I need a...

Job that I love. That's that I need. That's what I want. I don't know what kind of job. There are many things I would love to do. But I just am ready for a job that I love. A job that I don't have to put myself through a mental battle for every day when I wake up. I am not saying that my job at the Vee is a terrible one. I am not saying that it isn't a good place to work. I am just saying that it served its purpose in getting me through high school and college. But now I am ready for something different. Something I love. Something that is more suited to who I am and what I love to do.

I have been working according to the government since I was 15. But since I was 11, I have learned what it meant to work hard, be responsible with money and have a good work ethic. My work history started in Richland Center when I began to babysit for families in our church. I had 3 families that I babysat for on a regular basis for the four years I lived there. Those kids were very much like my own kids because I became so close to them and their families became like family to me (one of these families is the Wanless family whom I visited back in 2010 and hope to visit again soon... check out my story about that visit here). When we moved to Iowa, I continued to babysit. Just not as often. I babysat a lot on a volunteer basis for various church activities. Then when I came home from Ecuador, I started work at the Marion Hy-Vee. I was 15 and have worked there ever since. I have also worked at Sears Portrait Studio, two branches of the YMCA (one in Marion as a receptionist and one in Lincoln as an after-school care provider), a Christian daycare, and the LCU undergraduate admissions office. That's a lot of work experience in a variety of different areas. But because of all of those years of work, I have learned to work hard, be flexible, give good customer service and deal with people on all levels. I have been blessed to have hard so many opportunities to work and learn different skill sets. And I have learned what type of places I love to work in and what type I don't. 

I have so many passions and things that I would love to do in life, both for work and pleasure, paid and volunteer. It's hard to think about what exactly I should/would apply for in the realm of jobs. Sometimes I think about working in a daycare where I can play with children and toys all day to my heart's content. Or I think about working at a Barnes and Noble or a library spending my days among shelves and shelves of books and breathing in that new or worn smell of paper and book bindings. I think about working for an adoption agency in some capacity where I can work to give orphans around the world a home and a forever family. I think about simply being a mom and a wife, like my mom, devoted to spending my days serving my kids and husband so that their life is as good as mine was.

I have no idea where I am going to work come June. That is mainly due to the fact that Spence and I have no idea where we are going to be living come June. It's a bit scary to not know for sure where we will be calling "home." We are still waiting to hear back from a church he interviewed at back in January and we are busy sending out resumes to more churches. Hoping that GOD opens a door and shows us something soon. We are trying to not get discouraged by all of the waiting and unknown. But we are making it work.

And so because of not knowing where we are going to live, I have no idea of where I am going to work. Or even what possibilities I will have once we do move and settle somewhere. We have toyed with the idea of moving to Peoria or Springfield if we don't find a church because there are Hy-vee stores in each of those cities and it's close to Lincoln for his seminary work. Yes, I just said that I am ready to move on from Hy-Vee. But when I have a guaranteed job and even a chance to be trained and hired as a manager at the new stores (two new ones are being opened in the next year in those two cities), it's hard to ignore that as a possibility for us. So, who knows. Maybe in a few months I will be a manager at a Hy-Vee. Or a daycare teacher. Or a children's librarian. Or a Barnes and Noble clerk. Or a secretary for some sort of office. Or who knows what. Thankfully I have enough random jobs in my work history that I am sure I will be able to find something. It's just going to be a matter of finding something I love. Only time will tell.

So, here's to waiting for a job I love.