It's exhausting

Doing anything the right way can be exhausting. Purely. Exhausting. Budgeting, eating right, being a christian. All of it. Probably because it requires all you. Requires you to sacrifice yourself to gain something more, which is not something that the flesh wants to do.

Let's look at budgeting......let's be honest here, it sucks. Straight up. Being honest with yourself and your terrible habits and then cutting those habits in half? Takes sacrifice. Being careful with EVERY cent and knowing where all your money is going? Ridiculous, yet necessary and beneficial. I've only been at this for 2 weeks and I'm already tired.

Eating right? I don't think I have to look at that very closely. This is denying your flesh and the "need" for unhealthy foods and replacing it with things you wouldn't choose directly.

Being a christian. If anyone ever told you that being a christian is easy, they are lying to your face. Because it's not. What does it require of you? Everything. It requires you to sacrifice everything and run in the opposite direction of what the world tells you to be like. Cutting loose the sins that bog you down and keep you from righteousness hurts. In some cases, it leaves a scar. For me, it requires me to get up very early to spend some time with Jesus. And no one wants to do that. It also requires me to be a leader, an example, and a mentor, which as the title of this blog suggests, is exhausting. But I can't complain because when I look at the scars on the hands of Jesus, the fight with my flesh looks silly. My "sacrifices" are fleshly, my Jesus' meant eternal redemption through His blood.

So I can get through this. Being an adult, doing things the right way, walking in His faithfulness. Though exhausting at times...worth it. Totally. Worth. It.

The Dilemma...

The Dilemma: I have goals and ambitions to start my own wedding planning business. It's going to be great because I know I'm going to be great at it. But you see, to do that, you need experience in order to get hired. And I wouldn't say planning 2 receptions and 1 wedding is enough for that.
There are two ways to get experience, and the first if preferred. The first would be to work/intern for someone who plans wedding and glean as much as you can from them. This would be ideal because this is the kind of environment I thrive in and learn the most from. Hands on. Shove a book in front of my face and it doesn't stick. Same problem I had in college.
The second way would be to get a wedding planning certificate from an accredited school. Again, not my first choice because while you can read and be taught so much from a classroom, there are so many things you pick up on during on the job training that you could never learn in a classroom, even from the best teacher.

So herein lies the problem: I don't have anyone with which I could work/intern for in order to learn everything I would like to. I can't afford a volunteer position because while I do still live at home to save money, I do in fact need to...save money. No job, no saving money, no work....and you get the picture. The choice of getting certified could be my other option but hey, these things cost money. $560 at Broward College (and I always promised myself I would never go back) or I could pay $1,300 elsewhere...

FANTASTIC....

So I'm a little stuck. How do you get a job with no experience since no one will hire you because you don't have experience but you can't get experience without said job?

**ORGANS FOR SALE!! MAYBE A KIDNEY?? I HAVE 2!!.......**

Sandi, Samantha, & Dave

Have you considered what it means to listen to people? Not hear them. Listen and comprehend. Do you realize the impact that can have. And no, not just to the person talking, but to the person who is doing the listening. In this case, me.

Tonight I listened to the stories of Sandi, Samantha, and Dave tonight. And I can honestly say it was one of the best evenings I've had in a while. Rather than being concerned with myself, which is what is generally on my mind, I put my ego aside and listened to someone who just wanted to talk.

I learned that Sandi is struggling with finding a church which doesn't look to her past as a homosexual as a weakness in who she is.
I learned that Samantha has read every Jane Austen book and is completely confident in saying that Emma is the best book she wrote.
And I learned that Dave comes to Barnes and Noble every Saturday night to read a chapter of the bible because it's the only chance he has away from his Atheist wife who won't allow bibles in the house. He's in Romans, I believe.

I got to pray with Sandi, talk Bennet with Samantha, and encourage Dave. My pumpkin spice latte got cold, but that's what I get for paying $4.25 for a hyped-up cup of coffee.  I walked away humbled. And with a better understanding of people, knowing that everyone has a story to tell if you'll just listen...