I’m not one for making New Year’s Resolutions. I’m definitely one of those people who tries and then gives up after a couple of weeks, so I stopped making resolutions a long time ago. But, when a new year is beginning, I’m always excited for the start of something new. A clean slate. A do-over.

Looking into 2016, I decided that I wanted it to be a year of change. 2015 was probably the hardest year of my life, and I have been determined that 2016 was going to be a better year, and I was going to make some changes. One of those big changes started much quicker than I could’ve ever imagined.

If you saw Friday’s post, you know that last week was my last week at The Vintage Pearl. I’m very sad to be leaving TVP, but I’m really excited about what’s to come.

Toward the end of 2015, I decided that I wanted to maybe start looking for another job. Since I left adoption/foster care, I’ve always had this pull to go back to working with children and families. Over the last few months, that pull became so strong that I couldn’t ignore it. I decided after Christmas that I would start job searching, just to see if there was anything out there.

I found a few jobs that sounded good, and after nudging from Ashton and Neely, I decided to start applying for things. Ashton encouraged me to set a goal for when I wanted to have a new job and to work toward that goal. Jokingly I said “maybe I’ll have a new job by my birthday!”, knowing full well that goal was nowhere in my reach. I turn 30 this year, so it seemed like a fun idea to have a new job for my birthday present to myself. I sent in my applications, and I started praying that I would find the right job by my birthday, still not believing it was possible.

God truly has great ways of reminding us that we should never doubt what He can do.

Today, I start my new job with DHS child care licensing.

Tomorrow, I turn 30.

It’s amazing, right? Everything just fell perfectly into place. This is a job I’ve looked at and applied for several times over the last few years, but the timing has just never been right until now. The supervisor I’ll be working for is wonderful, and the lead worker on my team is one of my former foster parents who I just adore.

I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life! I know the next few weeks will be difficult as I make such a big transition, but I really feel good about what’s to come. I’m excited to learn something new and have new challenges and new experiences.