seasoning.

oh, blog. how i have totally not missed you.

what?

yep, i have not missed my blog.

it's time i come out with it already. it's been 4 months and high time i admit it in public.

i have a JOB.

yep, j-o-b JOB. and it's awesome. totally unexpected of typical Amanda behavior, i am the Director of Children's Ministries at my church. see? i knew you'd be shocked. i can see your face now. i bet you're checking to see if your webcam is running...eh? it's ok. i'll wait.

...

yes, i'm still a stay-at-home mom, but in addition to the contracting work i've been doing, i now am also in charge of the spiritual lives of dozens of children.

scary, right?

it's about 15 hours a week, 12 of which i can do on my time and from home (or Costco...or UVillage, much to David's chagrin): coordinating volunteers, curriculum, and putting my brain around how beanbags can be used to foster excitement about Jesus. the other 3 are Sunday mornings where, not surprisingly, i'm at church coordinating volunteers and filling in where i'm needed.

they even let me use a mic. in front of everybody.

sweet, right?

while you might have concluded that the reason i don't miss my blog is because i've been too busy, you'd be mistaken. i have been using all my creative energy and desire to communicate how freakishly hilarious my life as a mom is toward this ministry. i even started a newsletter that i do a few times a month, which includes a blog/letter/random thoughts disguised as wisdom section.

[can you seriously believe they hired me? yeah, me either. i even told them i had zero experience and they'd be nuts to hire me.]

for 4 months i've been doing this job, which has produced more blessings in my life than i can list, and i just realized this morning why it still doesn't feel like i have a W-2 on file somewhere accruing withholdings:

this season is preparing us for the next.

until now i was still befuddled as to why this perfectly competent panel of pastors and volunteers even agreed to interview me. seriously. i mean, i hadn't fashioned a resume in 12 years. i hadn't been an employee for 12 years. sure, i had a career, but i was self-employed for heaven's sake. i had to search a resume template online because i had absolutely no idea where to begin.

even more embarrassingly, i ran it by my husband before submitting it. not that he isn't qualified to review a resume -- he does so daily -- but i was at such a loss i wanted a second opinion.

but today, at MOPS, a woman quoted the above when talking about finding rest amid the business of being a mom, and how to find a rhythm and balance in your life. i realized that, by adding this job to a life that seemingly had no room for it, i had in fact found my rhythm. it's the broad net that snatched, all at once, the swarm of desires and abilities i had and wanted to find a use for.

the things i loved about real estate, loved about being involved with BCC, still love about design, love about writing -- i get to use them all. a handful of skills drawn from dozens of experiences over the years, placed in my back pocket, have been dusted off and put to use.

...and they let me use a mic. [nyuck, nyuck.]