store for me. At the same time of me struggling to find myself and purpose in life, I was also facing some desires to pursue a different career within the non-profit world. I have been talking and dreaming about wanting to party plan for single parents and underprivileged children for 5 years now but didn't know where to even begin. During the spring of last year, I was starting to feel like my chapter of working at the church was ending and that it was my time to start pursuing another open door. Because I am a strong willed and determined woman, I decided that I needed to find my own door to open and started making plans to move to Minnesota to volunteer with a non-profit that throws birthday parties for children in homeless shelters (Birthday Party Project). It was exactly what I wanted to do and felt like the perfect idea. But with the help of family, wise leaders and friends, I deep down knew this was a not wise decision and that I needed to stay put in Oregon.
But I was ready to go on to my next adventure and could not shake the feeling of staying where I was and felt like God was calling me somewhere else. I ended up putting in my notice at the church in the spring and gave them a four month notice. I did not have a job lined up nor did I have any idea what I was going to do but I knew that this is what God was calling me to do so I felt at peace about this decision. My idea was that I was going to go into the non-profit world and start working in the area that was going to help me to get to what I really wanted to do and party plan for underprivileged children. The first month went by and I did not have a job prospect and I was starting to get a little worried if I was making the right decision.
During this season, I was watching the Transformation Church Sermon Series called "Marked". The whole series was about waiting on God and staying where you are until God calls you out. I was so touched by this that one morning, I prayed and decided that I was no longer going to look for jobs but that I was going to wait on him to show me a job. That is a pretty gutsy prayer, but I had faith he would answer and you know what, he did! Thirty minutes later (THIRTY MINUTES) I got a text from my cousin letting me know that her boss wanted me to send in my resume and set up an interview for a position at the Montessori School! I mean if this is not a sign from God, I don't know what is! If I am honest, it is not where I wanted to go back to and I was afraid what everyone around would think about me, for leaving a good job to become an assistant teacher, but I knew that this was from God and that I needed to follow him. So I surrendered my hopes and dreams and put it in his hands and followed this open door to the Montessori School.
At the end of August I said goodbye to my work family, turned 30 and started my new job as an assistant teacher. It was a lot to take in and during my first few weeks at the new job I thought I just made the biggest mistake of my life. Allowing myself to give into my insecurities and wanting to go back to my old life. But I stuck it through and started to get the motivation I needed from reading "Girl, Stop Apologizing" by Rachel Hollis and listening to the next sermon series from Transformation Church called "Crazy Faith". Those two things pushed me to stop feeling I am not enough and to dream bigger. I enrolled in a Grant Writing Class from PCC (and passed) and started to pray again for God to bring my dreams into reality. As I started getting into the hang of my new role as an assistant and working with the kids, I fell in love with my job. I absolutely love working with the little ones and being able to support, love and teach these children. I was starting to really feel like God has me right where he wants me and I was being content with where I was.
And then, God came through again!!! My friend saw a video about this young woman in California who started her own non-profit (No Birthday Left Behind), going into homeless shelters and throwing birthday parties for the children there. You guys, this is something I am super passionate in! I am currently talking with the organization and there are some really exciting opportunities with them that I am pursuing right now. Nothing is in full effect until January, so I will keep you posted on what I will be doing then. If you are interested in this organization as well and are interested in joining my team, please let me know!
I am still on my journey of becoming healthy, physically and spiritually and I am okay with that. It's been 6 months since I started my food allergy diet and I am feeling better and better each day. I am very surprised and proud of myself for sticking with it and for not giving up! It gives me motivation to continue to try new things even if it seems too difficult. I am just very happy with how God has turned my life around in this last year and am excited to see where I will be in the next year! God is so good and faithful and I hope I remember all these things in the future when seasons of trials and twists come my way. I don't like when people tell me this but it is so true. The moment we surrender our life to God, he comes in and makes the perfect way. I am so different because of this last year of surrender and know that God's hand is on my life. I pray that maybe my journey can be a little hope to you too. God wants the best for you and has the best for you. Trust him and he will show you the way!
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