364 days and 22 hours ago my life
changed drastically. After a long, hard
legal battle, which required me to be away from my job too frequently, I was
fired. I was fired from the best, life
changing, character building, community giving, job I’ve ever had.
For 2 years and 9 months I worked
as an Education and Employment Counselor for homeless youth in downtown Denver
at Urban Peak. I journeyed with my youth
through some of the most pivotal, hardest times of their lives. If ever a person was able to get up in the
morning and go to work knowing their labor had purpose; I lived it.
364 days and 22 hours ago, my
supervisor who had journeyed through my personal difficulties, misty-eyed,
called me across the street for a meeting.
This was not an easy thing for him to do. It was necessary though. My youth needed me present all the time and I
simply could not be. Though I
shamelessly begged and pleaded through sobs, my supervisor and deputy
director, (who had become my friends, my family) offered me the ability to
resign, effective immediately.
My supervisor walked me to my car,
apologized, and hugged me. It. Was.
Over. Just like that. My labor, my love, my sense of purpose beyond
myself was over. I had lost my legal
battle. I had lost my home. My pride, dignity, and self-respect were all
gone. The last thing that held the few
pieces of myself together was now gone; my job.
Losing my job also meant that after a number of years of trying to make
Colorado my home, I would have to move home to mom and dad.
There is no cure for a broken heart
but time. There is no Band-Aid for a
bleeder but the supports that we surround ourselves with. I stayed well past my time in Colorado, trying
to scrape through ski season. My sense
of purpose was all gone and depression thrived.
The only escape I had from my personal hell was snowboarding. It provided me a peace I so desperately
clinged to. Money was exhausted and so
was my soul.
I moved home 4 months after being
fired from my job. Into mom and dad’s home
I went at 30 years old, after 5 years of living in Colorado, and being out of
the house since I was 18. I had no job
prospects and a paralyzing fear of never finding work in my field again. I returned home to my parents, very much so a
child broken by life and needing some rehabilitation. I had the support I needed to get back on my
feet again.
Two months after moving home I
secured a job in my field that would quickly lead to my leadership skills,
experience, and passions being utilized.
Urban Peak was an amazing experience but the ceiling was about 2 inches
off the ground for me there. Goodwill
Industries has provided me a career where my best has the ability to
shine. Now, one hour shy of it being a
true year since I was fired from Urban Peak, I am a boss in my field with a
ceiling that feels limitless!
I’ve come from the bottom and I’m
rising to the top. Again, there is no
cure for a broken heart but time and there is no Band-Aid for a bleeder but the
supports that we surround ourselves with.
I was certain that God had forgotten about me or at the very least,
didn’t care about my misery. It made no
sense to me that He would allow me into a position where I could be
nothing. It all makes sense now.
“And we know that in
ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28
“For I know the plans
I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
“Trust in the Lord
with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways
acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight” – Proverbs 3:5-6
TRUST.
