I FINALLY know what I'm meant to do (or at least I have a glimpse into it), but it is sort of an up-front investment. Creating things, whether crafts or food (mostly desserts, my weakness), is what I'm meant to do. Preferably I 'd love to do it specifically for churches (or, more specifically, my wonderful church, ONE Community Church). But right now I long to make and sell crafts in lieu of getting a second part-time job. The bummer, though? It costs money! I have so many ideas of new things I want to make but we just don't have the moo-la to buy the supplies. However, I'm definitely thankful to know what I'm meant to be doing. It has been a long journey, trust me. I've been asking God about this for quite some time. It has caused great heartache in me in particular moments. For the past few years, I've felt such pressure to figure out what skill(s) God has given to me. It's been difficult for me to keep the meaningless jobs I've had (and typically, I do not keep them for long!), and I've felt extremely lost as a person. Of course, I had so many people telling me that I was trying too hard to find my identity in my vocation as opposed to in Christ, which is where it should be found. But I haven't felt as though that's exactly been the case. I know who I am, I know that I've given up my life to have true life in relationship with Him. But I felt purposeless. And here's where you might throw in the Great Commission scripture, that my only purpose is to GO and introduce others to Jesus, regardless of where I am. And while that's true, I longed to do that through an outlet I was actually passionate about (this does not include smoothie-making jobs, pet grooming jobs, credit union jobs, bookstore-with-ridiculously-unattainable-sales-goals jobs, sign spinning jobs, bank jobs, or liquor store jobs) - yes, I just briefly described seven of the jobs I've had within the past 3 years, and I might even be forgetting one or two, and this list doesn't include the job I have currently.
Finally I feel like I've found it. Someday it'd be great to make crafts and just give them to whomever is in need of them (need, being used loosely here). But right now, with our finances as they are, I'm hoping to be able to pay some bills by selling the things I make. I'm thinking of doing a monthly Saturday Sale in my front driveway to avoid shipping nonsense. Chris and I have already discussed investing in the gadget you get for the iPad to be able to accept debit cards (it's $10 or so). My husband works 20 hours per week for our awesome church as the Worship Director. On the side of that, he's wanting to start teaching guitar lessons for $15 for half an hour, once a week per student.
Just letting you into my brain, that's all.
Basically, I'm just saying that if you could help out by passing this information along (Homemade by Ashley merchandise or Chris' guitar lessons), we would so appreciate it.
I'm so thankful that we have the strong marriage that we do. I can only credit God for that. Given the times we're experiencing now, I'm so grateful that we're such a great team and handle it so well.
Today we went to the grocery store for a couple of things; dog food, toilet paper, and some bananas. Our debit card was declined as we were trying to purchase the dog food. We looked to see how much was in our account, to find we had $0.24 to our name. Then, we calmly cancelled the transaction, took the dog food back, and got a smaller bag that we could afford with some cash I'd just been paid for substitute-teaching a ballet class. As we took these groceries out to our car, we looked at each other, smiled, and Chris said, "Well, at least it keeps things exciting." To which I replied, "That's exactly what I was thinking."
I'm not telling you this for any kind of attention or pity. I'm using this as an example of what I love about our marriage. In crappy situations, we remember to Whom we belong, and we lean on Him and each other for as much contentment and optimism as we can grasp. We move on, and we try to find solutions. There are a couple of prospects for each of us for some more money that we're looking into. We will see how they pan out, but no matter what, I'm SO grateful to have a great Father who adores us and takes care of us, and a great husband. I love being part of Team Gwaltney. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment