A Season of Change

My last post back in January was an announcement that I had taken a new job in event planning at Vanderbilt University so it may come as a surprise to you that Friday was my last day in this still new position.  Don’t worry, I didn’t get fired or anything; God just has some pretty amazing ways of working things out!  Looking back and thinking about where I thought my journey would go, I never could have imagined it the way it has happened.  For starters, moving to Nashville from Texas and away from most of my friends and family with my new hubby three years ago was a huge step out of the ole’ comfort zone for this small town girl, but God has beyond used that experience in itself along with unrest about my job situation to grow me and teach me so many things.
       
Shortly after taking the job at Vanderbilt in January, opportunities started presenting themselves for me to work more and more on Claudie Belle Designs.  I opened a booth in a local boutique called La Vie En Rose Cottage in Lenox Village and began having late night after late night.  There is only so long you can work a normal 8-5 and then go home and stay up until midnight working on your own business while neglecting to keep up with housework and spend any quality time with friends or your husband.  I began praying that the Lord would clearly show me what direction He wanted me to take to best serve Him.  After a lot of prayer and talking with Godly people in my life I made the decision to pursue working on my business. It was an extremely hard decision being unsure of if CBD will be profitable vs. having a steady paying job in a hard economy.  Daniel was so supportive from the start and I have been overwhelmed with how God has affirmed my decision over the past couple of weeks.
 
I was so worried about what my friends and family would think about me resigning from such a new job but everyone I’ve shared the news with has been so supportive and encouraging.  And as if affirmation through my friends and family wasn’t enough, God took it a step further as He is well known for doing!  On Tuesday after I had submitted my 2 weeks’notice on Monday, I met with a sweet girl who along with her husband is leading a team from our church to Haiti on March 17th.  They are going to be teaching crafts to some of the women there and I was giving her some ideas on different things to share with them.  We talked about our weeks and I told her about my job transitioning. We started to talk about the possibility of me going on the trip which I thought was impossible being that it was less than 3 weeks away.  She and a lady at the church did some research and found another plane ticket for me, so that Wednesday night it was confirmed that I would in fact be going to Haiti in two and a half weeks. . . crazy!!  Haiti and especially the church we will be working with holds a special place in Daniel's and my heart.  We traveled there almost two years ago right after the devastating earthquake.  I can't wait to see and love on the people already have a relationship with and many more that God will place in our path. 

I'm so excited to share with you what we will be doing in Haiti from teaching the women there to make paper beads and fabric flowers to conducting a basketball camp for the sweet kiddos.