Playing Catch Up

So it's been a while - although I feel like I had a decent reason for silence.

Something that I've been praying for, for a long while now, has happened - I have a new job!  Thanks be to God!

I did not want to write about it before I told my company, and then my last week at work just somehow ended up being more hectic than I anticipated.

A few weeks ago a girl I went to grad school with sent me a FB message asking if I was still searching for a job - and if I was, she had a position she was given permission to share with me, as the job had not been posted yet.

It was a Child and Family Therapist position.  I emailed my resume and the director asked me to come in for an interview.  I was not in the least bit excited, or even nervous for that matter.  I had reached a point of desolation in my job hunt.  I felt hopeless and just felt like this would be another interview I would go on, have hope spring up, just to be dashed out again.  I even left the interview feeling like it had gone badly.

This is also after I had had phone interviews with Project Rachel and a Pastoral Counseling agency.  I really wanted the position with the Pastoral Counseling agency - but they told me they would get back to me in a week...and I never heard from them.

Well, one week after my interview, and after my references had emailed me to let me know they had spoken with the director and given me a "glowing review" (thank you!!!) I got the call offering me the position.

It's a pay raise, a closer/easier commute, they pay for CEUs, I get my own office (what, what!) ... basically it is night and day from my old job.  As soon as I accepted I felt this huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.  It felt like the "old" me was coming back - even Chris mentioned how much happier I've seemed since I got the news.

Ironically (or rather, God has a great sense of humor) both Project Rachel and the Pastoral Counseling agency called me for second interviews literally days after I accepted this position.  Which caused me to doubt - but ultimately, I believe that this is the position that I am meant to be in for this time.  He put this job in my lap - with Project Rachel I wouldn't have gotten my hours to get my license, and with the Pastoral Counseling agency I would still be driving into the city every day and facing city traffic, something I wanted to get rid of.

Bottom line - I am so. incredibly. Thankful.  I am thankful for any and all prayers that have been said for me.  I am thankful for this new position.  I am thankful that I will be able to help our family more financially.  I am so thankful to my family and friends - especially my incredibly supportive husband - for helping me through the tough moments.  I am thankful for whatever lessons I learned for my old job and thankful for this opportunity to continue on my journey as a counselor.

It was hard to tell my supervisor and co-workers I was leaving (they were never the problem) and I will miss the awesome conversations we would have, but they were all happy for me (and asked me to keep an eye out for positions for them).  Telling my clients was the hardest.  Many of my clients I have worked with since their first year at the school.  I could tell some of them were holding back tears as I told them, and I often heard that it wasn't "fair" that I was leaving.  It broke my heart.  But good-byes are a part of life, and I often remember being told my previous supervisors that terminating with clients is an opportunity for counselors to teach their clients that not all good-byes need to be bad.  As I told my clients, I left the school with many good memories and am hoping that they will have learned something from me, and will have good memories as well.  I think this is the hardest part of being a counselor - I care about my clients, but inevitably, at one point or another, termination is necessary.  I still think about and worry about some of my clients, but ultimately I know they are in good hands.  And that's the beauty of Pastoral Counseling.  I pray for my clients - because let's fact it, who could be a better counselor that God.  He truly knows what's best for each of us.


I still have more "update" posts - unpublished WIWS posts and my latest crochet projects - but I don't want to overwhelm you all *wink*

Happy Friday!