Straining Toward What is Ahead

Hi Everyone!  I had lots of intentions to blog over the past couple of weeks, but never got around to it.  I think it was because I knew this was the post I should write, and I was putting it off.  Blogging about it make it feel so much more... final.

I quit my job!  Actually I gave my notice in October, but the 20th was my last day.  It was a very, very, very hard decision to make, but I know that it was the right thing.  People who I didn't work with that tried to comfort and help me through the process would try to tell me "It's just a job."  But it wasn't just a job.  First of all, the organization I worked for was a ministry... helping and supporting individuals and families.  I didn't minister directly to those individuals and families, but it was my job to support the people that do.  When you know that what you are doing is helping people, it is hard to stop doing that.  But God has other plans for me.


Second of all, my cowokers are like family to me.  Six years ago I was newly married, and had just moved 11 hours away from my family.  I started working 40 hours a week with these people, and they took me under their wing and helped me, and loved me and supported me.  They are my friends.  While there has been a lot of turnover in my (almost) six year there, and many people I started with have now moved on, even the newer folks have become like family.  I imagine that most coworkers bond on some level anyway, but when you are struggling to do ministry together, there is a very special bond.  If you've ever been on a mission trip, you probably know what I'm talking about.

Change is hard for me, so to get myself through it, I tried to focus on what is ahead.  Which in some ways is clear, and in other ways is a big, fat question mark.

The clear (and very exciting part!) is that I'm going to London!!!  Tim is being sent to London for several weeks this winter/ spring for work, and I'm going with him!  This was the catalyst to quitting my job.  The details of this traveling are still a bit unknown, but right now, it looks like we will be leaving in mid to late February and will be gone anywhere from 6 weeks to 14 weeks.  We will probably be living in a hotel, and Tim will be working 14 hour days, leaving me to explore the city by myself.  Right now, that amount of alone time sounds AMAZING to my socially-overwhelmed, introverted self, but we'll see how it goes.  I don't know if I'll even last a week without my friends.

When I get back, the plan is to go to nursing school.  I have two semesters of pre-requisites to take, which I will do in the summer and fall, then start the nursing program at the community college next January.  If all goes according to plan, I will be an RN in May of 2017.  Which feels like forever.  

I debated quite awhile about this career move, trying to decide between nursing and starting my own business of some sort (probably involving baking).  I have settled on nursing for now, with baking as a very close second.  Maybe I will bake my way through nursing school or something.

As a farewell, my coworkers had an English tea for me, and gave me this beautiful tea set, and some English breakfast tea.

They are so wonderful.  Saying goodbye was hard, because I cannot put into words what they mean to me.  Any words I would try to say felt so cheap and insufficient.  But I hope that they know my heart, and know that leaving was not an easy thing to do.

So now, I am unemployed.  It still hasn't fully sunk in yet, because Tim is still on vacation. 

For now, I am hoping to catch up on some sleep, get my house in order, lose some weight, and start blogging regularly.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive through this decision and transition, and for those who will continue to support me as I adjust to a  new life.  You've been wonderful!

I will leave you with this:

This webcam box was on a shelf in my office, and it always threw people for a loop (including myself!) because it looks so much like Tim!  Especially striking when it was right next to our engagement picture.  Creepy, huh?