My Next New Adventure
Some of you may have noticed that I have been seriously MIA these last couple months (many of you probably didn't even notice), but things have been crazy! We have a lot of out-of-town company, the girl's first birthday party, sickness throughout our whole house twice over, AND probably the biggest reason was I started a new job!!
For those who aren't familiar with our story, prior to us adopting our twin girls, I worked at an online marketing agency managing a team of pretty awesome people - the work was rewarding, the people were great, the pay was pretty dang good, and we had a fully stocked kitchen among other perks. So you can imagine the decision to stay home was not an easy one. I had always thought that I would go back to work after our first child and then maybe stay home after our second - well wham, bam...two at once! I struggled with the decision on maternity leave, but when I really examined my motives for wanting to go back, they were all fleshly desires: the money, the feeling of accomplishment/success, time to myself. I knew staying home was going to be challenging both for us financially and for me identity-wise, but I also knew that God was calling me to do so. So we took a leap of faith, and I decided not to return to work after my maternity leave so I could stay home with our sweet girls.
There is a group of us from my previous job who all left to stay home (#roialumni), and we get together for playdates every so often. Well everyone started figuring out some kind of side-gig, and I just wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do. I had thought about anything from opening an Etsy shop, to doing consulting, to being a professional shopper, to home-staging, but I couldn't quite land on one that felt right.
Fast-forward to nearly a year after leaving for maternity leave, and I honestly wasn't really looking for anything, but I got a call from our adoption agency asking me if I would be possibly be interested in a part-time job managing their social media. (I had offered some advice previously and they knew my background was in online marketing.) They were looking for someone 10 - 15 hours/week, it would be entirely from home, whatever hours fit with my schedule. So I could stay home with the girls, wouldn't need childcare or have to miss time with them, and it was for an organization I 100% trusted and loved! SERIOUSLY GOD?!? It was such an unexpected blessing!
October 1st was my first day with Christian Adoption Services as their Digital Marketing Manager (since our initial conversations, they added in managing their paid search and their website - which I'm SO excited about), and just a couple weeks later I was able to join them on their annual staff retreat. I got to meet the rest of the staff, learn more about their vision and opportunities for growth, and I'm SO excited to be able to be part of such an awesome organization doing God's work!
Even though 10 - 15 hours/week doesn't sound like much, it's been a bit of a challenge to carve out the necessary time - I'm getting into a better routine, but it's definitely been an adjustment, and my blog is getting the brunt of my lack of time! I'm hoping to get back into the groove, but now you know why I've been MIA these last couple months!
If you want to check out what I'm doing, follow CAS on Instagram @christianadoptionservices and Facebook @CASAdoption
