Become the enhanced person that God created you to be.

Make 2020 the year of DEFEATING FEAR. Fear of embarrassment, fear of shame, fear of failure, fear of criticism from family and friends, fear of the opinions of others...

In 2018, I had a job that made me sick to my stomach every single day; Saturdays and Sundays were a nightmare because all weekend I was filled with agony and pain at the thought of returning to work on Monday; it was the worst experience I had ever experienced as an employee. One day my boss and I were in a very heated argument and I just lost it, I left and wailed all the way home. When I arrived home my husband and mother law consoled me and helped me to calm down; I informed them both that I will not be returning to that office, they asked that I calm down and take a few days off to consider my options; my husband then pointed out that we had just signed the contract for our new home, we had other bills, we had responsibilities and two children to consider, etc... he suggested I remain at the company and just look for another job, but I had been looking for another job for months to no avail and it was just time to go.

I took a week off and at the end of the week I felt very strongly that God would not move in my life in terms of work until I moved. I went into the office the next week and resigned, against my husband’s wishes, against my mother in laws pleading, I resigned because I felt very strongly that the God that I serve, who has not given me the spirit of fear but of sound mind and peace and joy, did not want me to continue to be in an environment that caused me to have anxiety, that was stressful, that gave me no joy and no peace of mind. I resigned in May and told my husband that I was going to just spend time with my kids, travel with them and I promised him that before the kids returned to school, I would have a new job lined up. Now I was speaking boldly without any physical assurance that everything would work out the way I assured my husband it would, but I trusted God.

I trusted His Word; I trusted the verse that I recite to myself every day, Jeremiah 29:11 "FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future", I usually stop my chanting the verse right there, but in May of 2018, I went further for 3 months and added Jeremiah 29:12 "Then you will call upon me and come pray to me, and I will listen".

My kids and I were all over Houston that summer, we took a road trip, God enabled us in that time to just be together and enjoyed each other. I spent my mornings in the library studying and submitting job applications. Then in August, I received a call from a non-profit agency, I interviewed with them and was offered a job, the salary was less than I was making at the previous job (more on this later a separate post), but I was at peace in my spirit.

Accepting the offer was the best decision I could have made; I wake up every morning and look forward to going to work every day, I have the option to work from home once or twice a week, but I choose to leave my house, get into my car, sit in Houston traffic because I love my job.

Had I failed to take the bold step and trusted God and walked by faith as opposed to allowing the fear of the bills, the embarrassment of not having a job, criticism from others, had I allowed fear to take over I would not be happy, I would not have a career that truly has enhanced who I am, I would not be doing work that literally changes lives, but God.

I am not suggesting that you quit your job, what I am suggesting is that you consider all the possibilities open to you and consider what might be holding you back from becoming the enhanced person that God has created you to be and take a step of faith. The only way to defeat fear is to fight it with faith.