2015. Wow…
what a year!
2015 was my
first full year living in Tennessee, but I almost can’t even call it that. I
spent a total of 4 months out of state which included 3 separate trips, a total
of 11 weeks, in Miami, 3 separate weeks in New Jersey, 2 weeks in Atlanta, and
1 week at Disney World. I love to travel & this year did not change that.
It was a BLAST!! :)
In between
those trips was my chance to really create a life & community here. It was
HARD. I wasn’t able to join a weekly small group because of my schedule. In
June, I went to an interest meeting at my church, Cross Point Community Church,
to see if & how I could get more involved- specifically, on the worship
team. Those who know me, know my heart & passion for singing & leading
worship. This meeting began a pretty long audition process. I submitted an
application in July, attended a worship team interest meeting in August, &
heard in September that there were 120 singers in line to audition so they were
changing the process to video auditions. They developed this in October &
the videos were due November 11th. I got mine in just under the wire
due to my Grandma’s passing which twisted my schedule up a bit. In fact, I
wasn’t sure if I submitted it in time, until two weeks ago when I received an
email that I got callbacks for a live audition! That date is still TBD but I am
so excited for this opportunity to be back doing what I love! I truly believe
God’s timing is perfect, and if I don’t make it on the team, then I trust Him
to open a different door. Stay tuned! :)
Worship team
aside, God has brought some pretty amazing girlfriends into my life this year.
While volunteering with Compassion International at the Outcry concert in July,
I made a new friend, Jade, who was literally my God sent. Jade also attended
Cross Point & invited me to a women’s group that had just started meeting but
was growing like crazy. It met once a month on a Tuesday night—such a perfect
fit for my schedule! Getting one Tuesday night off a month was MUCH easier than
a weekly small group. Not only did this group fit my schedule, but it fit my
life. This group is full of women from all ages & walks of life. From
college aged to middle aged & up, single, married, divorced, kids, no kids-
you name it- she’s there. And many of the girls in this group moved here
anywhere from a few months to a few years ago & are looking for that
community, too. It’s been amazing & I am so thankful God used Jade to bring
me there. :)
On an even
more serious note, the last few years have been very life-changing and defining
for different reasons such as career advancements, first move out of my house,
then out of state, and many others. Somewhere along the way, wounds from my
past really began to show & I honestly did not handle it well. I found
myself on an uncomfortable journey of trying to fill & heal those wounds
with some pretty crappy bandages- until this past summer. I had enough. Another
bandage fell off & I was left with open wounds that I decided to face. I laid
it all down, threw my hands in surrender, & asked Jesus for help. This made
for some pretty vulnerable, tiring, & difficult months from about August
through October. I am thankful for those of you close to me who held my hand
through that. Also thankful for one of the best therapists I have ever seen and
for my comfortable bed. I learned that just like when you have a surgery, when
you go through a lot of emotional healing it can physically take a toll on you.
I was SO tired for a while there. I even fell asleep in the office at work one
night in Atlanta! lol! The managers must have thought I was out partying all
night but I can honestly say that was far from the case. And now, I am SO
excited to say that Jesus has healed my wounds like no crappy bandage could,
and I am forever changed! :)
The last
major point I want to touch on from 2015 has been the difficulty of selling my
NJ condo. I don’t want to bore you with the trying details, so I will skip that
to focus on the good. I have a buyer!! We finished Attorney review on Christmas
Eve- what a great Christmas present! We are looking at a February closing- over
18 months since I first started trying to sell it. A big thank you goes to my
step-brother & lawyer, Rudy. I probably wouldn’t be in the place I am if it
weren’t for him. Thank you, Rudy! :)
As you can
probably tell, I am very excited for 2016. I don’t really see a stop coming to
my life-changing years as I have some exciting plans ahead! There will be more
on that in the months to come. As for now, I am soaking in all that God has
done. To say “I’m grateful” doesn’t even seem sufficient. But I am. Immensely.
2016… Let’s
do this. :)
