If you've spent any time reading my blog, you know that I have struggled a lot in my life. However, tonight I'm sitting here crying in my kitchen because for once things are going so incredibly right in my life that I'm just amazed. All of it has come about because of the many times I've said yes to God and stepped out in faith and held on to hope when the world came crashing down around my ears. All of it.
You see, I've learned something about life. There are no small decisions. Every decision we make is a seed we plant which bears its harvest in time. We truly do reap what has been sown. When we are children, we reap our parent's harvest, for good or for bad. As adults, though, it is ourselves and our children who harvest what we sow. Sometimes that harvest is a long time in coming, but come it will eventually.
It was three years ago that I told Jesus I would thank Him in all circumstances, and trust in him no matter what came my way. That afternoon, my husband walked in the door and told me he had quit his job - our sole source of income at the time. I told Jesus thank you, and decided to place my trust in Him. Two weeks later, Randy and I began to volunteer at Guadalupe Radio Network, trying to discern where it was that God wanted us to be in life and whether it was time for Randy to get back into radio.
Later, over Memorial Day weekend, we helped a man move back home to be with his elderly parents in Minnesota. It was during that trip that Randy and I decided that yes, this was what God wanted us to do. We cast our nets out into the waters and within 3 weeks we were staring at potential jobs from Catholic radio stations all over the country. We decided to turn in our 30 day notice at the beginning of July and trust that the Lord would provide.
July 31st came and we still didn't have a job offer, but we'd made a friend who needed some help getting his Catholic radio station up and running in Alabama and my aunt and uncle were willing to let us stay with them for a while. For six weeks my husband toiled to make Archangel Radio a reality for Alabama and then he was laid off. Shortly before he got laid off, though, we were able to take a trip to Birmingham to the home of EWTN. On that trip, I was feeling mighty frustrated with God because He still hadn't clarified where we should go or what His plans were for us. He chuckled at me and asked me why I was complaining so much. I'd always said I liked surprises, so why wasn't I happy that he was giving me one?
We ended up heading back to Texas after that, homeless once again and no idea where we were going to live. The job offers had slowly dropped away until there wasn't a single one on the table. Some friends took us in. I took a job working at Chik-Fil-A, and Randy continued looking for work in radio. Randy was about ready to give up on radio altogether when out of the blue he got a call from a station in Elko, NV. They were willing to pay us to move up there so he could help run their station. It wasn't a Catholic station, but it was in a mountain region with plenty of snow and it would get Randy more experience on his radio resume. We were thrilled.
Three months after we arrived, they promoted him. That April I told Jesus that although I didn't really want the cross in my life, I knew that I needed it. I knew it was the only way to reach heaven, so if he agreed with me, I would accept whatever he laid on me. Two weeks later, that same radio station let my husband go. I had no job. We had no family and friends around. We didn't know what we were going to do, but I praised God and told him I knew he must be working some kind of good for our family out of all of this.
We struggled mightily for the next year. Then things slowly began to turn around for us. We landed a reliable client whose need for our services was in consistent demand. By July 2012, we were both working from home. My struggle to learn how to market a business with no budget led me to research, and that research led me to creating my first ebook. My decision to join mother's group back when I first arrived in Elko ensured that I was there to suggest we hold a women's retreat, and my attendance at a Catholicism study class that evening inspired me with the perfect talk outline for the retreat.
My decision to help other writers in Elko led me to form a writer's group, which in turn led me to write a book about learning to manage time. I then received the inspiration to see that the very same outline I'd created for my women's retreat would work for ANY single day seminar, allowing me to create a seminar on the book for time management. This in turn led me to realize that I had all the information I needed to also create a series of webinars, which led me to create my first one and offer it in a mastermind group I'd joined.
Today, the fruits of the labor are starting to show. I have now two people who have joined my mailing list, two people interested in my webinars. The lady who attended tonight's said it was marvelous and wonderfully motivating. Her suggestions were helpful, and I plan to put them into action.
I have never before experienced this kind of success, never been able to get all the parts working together at the same time to make things happen, but good things are starting to come our way and I know that great things are in our future. "Those who go out weeping carrying seed for planting will come back rejoicing carrying their sheathes from harvest". - Psalm 126:6 Amen!
You see, I've learned something about life. There are no small decisions. Every decision we make is a seed we plant which bears its harvest in time. We truly do reap what has been sown. When we are children, we reap our parent's harvest, for good or for bad. As adults, though, it is ourselves and our children who harvest what we sow. Sometimes that harvest is a long time in coming, but come it will eventually.
It was three years ago that I told Jesus I would thank Him in all circumstances, and trust in him no matter what came my way. That afternoon, my husband walked in the door and told me he had quit his job - our sole source of income at the time. I told Jesus thank you, and decided to place my trust in Him. Two weeks later, Randy and I began to volunteer at Guadalupe Radio Network, trying to discern where it was that God wanted us to be in life and whether it was time for Randy to get back into radio.
Later, over Memorial Day weekend, we helped a man move back home to be with his elderly parents in Minnesota. It was during that trip that Randy and I decided that yes, this was what God wanted us to do. We cast our nets out into the waters and within 3 weeks we were staring at potential jobs from Catholic radio stations all over the country. We decided to turn in our 30 day notice at the beginning of July and trust that the Lord would provide.
July 31st came and we still didn't have a job offer, but we'd made a friend who needed some help getting his Catholic radio station up and running in Alabama and my aunt and uncle were willing to let us stay with them for a while. For six weeks my husband toiled to make Archangel Radio a reality for Alabama and then he was laid off. Shortly before he got laid off, though, we were able to take a trip to Birmingham to the home of EWTN. On that trip, I was feeling mighty frustrated with God because He still hadn't clarified where we should go or what His plans were for us. He chuckled at me and asked me why I was complaining so much. I'd always said I liked surprises, so why wasn't I happy that he was giving me one?
We ended up heading back to Texas after that, homeless once again and no idea where we were going to live. The job offers had slowly dropped away until there wasn't a single one on the table. Some friends took us in. I took a job working at Chik-Fil-A, and Randy continued looking for work in radio. Randy was about ready to give up on radio altogether when out of the blue he got a call from a station in Elko, NV. They were willing to pay us to move up there so he could help run their station. It wasn't a Catholic station, but it was in a mountain region with plenty of snow and it would get Randy more experience on his radio resume. We were thrilled.
Three months after we arrived, they promoted him. That April I told Jesus that although I didn't really want the cross in my life, I knew that I needed it. I knew it was the only way to reach heaven, so if he agreed with me, I would accept whatever he laid on me. Two weeks later, that same radio station let my husband go. I had no job. We had no family and friends around. We didn't know what we were going to do, but I praised God and told him I knew he must be working some kind of good for our family out of all of this.
We struggled mightily for the next year. Then things slowly began to turn around for us. We landed a reliable client whose need for our services was in consistent demand. By July 2012, we were both working from home. My struggle to learn how to market a business with no budget led me to research, and that research led me to creating my first ebook. My decision to join mother's group back when I first arrived in Elko ensured that I was there to suggest we hold a women's retreat, and my attendance at a Catholicism study class that evening inspired me with the perfect talk outline for the retreat.
My decision to help other writers in Elko led me to form a writer's group, which in turn led me to write a book about learning to manage time. I then received the inspiration to see that the very same outline I'd created for my women's retreat would work for ANY single day seminar, allowing me to create a seminar on the book for time management. This in turn led me to realize that I had all the information I needed to also create a series of webinars, which led me to create my first one and offer it in a mastermind group I'd joined.
Today, the fruits of the labor are starting to show. I have now two people who have joined my mailing list, two people interested in my webinars. The lady who attended tonight's said it was marvelous and wonderfully motivating. Her suggestions were helpful, and I plan to put them into action.
I have never before experienced this kind of success, never been able to get all the parts working together at the same time to make things happen, but good things are starting to come our way and I know that great things are in our future. "Those who go out weeping carrying seed for planting will come back rejoicing carrying their sheathes from harvest". - Psalm 126:6 Amen!
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