Here is my blood. I have sealed my works and my Father's will with my blood.
Partake. For you also are my blood.
You are inherently divine offspring of the very creator of all things good and true. And as such, are able to enjoy all the blessings of our Father above.
If you but do as I have done. If you will but follow me.
The past several months, even by the start of 2020 I have been feeling a strong pull to make a change in my life.
After I graduated with my Art degree I started teaching art in the local community center. I learned that I actually really enjoy teaching and sharing my passion and knowledge with those around me, both young and old. After almost a year the center closed to the recreating center could open where I resumed my job planting seeds of creativity and watching my students grow in their abilities. I also enjoyed staff parties, I mean, staff meetings, but they consisted of team building games, awards for high performance, and recognition for my hard work. I felt I was valued there and good at what I did. I knew I was doing something that mattered and it was fulfilling.
When I moved to Arizona and got a similar job at a local community center, with the same title and job description, I was eager to get to work and have similar experiences and feelings. It's amazing how different the culture can be from one place to another. While I still adored my students and loved sharing at history through techniques and projects, I was lacking the sense of belonging. I longed for the community and fun I had once had in my workplace. No one here cared about me.
I needed to pivot.
I got hired on with Shutterfly on the Production Design Team. Two words perfectly sum up my feelings of this experience: Dream. Job. The comradery was magical. It was so fun, even while working remotely. Alas, the position was seasonal so the joy was short lived.
My quest for a happy career continued. Slowly. Poorly. Discouraging.
Finally I decided I needed a bigger change and move away from the Art world for a while. I was tired of being ridiculously talented and not getting recognized for it.
I found a fully new type of job to try out in retail. I lovely Bridal shop. With lovely people. I learned I was not only capable of this type of work, but I was also quite good at it and I rather enjoy it.
So that's where I am now!
I'm still shopping my toes in the waters of change and trial, so that's not the only place I am. I also got a job at the airport.
Piedmont, which is under American Airlines, has been a really fun, but incredibly challenging place to work. They're working is like crazy, full time hours here plus my other job leaves very little time to spend with anyone else, even my kids and i miss them!
I'm hesitant to share this story, but I feel that it's important to for some reason.
This morning after I drop my kids off at school I stopped at McDonald's to get a couple bags of ice and while I was there I decided to also get a breakfast sandwich. At this particular McDonald's they don't sell bags of ice so I was stuck with just the breakfast sandwich that I didn't even really want. I thought to myself ugh, why am I even here? I thought about just leaving but instead I looked around me and my eyes settled on my driver side mirror which held the face of the man in the truck behind me.
There wasn't anything particularly special about him. He was in a work, clearly on his way to work. He look like my dad. My heart felt like I should buy his breakfast too. Part of me thought, No, he doesn't need me to buy his breakfast, but then I thought why not? If someone bought my dad's lunch that would be amazing it would make his day and it would make my day to know about. As I was driving the rest of my trip I was thinking about this and why I wanted to serve this stranger.
I thought of my daughters.
You see, I give them challenges on the way to school. Little things for them to perform while they're at school. I'm not worried about them being smart. They are smart. I know they're smart. They're good learners and they're going to do well in that area of their lives.
But I'm more concerned with them being kind and for them to make friends. And not just to make friends but to be a good friend. So I used to tell them to remember to be kind and send them on the way, but now I try to teach them how to be kind. So I give them challenges on the way to school. And then I follow up with them after school to see how it went.
Here are a few of the simple things I encourage my kids to do:
Help someone
Give a complement
Hold the door
Smile
Share
Sacrifice something you want for someone else
Comfort someone who looks sad or lonely
Defend someone / stand up for someone who is picked on
Etc.
Todays challenge was to complement three people today. Of course they didn't know what the word "compliment" meant so I had to teach them what that meant and then I had them practice on each other.
