pretty big friggin news

1st of all, dustin had an amazing word tonite at midtown- wow, great stuff. it actually helped me come to a final decision about something in my life...

if you know me at all, you know my life is super random & i like it that way. i'm 27 years old & i've never had a real full-time job. i went to college, got a ba in psychology & a masters in early childhood education, decided to do nothing with my degree, did some personal assistant work for a builder, did some part-time work at sylvan learning center, & now do part-time real estate, substitute teaching, acting, dog/house-sitting. name it & i probably do it.

i live paycheck to paycheck & never know when my next one is coming. the art of surviving that way is kind-of fun because i enjoy challenges & seeing what i can push myself to do, but at the same time, occasionally i'll think- it would be pretty nice to have a steady paycheck. but i hate offices & 9-5's, etc.

i enjoy real estate because it's flexible & fun to help people buy their own homes! but i don't see myself being a total guru because i'd like some kind of a social life & success in real estate a lot of times = no free time/no weekends/no real life...hence the part-time. i love tv/film work as well, but i don't want to be a famous actress- if i did, i'd move to L.A. i just enjoy it & do it for fun when it's around. i've been wondering what the heck i'm supposed to be doing in this life & just this week God threw the raddest opportunity right in my lap.

i wasn't looking for a job- i'm pretty content doing my part-time mania & saving money like crazy while living paycheck to paycheck. i love my free time & my lifestyle, but God said "Mellie, I think it's time for a change, my dear."

a few months ago i ran into a friend i had some education classes with at USC & we caught up about life & stuff. she was talking about how much she loves her job & told me all about it. i thought it sounded like something i may be interested in sometime in the future so she offered her boss' email address in case i ever wanted to ask her anything about it. i forgot about this for a few months & was going back through old emails deleting things when i came across it again. i decided i'd email her just to ask more about the job & when she wrote back she asked for my resume & told me there was a job opening.

i panicked because i didn't know if i was ready to leave what i'm doing now, but after praying about it i decided to at least talk to them further. it went really well & long story short, i was offered the job of being an early intervention specialist this past friday. after hearing dustin talk about ministries we're passionate about whether it be homeless, single moms, international students, etc. i think one of mine is definitely special needs people & their families. this job involves me taking on 15-20 cases of developmentally delayed children under 6 & driving to their homes 1 day for an hour each week. i'd work with the child & parent doing play therapy & family training. i'll get a gas allowance, a work cell, a fax machine & a pretty sweet salary (esp. compared to the part-time job money i get currently). i've been praying about it this weekend & what dustin said tonite pretty much gave me the final green light- what an awesome opportunity to love on these families & hopefully get the chance to share with them. i'm gonna take this chance that God has given me. i'm gonna give up my carefree selfish lifestyle, not worrying about what movie i'll miss being a part of if i take this job & jump full speed ahead into this opportunity that only the Lord could arrange for me.

they told me i can still do real estate at nites & on the weekends, but i'm probably gonna stick to family & friends/referral clients & only on occasion because i really want to focus on this job & not be distracted. we'll see what happens. i'm looking forward to actually being able to tithe steadily, too, not just every random blue moon few weeks after i get a paycheck from who knows where. God is good & i look forward to seeing what He's going to do in this new chapter of my life : ) start date= sept. 22nd. please keep me in your prayers. also, my best friend is looking for a new job as well, so pray for her & if you know of anything (pr, event planning, marketing, etc.) let me know please! thank you, God for new chapters & awesome blessings!