The Simple Life: following your calling

Just thought I'd let you know how the search is going thus far. This morning I sent out 3 resumes. 2 are for jobs that I saw this past weekend on Craigslist and the other was a recent listing in our paper.

I considered sending out the resumes Monday morning but, thought that Monday is ALWAYS a busy day for applications. Perhaps waiting until Wednesday may garner some time for an extra look at mine...

Job Prospect 1 - Helping Developmentally Disabled youth to learn and master new skills over the summer, possibly extending into the fall.

This would fit right in line with my continued desire to serve, while providing an income. Double stars in my book!

Job Prospect 2 - Working in a local church office, elsewhere in the community, maintaining records alongside a large staff.

It fits into the working for a non-profit category. Not so great on the having a direct effect on peoples lives. One star.

Job Prospect 3 - Delivering ordered supplies to inmates in the local jail.

Definitely something I hadn't thought of before. It's serving the community and assisting at-risk people. Although my influence on these people would be limited, multitudes can be said with a smile. Double stars!

Just after applying for these positions my dear Mother called to ask for my e-mail address (she was at work.) Mom works at her church office, part-time. ( I think this helps offset the expense for the sock fetish...) She announced that she had just received a posting for part-time help at a local church of the same denomination. The kicker - this church is 6 blocks from my home! Woohoo! This gets four stars - I can walk to work, serving MY very own community, for a non-profit, and get paid. I don't think life could be any better than that!

I'm thinking that since this was an inner-office type posting that I will be one of the first to apply. Definitely a good thing!

Ya'll keep your fingers crossed for me, PLEASE...

What's a Pre-50 list? According to my new buddy, Thomas, I need a list of things to achieve before 50. This all came about earlier this week from my post about Memories and Regrets. If you guys didn't see his comment, please read it.

Thomas, thank you for reading and caring enough to respond. What a precious person you are and how fortunate are the people who are lucky enough to be able to know you personally!

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We all have moments of regret stemming from memories of times past. A few days ago I was having some of those "remember when" moments. The moments turned into a great big "What in the world happened?" and "What am I doing with my life?" day. The day has now morphed into a "How am I going to get back on track? And do I even want to..." week.

It happens, right? No big deal.

This past year meant many changes for myself and my family. I felt a strong calling to serve my community more and, in answer to that call, left my full-time job of ten years. It wasn't something I did lightly. A lot of thought and planning went into the move. I even had some ducks lined up to tide us over, as we weren't in the perfect financial situation.

Unfortunately, the first duck flew off without the full payout, which left us with unanticipated bills remaining. The second duck was rejected and is basically dead in the water without further funding. The third duck laid a multitude of eggs, which all fertilized, and left us with more unexpected bills. You see where this is going....

In the midst of the duck saga, my son decided he wanted to be homeschooled this year due to many issues during his first year in middle school. The issues were leading to health problems and were changing him into someone he didn't even like, so I readily accepted the challenge. This was a large goose, come to roost...unexpectedly...

My dedication to the community has never wavered in all of this. It has actually grown stronger. As a family, we spend about 35 hours a week volunteering in some capacity or another. About 20-25 hours of that is mine, in an average week. This is such a bright spot in my life and a wonderful area of growth for my family. I would hate to give it up.

I'm stuck. I'm torn between an obligation to provide for my family and the heartfelt obligation I feel to serve God completely in this area. My prayers are continually answered with the feeling that I need to continue in my service. However, my faith is wavering on where the funds will come from to sustain us.

The sales at my store on e-Bay have dropped to almost nothing. My Etsy shop has yet to garner a sale. And I keep pushing. I'm afraid that if I wait any longer we may lose everything we have, which truly isn't all that much. Yet, that said, I'm even more afraid that I'll fail God in the quest He's given me.

So here's my baby steps to a "Pre-50 list" -

Continue serving God and His people to the best of my ability.
Search for and secure a part-time job as fast as possible.
Continue praying for guidance.
Continue homeschooling my son in the fall, because I feel it's the best education we can give him.
Continue promoting my Etsy and e-Bay shops for another 2 months. If things don't pick up, I'll have to stop spinning my wheels there.

This post is not about pity or sympathy. It's about reality. It's about choices all of us face daily and how we choose to handle them. Do we get up and dust ourselves off or wallow in the dirt wondering why we keep getting dirt up our nose?

Is this the right answer for me? I won't know for a few weeks but, it's a chance I have to take or risk losing a roof over my head. Sadly, when I say that, I'm mentally confronted with all of the verses in the Bible that tell me that God will provide. So, am I misinterpreting my calling or not trusting enough??? That's a million dollar question...where's Miss Cleo when you need her?

Disclaimer: There were no ducks or geese hurt in the writing of this post!