Yesterday was our anniversary, and one of the most fun and exciting things that happened is that we are pretty sure Sebo had his first laugh. He’s been smiling a lot lately, and every day we try and have some “happy time” with him, just loving on him and making him smile. He is noticing all sorts of things around the house and is still fascinated by my curly hair. We had dinner at Zola, one of our favorite restaurants on Earth. That might have been my first good glass of wine since he’s been born, and I could feel it later, because it was really rough getting out of bed this morning at 9.
And Michelle surprised me by sending me a cookie bouquet in the middle of our office staff meeting. That was awesome :)
Oh, and something else also happened yesterday. I got laid off.
You may remember in February I got downsized to part-time. Well, apparently the boat can’t sail with me in it, so they told me yesterday I have 30 days and then I’m out. Same thing happened to one other employee, too. So in about a month, I’ll no longer be an employee of the church. And on our anniversary … the timing — beautiful.
So what now? I’m going to do exactly what I’ve felt called to do for well over a year now … I’m going to work for myself. Basically my website says it all: I’m going to split my time between graphic design and painting. About two years ago, when they fired our pastor and the church went into a tailspin, for the first time, Michelle and I wondered what on earth we would do if the one job we were depending on went away. We had no other alternatives at the time. Because of that, over the past few years I have built a fairly good freelance client base that I think I will be able to handle more effectively once the part-time job is out of the way. Also, over the past several years, my painting career has been getting better and better, I’m selling more and getting more exposure each year, and I think that this may free up some time to really take it to the next level.
Just have to figure out the insurance situation, which is no small or inexpensive task.
And we’re still reeling from what feels like being punched in the gut. I think in the future, I would think twice about working at my place of worship. It mixes two dynamics which i would rather have nothing to do with each other.
I was at a Leadership Summit last week and one of the things that I heard and stuck with me is that if you take a risk in your life that requires an enormous leap of faith, God will recognize that, be thrilled that you’re having faith in Him, and He will bridge the gap. He wants nothing more than for us to have complete faith in our hearts in him. That doesn’t mean that we won’t necessarily be tight or have tough times, but it does mean that having just become a new dad, I am taking a risk by not going out and getting another job, but instead I am listening to every fiber within me that this is the RIGHT path to take, and that God will provide for us as he always has.
So once again, we’re about to embark on a new chapter in our lives. There’s so much to learn and very little time to learn it. If anyone has any serious knowledge in starting and running a business, I’d love to have a conversation about it.
I just keep going back to my wife, and all the years that we’ve survived, all the storms we’ve been able to get through. And my new son who is smiling back at me and is beginning to laugh. Those images make this all seem doable. I know small businesses fail all the time, but so do every other business. In my heart I have no doubt that this is the right thing to do. And Michelle is 100% behind me, which in case you didn’t know, makes ALL the difference in the world, because this decision affects her as much as anyone.
Peace.