November 9.
Three years ago on this date, I lost my dream job. It was impossible to see a path forward—I was lost and could not see a future.
What I couldn’t see then was that it was all a part of God’s plan. He was going out ahead of me to pave a future, one that was beyond anything I could have imagined.
What I thought was a dream job was actually causing me a level of anxiety that gave me problems breathing. It wasn’t something that was evident on the surface, but it was impacting my body in invisible ways.
The day I lost my job, I found my breath.
And in the days to follow, I found my path. In the three years since that day, I have discovered an inner strength that I never knew I had. But God knew I did.
He also knew that a little girl named Adeline Rebecca would grace our lives in October 2016—and that there was no way I would want to miss the stages of her life.
So he took my path directly toward freelance work and self-employment, where I determine my own schedule and can frequently spend time with my family.
Only a couple months after losing my job, I found my first ongoing freelance client. Jules Taggart saw something in me, gave me an opportunity, and made me see that I could make a go of this freelance thing. She’s stood by my side and empowered me ever since.
In the months that followed, other ongoing clients emerged—with God showing me that I would be more than able to support myself working on my own. In one case, he answered me so directly within minutes of a prayer that there was no doubt he was leading the way.
Earlier this year, some new opportunities emerged, but with a plate full of projects, I had no capacity. So for months, I wrestled with what to do next.
Recently, I made a decision to step away from some work that I’ve been doing—and the certainty that it provides—into the uncertainty of new projects as of January 1.
Anytime you begin something, it’s completely scary. But new beginnings are necessary. And as I’ve learned, where God guides, he provides.
As I was praying about my decision, I received many messages. And the weird thing was, I’d been having difficulty “hearing” God in the last year. But not in this case. When I prayed directly about this decision sitting on my heart, I got many signs to move forward.
One of those was in a devotional, and it’s a good thought for us all.
“Fear was trying to tangle its way inside me and snatch away the joy of new experience as it had so many times before…I want to keep saying yes. Yes to Jesus, yes to courage, and yes to letting go of fear. I keep saying yes to courage and no to fear.”
So if you find yourself in a situation where you can see no forward path, where I found myself three years ago, know that you will walk forward. And that you will be in a better place.
Best bite
Each week, I’ll drop in a pic and description of my favorite sip or bite—and a recommendation, too!
Y’all, this is the second time this has happened. My best bite of the week was mama’s chicken and dumplings, made for dad’s birthday. But obviously, when we eat those, we’re only focused on eating, because I forgot to take a pic!
Favorite Reads
I’m still forging my way through To Shake the Sleeping Self. I have enjoyed it, but it’s a slow read at this point.
Finished Jodi Picoult’s A Spark of Light as I drove to the Smokies last weekend, and it was fantastic. There were some especially eye-opening statistics in the author’s note at the end.
Just began Nicholas Sparks’ Every Breath yesterday at the gym. It’s a little slow-going thus far as they build up the narrative, so we’ll see how it goes!
Auntie’s baby
Now surely, you didn’t think I’d create a blog without my baby love in it, right?!
Questions I’m pondering…
These things are on my mind—if you know the answer, please share! Sometimes these will be light-hearted, other times they will not.
- Why is harder to make yourself take a sick day as a self-employed person than it is as an employee at a business?
- What’s the path forward for this country that’s so racked with division that people voted for a dead man in Nevada rather than voting for a person from the other party WHO IS ALIVE?
- Why do many Christians seem to ignore God’s mandate to lift up those who are most in need?
Quote of the week
Y’all, this quote smacked me in the face a couple weeks ago. I love it.
Wrapping things up
If I could share one message with every person reading this blog, it’s that you are stronger than you could ever imagine. Don’t ever doubt that.
See you next week.
Grace Always Wins 