Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.

Parker Palmer 

I am in the pause between seasons and yesterday was my last day as Manager of Customer Service for Turning Point and my last day in the office.

I started working at Turning Point in August 2006 (almost nine years ago), a few weeks after a broken engagement and almost a year since leaving the teaching field after spending 100 % of my effort and money towards obtaining my teaching credential. It hadn’t worked out and I cried during my interview with Turning Point because I felt lost and unsure of my future.

I was surprised when I was hired and my first few months were a blur of learning. In the months and years since then, I took personality tests and the Strengths Finder test in an attempt to discover my purpose in life. The answers were long in coming.

It’s hard to trust God when the path is unclear.

Fast-forward to today. After years of investing in me and promotions along the way, Sharon, the previous Manager of Customer Service promoted me to take her place. Her investment in me continues to be one of the greatest lessons of leadership I have internalize:

Leadership is about people and investing in them, equipping them to grow and even outgrow you. Leadership is never a closed fist grasping of power.

Leadership is empowering and serving people. 

My beloved mentor moved into a different leadership role within the organization and left me to oversee the Customer Service department. I remember my first weeks in the position. I was nervous, knowing I had been prepared and yet feeling unprepared and unsure of myself.

I cannot thank the leadership at Turning Point enough for the investment, opportunities and growth challenges they blessed me with. It has been somewhere between five to six years since my first day as Manager and the impact on me as a person is beyond words.

Leadership is not about the leader, it is uniting a team behind a common vision.

My eyes are misty as I type this: I am thankful for the amazing people I have had the honor of leading over the years and the incredible team currently in the Customer Service department. Serving them has been one of my life’s greatest gifts and honors.

Parker Palmer encourages us to listen to our lives. I had no idea how much my life would change when Eli was born July 10th 2014. Although I often downplayed how hard it was to leave him when I returned to work full time two and a half months after he was born, it was heart-wrenching. Although Eli was safe and loved on by his Aunt and then his Grandma, working full time meant that I was away from him 50 hours a week.

When a position in my department opened up that would allow me to lead a small data entry/verifying mail team and do data entry from home, I knew it was time to listen to my life.

It was a hard decision. I have loved my position: it was the perfect balance between leadership, caring for people and task-oriented production. But when I looked at Eli, the choice was clear. I am elated for the extra hours with Eli, but heartbroken to no longer see my beloved team each day. I am looking forward to staying home, even as I grieve the loss of the office/career. I am also looking forward to building my writing business (more on this later).

The decisions that come from listening to our lives often require courage and sacrifice, but when we listen to our lives, we can be at peace with our choices. 

I look forward to continuing to journey with you.

Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement you have so generously shared with me, Jon and Eli.