DREAM BIG. NOW BIGGER. EVEN BIGGER.

When I was in high school I had this dream to become a social worker. I wanted to help someone, in any way I could imagine. I wanted to be upfront with the miracle workers, the strong, the fierce, the loving and the hopeful. The ones who were looked in the eyes of children who had the whole world to live for. I wanted to be a world changer. 

Somewhere along the line, I was told I had too much heart inside of me - too much emotion, too many nights of tears and too much, “people pleaser” to be a woman in a workforce that needed to be tough. Tough for herself, tough for little ones, tough to get the job done. 

So when I started college, I did something else. I pushed that dream down the drain and went all in for another - American Sign Language. I dedicated myself to become an interpreter and help the hearing impaired. I dedicated four years to the culture and it was filled with so much beauty. I became fluent in the world of the hard of hearing and the language. It was one of the coolest seasons I was placed into. 

But I still longed for something else - that something that I really wanted to do. 

So somewhere between spending four years of getting a degree in ASL and praying God would align my heart with what it was made for - wherever that looked in His plans, I stood in Atlanta inside of an arena while Oceans played by Hillsong and knew it was time for me to fight for what my heart really desired. 

In 2018 i took a year off of school to decide what I was going to do. It was hard to lay down my pride of feeling as if I was too old to decide a different path, feelings like i wasted time and wanting my life to start already. But let me tell you this, God always knows. I know first hand how hard it is to just lay down your life for the purpose of the plans of Christ. I wrestled with it, I worried if I was making the right decision and I was more terrified than I showed. 

In the Fall of 2019, I began my journey to do what I always dreamt of - becoming a social worker. I dedicated myself to 20units a semester, taking classes after working a full work day and trying my best to make myself proud and find inspiration all over again. 

For two years I learned so much about sociology - culture, demographics, people and why we as humans do what we do and where we learn it all from. I had so much fun, grit and devotion to those classes and in the end, I found out this is exactly where God wanted me to be. 

After you graduate, things get a little weird. It almost feels like you’re a little fish in a big fish’s sea. Trying to find your place where so many opportunities are amidst, but also one where you feel as if every job is taken by someone more qualified. Most days I found myself discouraged by filling out more applications I could count and getting no response back. Until one day, i did. 

It was the last place I actually decided to apply to: a school district. 

But here I was, two interviews later and a phone call saying I got the job.

You don’t get your dream job right after college, but if you do I am just going to say you are one of the luckiest ones. But I do know and I am a firm believer that God always places you in the most perfect spot. I’ve encountered this time and time again and each time I look back and realize God was right on time.

So here I am: in my very first step to my dream. I signed a contract to a job that entitles me to be a one on one physical and behavioral specialist. Helping children thirteen and under who need a little extra TLC. 

Here, two weeks in, I love it. It is exactly where I need to be. Working one on one with little ones to help them see the world a little kinder, lighter and shinier. 

As I plant my roots here, I am learning. I am learning so much about the work force I so badly wanted to be a part of. Every day I work closely with case workers, physical and speech therapists, as well as nurses. Together, we get to change a baby’s world and I love being a part of that journey. 

I can’t wait to become a caseworker, then a social worker. But first, this is where God has me and I am so thankful he chose me. 

I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last two years. I have learned you can be emotional, yet strong minded. You can have empathy, but portray a stern outlook. You can do hard things and feel all the emotions.

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." and I strongly believe in those words and always have. That little feeling inside of your chest that doesn't go away? you know, those things you pray for, about, the things that never leave your mind that you want out of life.. those things, God sees. He sees them, hears them and knows them. I don't think it is an accident and I sure as heck don't believe in a God who ignores your dreams.

So with that being said, whatever it is that you have a dream of, you, my dear, are qualified for the job. You are qualified to do the work that is necessary to change the world. You are a miracle worker, whatever it is you want to do, believe it. Believe in it with all your heart and you can do it.

Someone once told me this quote and for years it sat on my desk. I stared at it whenever I woke up in the morning and it motivated me to do my best in all I do and want. It read, “If you can wake up every morning loving what you do, help and inspire others around you to be better than they were yesterday then you know you are doing something right in business and in life.” 

That quote no longer sits on my desk, but I still think about it from time to time and I smile. Because, that is exactly what I get to do: inspire. 

I am so excited for the future and I know where I want to be in the next few years. I see in when I close my eyes and when I bow my head to pray. God, thy will be done.

always, always, always.

XO, J.