A few-sentence email enters my inbox asking if I can attend a meeting at our church regarding social media.
Though I've long been thinking our church has needed a social media presence and I'd love to help, I doubt I can make the meeting; John is in Europe that week, and babysitters are hard to come by mid day in the mid week -- like raindrops in drought.
But there is an easy sprinkle from a small little cloud, and I'm able to attend the meeting despite all of what normally works against such possibilities; I leave the meeting, hope rising in my heart at the response of our leaders who deem social media important to implement at our church. But when I leave the meeting, though my mind is spinning and racing with ideas, I return to life as normal and tuck them away. I'm at capacity, and I can't volunteer time to any kind of project beyond what I'm already doing without something having to give.
****
Month's later, there's been no resume submitted but there has been a meeting of the minds, and there has been the Spirit of God heavy in conversations and lastly there has been a perfectly tailored job description and offer extended to me to join the church staff as the social media coordinator.
An opportunity to serve in a way I'd only thought was a dream {me? small-town girl from the middle of nowhere evolved punk-rock mistress turned cynical journalist thrown a life jacket of grace me?}.
An opportunity to reach into people's everyday lives and help them know better the God who loves and created them, help them know better the community of God within a church we've been extremely vested.
And the fine details, lined up like just right, stars in a constellation:
Working only 15 hours per week.
Doing what I've long loved, while working out of my top five strengths from my home most of the time, nonetheless.
Confirmation from daily wanderings in the Word and conversations with those who shepherd my heart.
All of this after we decide to listen to the unexplained stirrings of our heart to put our Curves up for sale ... and then meet with extremely interested perspective buyers within two weeks of our letter of intentions saying we are looking to sell.
All of this amid one of our closest family friends, who lives within minutes of the church, sharing that she'd love to babysit for our boys one day a week during the weekly staff meeting {more raindrops ...}.
All of this folded up into a beautiful package at the heels of years spent investing time and effort and thought and heart and soul into the sharing of our story, my story, here at this blog, of investments made in virtual community and social media.
Some might call it serendipity or awesome coincidence, but I know it to be more; I know it to be grace revealed, blessing given, opportunity shared.
This story, it blows my mind.
This story, it's so different from the ones I've written in the past.
Because this time, I'm telling a story of which I'm not the one striving to write
One of which I've had only a very small, responsive hand.
This time
I feel like I'm telling the story of something truly only God can do.
During the next few weeks, I'm transitioning into my new position at church all while ensuring that I'm spending time with my family and taking care of all the Curves details, so please be patient with my sparser posting and interactions. I'm so excited to share how God moved my heart into this place, as it didn't come quite as thoughtlessly as I would have expected such a thing with such worked out details to have come. Prayers are appreciated, as is any encouragement during this extremely important transition month.
Each Thursday we come together to share the harvest of intentional living through sharing a piece of life gleaned: a picture, words, creation or list; just come to the table with the beauty in the simple moments of the week. Link up your gleaned moment this week at Sarah's!
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| Link your moment at Sarah's this week! |
