Baby Steps

Today I wore dress clothes and sat at a desk for the first time since... well, since my last day at Tenth this past May I guess. That's right; I have a grown-up job. Sort of, anyway.... it's part time, so I'll still be working at Alice's four days a week. But it's a step in the right direction! And the whole situation is actually pretty ideal and amazing. Let me explain....

When I first moved here back in the spring, Steve said to me, "You should talk to Heidi, the woman that runs the mentoring program I do. You could pick her brain about working with inner city kids, and she could telll you about various organizations in the city that you could check out." He asked her if she was willing to chat with me, and she said yes. So I went in and met with her and her co-worker Carlos, and they gave me a huge list of other organizations that I should contact and answered all sorts of questions. That was back in May.

Last week I got an email from Steve. It was actually a forward from Heidi asking if I'd found work yet. Steve said "I think it's just admin work, and it's only 10 hours a week; but maybe you want to contact her and get the details." I listened to his advice again (he has a knack for getting good jobs, and I will take his expertise wherever I can get it!) and emailed her back and we arranged a time to meet. When I got there, I found out that the position is actually helping to coordinate the program for their high schoolers! I set a bare minimum in my head that I had to make to be able to take the job (since it will mean one less day at Alice's per week) and just hoped and hoped that she'd mention that number when we talked about the finances of the position. Well, she offered me the job on the spot, but then looked pretty nervous and apologetic as she told me that they are only able to pay me.... twice the minimum I'd set in my head! It was all I could do from smiling and making it obvious that I was thrilled with her "low" offer. Oh wait. I couldn't keep from smiling and making my excitement obvious! Getting paid to do what I've been hoping to do even if it meant volunteering? Yeah, okay!

I'm glad it's only part-time. I'm glad that right now I don't have the option of working there all the time and burning myself out again. I'm happy that I can ease myself into working with inner city kids rather than jumping in full-force. I'm glad that I can keep working at Alice's for at least a while and yet still be pursuing what I want to do. I'm excited to work with Christians a couple days a week and still maintain my friendships with people who aren't Christians yet. I'm glad that I have an excuse to wear my dress clothes again and I'm excited that I don't have to wear them all the time. And I'm happy that even this part-time "office" job won't be completely behind the desk; several of my hours will be spent interacting with the kids and mentors. But even though I know I never again want a desk job, I'll admit it was pretty nice to sit down to work instead of running around all day. I think it'll be the perfect balance to have this office day smack in the middle of my workweek!