On 4/5/19, I resigned from my job–a job I loved– as a Domestic Violence Victim Advocate with a local prosecution office.  This, after being reprimanded for “empowering a victim too much” and being told my job was “not to empower or make them feel whole, but to get them to do what the prosecutor tells them to do”.  My heart pounded as I typed my resignation letter, even more so as I walked down the long hall to my supervisor’s office to turn it in.  Still, in my heart, I knew I was doing the right thing.  You know how the saying goes– “If you don’t stand for something…”

I immediately started a job with a personal injury firm, a field I didn’t have experience in, and was absolutely miserable.  So miserable, in fact, that I would have to pray before walking through the doors and again when I left. That didn’t last long, as they told me they overestimated their budget and couldn’t afford a full time person, let alone one that they had to train. I was let go and later found out I was ineligible to receive unemployment benefits because I was just shy a few days of the required length of employment.

For the last 4 months I have been unemployed and not for lack of trying to find work. This was new to me as I’ve NEVER had trouble finding a job before and I’ve never had to solely depend on someone else to make ends meet. But, not only was I unemployed, I was unemployed while running a non-profit organization where people rely on me for help daily. Watching my husband break his back to hold our family down and not being able to help him, and having to turn away new clients because I couldn’t help them, while STILL trying to help the clients we already had…I was beyond stressed. But more than that, I was humbled.

On 9/3, I will start my new job in advocacy with another city prosecution office— a job my daughter convinced me to apply for.  My commute time is 4 min each way! I will get off earlier during the week and have off on Fridays, allowing me the extra time I’ve grown accustomed to having for my family and G.R.O.W. Later next month I’ll be in Phoenix for the first time for a huge DV conference and I imagine the opportunities will continue to go up from there.

I learned so much during these last 4 months! I was reminded that it’s ok to need, ask for, and accept help. That there are people who will truly hold you down, even when they don’t know that they are. That God just wants you to sit your ass down sometimes and rest. And last but not least, having the right person(s) by your side as you ride through the storm is everything. My husband and my family is everything. Someone recently asked me if I regret turning in my resignation letter that day in April. I don’t. I regret doubting for even one second whether we would be ok once I did.