The update

Ok so it has been super long since I've updated this and because of recent requests here I am. There has been SOOOO much that has changed since the last time I wrote on here so I will try to do a quick update and then tell about a new idea that I have had! So here is the update....

The biggest thing is that I am employed! God is so faithful and I am constantly in awe of this faithfulness! I started working for a mental health agency at the end of January. I work on a Mobile crisis outreach team and am always on the go. My team goes out to assess people who are in crisis to see what services are available to them. It has been great experience and I can honestly say that I love what I do. The hours can be long (especially now, which I'll get to in a minute), but I really do enjoy going to work. I love being to help clients get stabilized after being in a crisis. I love doing something in which I can use my gifts and talents and something that I believe that I am good at. I've been there for almost 6 months now and I truly love my job.

Second update is that in 156 days, 17 hours and 2 minutes I will be walking across that stage to pick up my MSW degree!! I don't know if you can tell but I am very ready for that day! I have enjoyed this school process and can not believe that the end is almost here! It seems like just yesterday I was a Panera with a great mentor who challenged me to go back to school, and now here I am. I am in my last class right now (literally I'm writing this in class...have I told you I'm ready to be done!). I am doing 500 hours at an internship and have to write my final paper in the fall. I am doing my intern hours at a inpatient psych hospital. I am currently working on the adult unit and will be in the adolescent unit in the fall. This is where the super busy schedule and long days come in. I work 12 hour days 6 days a week! That has been a great experience also. I am getting great training and my heart is being more formed into what I want to do when I'm done with school.

The next update is an addition to my life... Meet Daisy!

She is my sweet little dog I welcomed into my life in January and I love her so much! It has been super sweet to have a dog in my life again! She is so super sweet and I love her so much!

So that's basically the update, still single, still live alone, still in school (for another 156 days!), working now,loving my job, got a dog... There you go!

So now for my idea... I meet with two of my dear friends each week for accountability and this past week we spoke about living in the here and now rather than hoping for the future. We talked about our hope for the future was becoming an idol for us. We thought that one day to truly live in today would be to think of 5 things each day for things that we are thankful THAT DAY! So I am going to use my this blog as a record of that. I don't know if I'm going to be able to blog each day but I am hoping to share the five things I'm thankful with each of you as much as possible!

#28

Well this is Thanksgiving #28 for Me. I have started this tradition of listing the things I am thankful for. This being the 28th Thanksgiving I have celebrated I have A LOT to be thankful for! I have been blessed beyond anything I could ever imagined! I am so excited to see what this next year brings. You can check out #27 to see what I was thankful this time last year (some may be the same but I'm going to try to list things that I am thankful from within the last year!)

1. Reese's pieces pastel eggs (I bought 12 bags after Easter to enjoy year round, one of which I am enjoying right now!)
2. The HARD times that this year has brought that have caused me to grow and become such a stronger person.
3. The times that I get to spend with my dearest and longest friends/sisters, Emily and Les! My birthday this year was so sweet with them here to celebrate with me!
4. The times few and far between that I get to spend with my sweet friends from Mankato. Whether it be in Kansas City or Tucson or here in Fort Worth, I am so thankful for these sweet visits!
5. Having women in my life who are intentional about pouring their lives into mine. Especially my new friend Molly, who entered my life as a huge answer to prayer!
6. Thursday mornings at Chic-Fil-A with Kati and Erin, I am so thankful for how these mornings have drawn me closer to these sweet friends as we grow closer to the Lord.
7. Christ Chapel Bible Church, what an amazing church to be a part of! I am thankful for the people that have entered into my life through CCBC!
8. The opportunity I had to intern at and then work at Texas ReEntry Services.
9. That I am a proud new owner of a 2009 Ford Focus!
10. School... I'm so thankful that I was able to graduate and get my Bachelor of Social Work and now continue to work on my Master of Social Work! I am so thankful that I L-O-V-E my classes! And I am so thankful for my classmates!
11. That I have been able to continue building on my relationship with my brother Marc!
12. My new apartment! I love living alone once again and it is such a little oasis for me.
13. Kari Jobe and Sandra McCracken and the other amazing musicians who speak to my heart!
14. My journal from Mirage Paper Co! As many of you know I journal on a regular basis and I honestly believe that if I did not have that in my life I would go crazy!
15. Having a place to go "home" to...
16. Being able to celebrate with many of my friends as they have married the man of their dreams!
17. Watching the growth that is happening in the lives of those I love!
18. Restoration in friendships that have been broken (see #2!)
19. Being able to celebrate with my friends as they expand their families!
20. Being unemployed... I think that this time has been the best thing for my relationship with the Lord. I have significant time to spend reading and journaling and this time has forced me to trust in a whole new way!
21. That I can call my God, Jehovah Jireh the Lord who provides! I am so thankful for all the ways the I have seen the Lord provide in some AMAZING ways!
22. Skinny Cows Ice Cream sandwiches... who knew that "diet" could taste so good?!?!
23. Being able to nanny for Alisha, Ashley, Amanda and little Kelly! What a great opportunity to love those kids in the midst of a chaotic time in their lives.
24. My iphone, I love that I have everything I need at my fingertips. I love that it sync's with my car (see #9), and that it begins to play my itunes upon starting my car, I love that I can play on facebook or check my e-mail no matter where I am at! I just love it!
25. Union Gospel Mission and the opportunity to serve the homeless of Fort Worth supper every Tuesday night. Thankful for Ron and Issac who make us feel like family as we come serve each week!
26. Student health care, without which I would be thousands of dollars in debt right now!
27. The Amazing Amazing Amazing people in my life! I am so blessed by the amazing people who choose to walk through life with me. I am SO forever grateful to and for these people, namely... Emily and Patrick, Les and Jonathon, Natalie and Bob, Melissa, Kati, Erin, Theresa, Sarah, Holly, Arianne, Kathleen, Heather, and so many more! I love you all more than I could ever express!
28. I once again am leaving the thing I am most thankful for last.... My relationship with the Lord. He has saved me and continues to show me mercy and grace. I am so very thankful for that, without that relationship I would not have this list!

Unemployed...still!

I have officially been unemployed for 25 days as of today. I have been on 5 interviews, invited for 2 more interviews, offered one position (which I turned down), did not finish one of the interviews when we realized the position would not work with my school schedule, did not get one of the jobs but was encouraged to apply for future positions due to the fact I was a strong candidate, and I continue to wait for a response from the other two! One of the said jobs I'm waiting for a response from is the one I WANT! So here I sit and wait...

This time has become a lesson in trusting in the LORD. I had the recommended two months worth of bills saved up and come December 1st I will have been unemployed for two months and therefore my savings will be depleted. I have begun to freak out a little bit and yet I feel the calming presence of the LORD! I have said a few times over the last week that this month of unemployment has been the best thing for my relationship with the LORD. I have had time each morning to spend a significant amount of time reading, journaling and just being still with the LORD. I have been able to spend time praying for people in my life and doing things to serve within the community. I still have a great peace about turning down the job offer a month ago. When I begin to question that decision I am reminded about how sweet this time has been with my LORD, and ultimately I believe that is more valuable. And therefore I sit and I wait...

I honestly do believe that I got the job that I really want. It is a job working with Mental Health & Mental Retardation (MHMR) of Tarrant County. The position is a Family Intervention Specialist. I would have a caseload of 20-30 kids ages 4-17 who have mental health issues and whose families have decided to be a part of this program. I would meet with the kids either every week or every other week and work on their goals. I would make my own schedule (I schedule when I see clients) and therefore will work great with my school schedule. I honestly think that I would excel at this position and that my gifts, talents and education would be a great asset to this program. The interview went great and my interviewer made it sound as though I have the job. MHMR is a huge agency and therefore there is a LOT of paper work and they are not quick to do things (so I've heard from current employees) and therefore I sit here and I wait...

Things are tight financially and I'm not able to do some of the things I desire to do, but yet I am in one of the best places emotionally and spiritually that I have been in in a long time! And therefore I will continue to sit here and wait and most importantly, trust!

Unemployed!

As of today I am unemployed! As I have mentioned I have been searching for a new job, and honestly it has been going pretty well. I have my resume out there and many different non-profit agencies and I have had 4 interviews (the 5th is tomorrow morning) and 1 job offer. I don't know if it was the wisest decision but I turned down the job I was offered because of the promise that the 2 interviews I have/had this week. The position I was offered was a central intake specialist for a non-profit agency. I would have spent a lot of my time on the phone accessing the needs of clients and referring them on. Not my dream job, and the salary was less than what I am currently making. Both of the jobs I'm interviewing for this week are for positions that I would love excel at. Through this process I have had to put to work many of the skills that I taught my classes this summer. I have been asked many interview questions and have had to think on my toes. Here are some of the interview questions I have been asked so far....

The person we hire for this position will be the 'face of the company', why would you make a good face for this company?

What are you strengths and weaknesses?

What brings you joy? And what irritates you?

What are your professional goals?

Have you ever had to deliver hard news? How did you respond to that?

What do you like about this agency?

Describe a stressful situation you've encountered at a workplace, how did you deal with the stress?

What type of schedule do you like to work with?

And so many more! One interview this week took 1 hour and 45 minutes! I was told earlier this week in a interview that I am very poised which I guess is a good thing! I hope that tomorrow as I go on yet another interview I am as poised as I have been. I will keep ya'll updated on the process!

Where I am from...

For one of my classes we had to write a poem about where we are from, I thought I would share mine!

Where I am from…

I am from the trailer park,
Living week to week,
Waiting for the welfare check.
Living with my brother and father,
While my mother remarried
Making my uncle my step-father!

I am from a home where everyday was filled with love…
Until one day, I believe I was 10
And things began to change
The fridge began to fill with beer
And my brother and I began to live in fear
My brother was the first to go
And I soon too followed

We moved in with the mother we barely knew
Now I must say I am from the other side
Living purchase to purchase
My love trying to be bought
Feeling lonely and sad

My brother followed in the family foot steps
Became an addict and completely withdrew
One would expect that I too would become an addict
But instead I fell in love with my Savior
And O what a different path I have taken
I love to look back and see and remember…
Where I am from!

The job search...

So the summer is over which therefore means that my summer employment program is over. Going into the summer I knew that my job was a temporarly job, but it was thought that more money would come in so that I could stay at the agency. Now here we are a week and half until the end of September and still no money has come in to pay me. So come October 1st, I will no longer be at TXRS unless some money comes in soon.

Because of this, the job search has begun! There is nothing I enjoy less than searching for a new job! I have my resume out there all throughout the Fort Worth area. I have been applying mostly to non-profit agencies. I have a second interview on Tuesday and am hopeful for an offer. I must say that I am very excited to be done with my school so that I will be qualified for the jobs that I want! Until then I will continue to build up my resume. I must say that my experiences will look great on my resume and hopefully where I end up next will add to that! I'm just ready to know what the near future will look like!

Well...

It has been over a month since I have blogged! What has been going on you ask, well here is the run down!


I finished my first semester of Grad school!


A weekend float trip that brought me back to junior high in the antics of some of the people on the trip!

5 days days in Arkansas celebrating Leslie's birthday with the Steens, Emily and Bonnie!


2 of my very dearest friends from undergrad,Melissa & Natalie, came to visit Fort Worth!


Which included skating, once again a junior high moment!



And spent time with some great friends here in Fort Worth

I have begun to volunteer with my small group at Union Gospel Mission a local homeless shelter. Every Tuesday we help to serve supper there!
I read Same kinda different as me ... Seriously go out and read it, it is GREAT!
I have begun my second semester of Grad school in which I am taking 3 classes that I am already LOVING! I love my classes more and more every semester. It is nice to continue to be affirmed that this is exactly what I am suppose to be doing! As a part of my course work this semester I have to attend two 12-step meetings and also go to 3 "out of my comfort zone" places. I will be excited to share these experiences with you! Next week I am lining up for supper with the homeless at a shelter and experiencing that. SO that is my life over the past month... there is a lot going on right now but I will leave that for the next blog!