God's perfect timing

As most of you know I had a super crazy schedule of activities through May of this year. One of the things that I changed around was the time that I did babysitting for my free jazzercise. I had been doing Thursday afternoons at 5:40pm for the last year. In July I switched to Thursday mornings, and am now doing Friday mornings from now on. Well. you might say that it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but God has truly blessed my ministry as a counselor at the Crisis Pregnancy Center where I volunteer. Literally as soon as I switched my time away from Thursday afternoons, we immediately had an influx of clients at the center. Well, you may say, that's just a coincidence, or a normal thing that would happen there. Well not in my eyes. You see I'm the only Client Advocate/Counselor there on Thursday afternoons from noon-5pm. We have had some crazy busy weeks in the last 2 months. During this time, I've had the opportunity to counsel at least 4-5 women who were really needing someone to pour their heart and soul out to about their lives. 2-3 of these women I talked with for 2 hours. Something that is practically unheard of-since most of our counseling time is only 30 minutes or less. These women trusted me to tell me their story. God gave me the right words to say, and hearing them out, not judging their circumstances. My heart aches and is so heavy for these women, and I can just imagine how much more God's heart must ache for them as well.

When I tell people that I volunteer there, they often ask if I'm a Social Worker. I reply, "no, but I really wanted to be one." You see before I went to college, my 3 biggest career paths were, Nursing, Social Work, and Veterinary Medicine. How do you ask, I ended up in Interior Design? Well, my then boyfriend, now husband went to the school that had a great Nursing school, but our parents didn't want us to go the same school, so that ruled out that option. I told my dad I wanted to be a Social Worker, and he said oh no, you don't want to do that! Social workers don't make any money, you'd have to get your Masters..... And Vet school, it came down to getting married young and having kids,or going to school for 8 years, and I chose my sweet husband :)

Why I listened to my parents, I really don't know, but I do know that if it hadn't been for all of the life circumstances that I've been through since being in college, that I wouldn't be where I am today. Having experienced an unplanned pregnancy, and being a young mom. Knowing what it's like to live on limited resources, living in a diverse area, having diverse neighbors. It really helps me relate to these women, since I have been in somewhat similar circumstances that they have. I love being a counselor, and I love that God has blessed me with this ministry. I know in my heart that this is what God had planned for me all along. It might not have seemed that way when I was right in the middle of some not very fun circumstances, but God knew the plan for my life. I have a servant's heart, and such a desire to serve these women and help and impower them for better lives. I would have loved to be a social worker, and in a way I kind of am. As for Nursing school, I have seriously been thinking about going to get my Associates degree as an RN. It has always been a passion of mine, and now even more so being a mom, and experiencing all these things in my world, gives me an even better perspective than I would have had as a young immature college student.

I have come to realize, and know that God has perfect timing, and that everything in life happens for a reason. I pray for these women that I talk to and counsel, that God will give me the right words to say, to speak to their heart, and that they might make the best possible choice for themselves and their children. This is the best type of work in my eyes, because it's one that's making an eternal impact-working for God's higher glory!