Journey of Faith
I had a little spare time on my hands the other evening and so I was reading back through some of my old blog posts from the past few years. I came across one in particular that has stayed on my mind, as I am having the strong feeling that God is doing some pretty neat things in my life right now. I think I wrote this one about a year after we had moved to Jonesboro, sometime in 2009. I was reflecting on our first year living here, and talking about how I thought God had a plan for me here, but I just couldn't see it or figure it out. I am not a very patient person, and tend to want things to be clear pretty quickly. As I look back over the past 3 years (can you believe we have lived here 3 years already!?) I can see plainly the stepping stones that were being laid in my life to get me to this place today. One of the biggest lessons I have learned in all of this is that God tends to do some pretty amazing things in our lives, DESPITE us! If I had had things my way, there is no way I would be in this place at all. I sure am glad he knows better than I do:)
Crazy thing number one happened back in 2009 when I was about 6 months pregnant with Jace. A guy I barely knew from work at the counseling center in town briefly mentions that the counseling center at church is looking to hire a new therapist part time since one of the other therapists was leaving. I submitted my resume. I thought about it, talked to Silas about it, and decided against it. I was due to have a baby in a few months, and didn't think adding a new job to the mix was good timing in my life. Plus I just didn't think I could offer them the hours, etc that they were looking for. Several weeks or a month went by and I got a phone call from the director asking to set up an interview with me. I politely declined, explaining all the reasons I was NOT a good fit for the position. Somehow I ended up going to the interview anyway. And then randomly got the job:) I didn't end up starting until October after Jace was born, and it was a slow process building up my caseload there. I got frustrated at times and thought of giving up, but something kept me hanging on. I was pretty confused too. I mean, who tells a potential employer they do not even want to interview, and then gets the job??! God has a way of working things out, doesn't he:)
I have cruised along and have been enjoying my work there for the past 2.5 years. I have to admit it has been tough though. Counseling is not an easy job. I know lots of jobs are hard, but this one is just hard on my heart. I am a very sensitive person, and I truly hurt when other people are hurting. And trust me, there are a lot of hurting people out there. Some days I don't think I am the one for the job, but I just keep trusting that I am right where I need to be. Several months ago my director asked me if I would be interested in developing a program for kids of divorce. Yeah, in all my spare time!! I wasn't really sure what direction this was going or what it was looking like, but I attended the meeting and we got some ideas going. Ideas started coming together the past few months, lots of collaboration with attorneys, schools, etc in town, and we finally got a proposal worked up to apply for a grant to fund our class. And lo and behold, we just found out last week that we got it!! So now I am in the process of developing my very own class/group curriculum so that we will be ready to launch our new group which starts in January 2012. I AM PUMPED! I have loved working with children in all my years of counseling, and have missed that aspect of it, as most of my clients are adults or older teens at the counseling center. I wish I had the research on hand to give specific statistics, but basically everyone knows that one out of every two marriages ends in divorce. Think of how many kids experience divorce, maybe even multiple times in their childhoods. And Arkansas has the second highest divorce rate in the country. That is a lot of hurting kids out there, right in our backyard. There are lots of divorce support groups/recovery groups out there for adults, but none for kids in our area. I am working to put together a group for kids (kindergarten through 6th grade) that will help them navigate this painful experience to the best of their abilities, and hopefully minimize as much of the damage as possible so they can have a chance at healthy relationships and marriages of their own.
I feel like things here are falling into place, and I am so excited about the professional opportunities I have been given. I am almost embarrassed at how reluctantly I proceed with things (like moving to Jonesboro), and am amazed at how God has patiently worked in my life to get me to this place. So many times I think we feel stalled, or stuck in life, but in reality it may just be a foundation being laid for greater things to come. I am so thankful to be in this place, and to be a part of something that will hopefully change the lives of children for the better. I would appreciate your prayers over the rest of this process and for the kids that will get to be a part of it!
Crazy thing number one happened back in 2009 when I was about 6 months pregnant with Jace. A guy I barely knew from work at the counseling center in town briefly mentions that the counseling center at church is looking to hire a new therapist part time since one of the other therapists was leaving. I submitted my resume. I thought about it, talked to Silas about it, and decided against it. I was due to have a baby in a few months, and didn't think adding a new job to the mix was good timing in my life. Plus I just didn't think I could offer them the hours, etc that they were looking for. Several weeks or a month went by and I got a phone call from the director asking to set up an interview with me. I politely declined, explaining all the reasons I was NOT a good fit for the position. Somehow I ended up going to the interview anyway. And then randomly got the job:) I didn't end up starting until October after Jace was born, and it was a slow process building up my caseload there. I got frustrated at times and thought of giving up, but something kept me hanging on. I was pretty confused too. I mean, who tells a potential employer they do not even want to interview, and then gets the job??! God has a way of working things out, doesn't he:)
I have cruised along and have been enjoying my work there for the past 2.5 years. I have to admit it has been tough though. Counseling is not an easy job. I know lots of jobs are hard, but this one is just hard on my heart. I am a very sensitive person, and I truly hurt when other people are hurting. And trust me, there are a lot of hurting people out there. Some days I don't think I am the one for the job, but I just keep trusting that I am right where I need to be. Several months ago my director asked me if I would be interested in developing a program for kids of divorce. Yeah, in all my spare time!! I wasn't really sure what direction this was going or what it was looking like, but I attended the meeting and we got some ideas going. Ideas started coming together the past few months, lots of collaboration with attorneys, schools, etc in town, and we finally got a proposal worked up to apply for a grant to fund our class. And lo and behold, we just found out last week that we got it!! So now I am in the process of developing my very own class/group curriculum so that we will be ready to launch our new group which starts in January 2012. I AM PUMPED! I have loved working with children in all my years of counseling, and have missed that aspect of it, as most of my clients are adults or older teens at the counseling center. I wish I had the research on hand to give specific statistics, but basically everyone knows that one out of every two marriages ends in divorce. Think of how many kids experience divorce, maybe even multiple times in their childhoods. And Arkansas has the second highest divorce rate in the country. That is a lot of hurting kids out there, right in our backyard. There are lots of divorce support groups/recovery groups out there for adults, but none for kids in our area. I am working to put together a group for kids (kindergarten through 6th grade) that will help them navigate this painful experience to the best of their abilities, and hopefully minimize as much of the damage as possible so they can have a chance at healthy relationships and marriages of their own.
I feel like things here are falling into place, and I am so excited about the professional opportunities I have been given. I am almost embarrassed at how reluctantly I proceed with things (like moving to Jonesboro), and am amazed at how God has patiently worked in my life to get me to this place. So many times I think we feel stalled, or stuck in life, but in reality it may just be a foundation being laid for greater things to come. I am so thankful to be in this place, and to be a part of something that will hopefully change the lives of children for the better. I would appreciate your prayers over the rest of this process and for the kids that will get to be a part of it!
posted by Lauren at
11:44 AM
1 Comments:
Awesome idea and so needed!! Can't wait to hear about all the lives that are changed, love ya!! Kathy Reynolds
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home