After the new year began, I started my search in earnest for my next opportunity. Because corporate world didn't seem like the right fit for me anymore, my options were wide open.
- The local cafe. The local cafe and bakery had both closed in the last year, leaving a gaping hole in our little town. Ken and I talked about the cafe, the ups and downs of going into my own business, the committment, and the risk. My thought was to open a coffee shop and bakery. Not a full cafe (at least not at first). I would get to do my baking (my passion), and still have the people aspect of having folks in to talk to. I had even discussed it with a couple of people. Just as we were about to inquire at looking at the property, it was sold and reopened. God must have been worried I was going down the wrong path, and put a stop to it!
- Teaching. FINALLY at the end of January, my teaching certificate arrived. I will shortly have all documents in to be a full licensed sub teacher. Excited about the opportunity, although I don't know how many days I will get. We will see. Time will tell.
- Corporate life. Mid-January, I received notice from a friend of a corporate job in my area. I applied, and instantly, my husband got excited - more money, big bucks. I never felt right about the job. I just didn't feel that it was where i was supposed to be. I'm enjoying the freedom and flexibility - the ABILITY to take care of my family and self. While I flew through the first two levels of interviews, I was nervous for the third. The job was in a manufacturing process that I had no experience with.
All of these things basically were happening simultaneously. And nothing felt like "my calling". Nothing fit yet. Two days after my second interview for the corporate job, I received a call out of the blue. A call asking me to work part time - part from home - to set up procedures and training for a bakery I am familiar with. The following week I met onsite with the owner and signed on. An opportunity to use all of my 19 years of manufacturing experience, while working part time from home. So when the technical interview didn't feel comfortable with the corporate job, I knew why. I had found an opportunity that fit me, and that felt right.
Then there was call #2. Again, out of the blue, I received a phone call from the new owner of the cafe (someone I do not know), asking if I'd be interested in working part time for her, filling in when she cannot be there, sometimes a couple of times a week, early mornings.
So I have to wonder. Do these two opportunities come together to prepare me for something larger? Is my dream of a coffee shop and bakery in my future? Do I learn from the bakery and the cafe - all that I need to know? I would love to think so. I would love to think that God is putting me on a path to see that dream to fruition. But only time will tell.
