CHANGE #1:
In July 2009, I went back to school to get my real estate license. After completing the course and a few months of studying and passing the state and national exams, I had my real estate license. When you're a new real estate agent, the State of Colorado requires that you "hang" your license with a managing broker, or another agent with two plus years experience. I interviewed a couple different brokerage firms that appealed to me before making my selection. I chose a large company to be apart of. The training was intense at the beginning. There was a lot of come to this meeting, do this marketing strategy, hold these many open houses per week, and the list went on. After about six months and no clients or leads and quite a bit frustration, I found another brokerage firm that better matched my needs and acknowledged and welcomed that I had two kids (at the time) that I was raising during the day while my husband worked full time. I was so excited to have found this firm and I ended up switching brokerage firms. The company name was bigger, the owners were interested in helping me launch this career and make it a success. There was a lot of come to this meeting and let us teach you. Within a few months, I had leads coming my way. And, by the end of September, I had my first closing, and then another a week later, and then one more in November. I was feeling very confident. I was working the referral system that my broker had helped me put in place and it was working like a charm.
After those leads and closings, things just kind of came to a halt. I was still pursuing business and did daily and weekly activities to gain clients. I had some leads. Nothing that was going to be an immediate sell, but leads nonetheless. Then, I got an email from my broker saying that we needed to have a meeting to re-up my independent contractor agreement. So, I went in for the meeting. I had a feeling things weren't going to go well when it was a Saturday morning and I recognized both owners' cars in the parking lot. Generally, you'd only find one car, unless there was a special event, which there wasn't this Saturday. I went inside, made my way to the conference room and waited. I had brought my business plans, activities I had been doing, and questions. There was a bit of chit-chat that came crashing to a halt when I was asked if I would rather stay home with my children and raise them and lose my job OR would I rather work 8-10 hour shifts, 6 days a week, putting my children in daycare. First off, I couldn't believe that my employing broker was throwing an ultimatum at me. But, I didn't even blink, I immediately said "I choose my family." They suggested another brokerage firm that I could go work for, one that didn't require as much as they were going to require out of me. I left that meeting, called my husband and he said he already had a feeling this was going to happen simply because of the time and changes the owners had already made to the meeting. Funny thing is, I never cried or felt poorly about this. And, that afternoon, one of the owners emailed me to tell me that she still thought very highly of me and thought I was lovely person, but that they had to make a business decision. She knew what my choice would be, and she was right.
After much prayer and discussions with my husband and God, it's very clear that my place (at least for now) is to be home with my children, raising them, spending time with them, teaching them, loving on them. And, I think that as important as it is to show our children that they can be whatever they want to be and it's good to pursue our dreams, I think it's good to be humbled by God and shown that His way for us triumphs all. I truly believe this is an act of God, and I feel he has slammed the door shut on my real estate career. I'm not sure if it will be reopened. And, I'm okay not knowing. God has proven time and time again that He will provide for my family and I. All we need to do is trust with our whole hearts. And, we need to realize that things in our life will happen in His timing and not our own.
And, with that said (about God's timing in our lives), comes CHANGE #2:
When Kevin and I celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary early this month, we were discussing what our 5-year and 10-year plans looked like. We talked about where we wanted to be financially, spiritually, career-wise, geographically and as a family. One of the biggest things we felt God was telling us that he wanted us to pursue was leading our own LifeGroup (small Bible study group) with people from our church. We were currently in a LifeGroup and we weren't really thinking of changing or leaving. It was all part of our 5-year plan. But, then, things happened and one Sunday, our LifeGroup leader approached us asking Kevin to lunch and then expressing that they felt that God was moving them in a different direction to stop leading the group and to take on a new challenge. After the lunch, our LifeGroup leaders decided to step down, and we stepped up to become the new leaders. Our group consists of three families (including ours). Both families are near and dear to us and we were thrilled at the challenge of leading this group. It's just amazing to me how you set a timeline for your life and something you plan to do, and God says, nope, now! Amazes me.
As we enter into this time of new challenges and new, fresh things ahead, it makes me so excited. I am willing to do whatever God has called me to do. And, I really believe that when you open your heart to what He has to teach you, and where He has to lead you, you will never be lead astray. So, here's to our changes...
