Emerging from our black hole

So it has been a wild ride these last 3 months or so. A little bit chaotic. I feel a bit like we’ve been shoved into a black hole that has sort of consumed us, and we might just now be starting to emerge.

I was hoping to blog through a lot of this transition, but just haven’t been able to bring myself to write much.

On the work side of things, know that I don’t have a lot to compare to. I was at my last company for about 6 years. So this might be a normal experience for anyone changing companies/industries. I’m not sure. The first couple of weeks of work, I was dead tired every day. I (supposedly) had the same number of hours in each day, but couldn’t seem to get anything done outside of work. I’d come home & feel completely drained. Ready for bed pretty quickly. I guess mental stimulation/exhaustion plays a large role, maybe?

That part is getting better, I hope… But I really have never felt this challenged/stretched in a job before. There is a steep learning curve and an abundance of projects to get a handle on. I’ve also quickly learned the difference between the “for profit” and “non-profit” worlds. There is always much more work to do and there are fewer people, less money, and less resources to get it done with. It’s a challenge.

I do still believe I’m in the right place. It makes me realize how comfortable I had become in my previous job. I’m now being forced to rely continuously on prayer and God’s strength/equipping to get me through each day. And that is new to me, but not necessarily a bad place to be. (That will probably be its own post one of these days…)

Cason’s job is going well. It’s challenging for him too, but in good ways. He was just offered a full-time teaching contract for next school year, so we are praising God for that opportunity. He has been working it all out for us.

We haven’t settled into a church yet, but that takes time. It’s hard to compare anything to Brentwood Baptist.

And, to be honest, I’ve also been battling some loneliness. It’s hard moving to a new place with few friends. It took us a while to make good friends in Nashville, so I know it just takes time. Settling into a church at some point will help.

The other biggest development that will help me in emerging from this black hole, is that I’m on the verge of finishing my master’s degree. After almost 4 years of working part-time on my MBA, I’ll be done as of this weekend!

I caught myself saying that “I can get my life back”. But the funny thing is, with just having moved here, all we really have is work. Few friends, no extracurriculars, etc. So, the real truth is then that I can finally start finding/creating a life here!

There is plenty to be explored. I do want to make sure we are embracing every opportunity. So maybe we’ll call this post-MBA era Phase 2 of settling into N. VA life.

I am looking forward to it… and hopefully to blogging more too.