Unemployed or Opportunity?

I have found myself pondering the outcome of a conversation I had last week. I was notified by my employer that I would no longer be on the team as of July 30th. The news caught me by surprise as I examined the faces in the room realizing that their was compassion and empathy for what needed to be said. This is a tough economy and being unemployed is no longer just a scary thing, it can be a life changing thing...

What do I do?
Where do I go?
What does God want me to do?
Is this the opportunity for me to explore what I am truly called to do, not just what jobs people think I am good at or that my personality fits?

Unemployment or a call to seek something bigger...?

In a still moment...

The rain touches down on the leaves. One drop, then another, and another. The leaves patiently wait for the next drop. They don’t falter, they don’t stray. And when there is not rain they remain still, quiet and hopeful. Their color changes from a light ivy green to a rich sage. The water changes them, but yet they never change who they are. Does a leaf every wish it were a branch? Or a branch a leaf? I think if I were a branch, I may be jealous of the leaf.

“I, the branch, created you leaf. It is from my core that you were given life. And as you are now, I am the one that holds you up, keeps you alive and not lying dead on the ground. You are beautiful, strong against the winds and the rain, beautiful by glistening sun and still even in the midst of a the storm. I envy you, how you put yourself out there. You are not afraid. You are proud of who you are. You provide shade when it is too sunny, food when a caterpillar is hungry, water for the ants…rest for a struggling soul.”

Please don’t leaf…

City Church...Be-Loved...Love God...Love Neighbor...Love Orlando...(repeat)

Wow! I had such an amazing day today. It started out with a 1.5 mile run and a 40 minute swim at 6:15am. I saw God's beauty in the bright orange sunrise and it took my breath away. After my time of exercise, I went onward to our Nine12 workshop with Candice Blomely. What an incredible woman! She taught us all about Accumulation and how to live within our means. We got to create a monthly spending schedule and looked at our debt. I was blown away by the areas in my life that I can truly cut back. I love that the motivation behind getting financial secure, organized, and free is to be able to become a generous giver. I want to help people so badly and I have just been feeling like I cannot do that monetarily right now, but I would sure like to do it with my time.

Candice went on to teach us that our money is God's money. It was a very powerful way to think about it. Everything I have it God's so who am I to take ownership and play the "mine" game. As if He hasn't given me enough, I am going to make excuses about how I do not have enough to give back to HIM? Craziness...

Ted closed out the morning with "The Offer." He explained to us that he and the other members of the leadership team had been praying and asking God for ways to reach out to the people of Orlando. Our church has been blessed to have a Mercy fund which money goes into each month to help any member of our church that may be in need. Well...God has been so good, that we haven't had to spend that money hardly at all. So Ted has said that instead of waiting for a need to arise, he was going to put that money in our hands to allow us the opportunity to meet the needs of the people in Orlando. We each got an envelope that contained $200. All we had to do was promise that we would be prayerful about how God wants us to utilize His money, speak with our City Groups about our ideas and thoughts to use the money, and then ulitmately in a few weeks come back with an empty envelope and the stories of how God used us to bless others. This was world rocking for me!! I have recived money before, but never with the intention to give it away to people in need.

I cannot even begin to describe in words how powerfully this affected me, but I will say that the Lord was so present in that room this morning. I felt like He was giving me my mission in life. To make money and give it away! I have the envelope sitting on my kitchen table and I have begun praying and asking God to use me as a vessal to carry out this incredible task. I will keep this blog updated along the journey and am hopeful that I will be typing powerful stories of Christ's Hands In Action!!

Long Time...

It has been quite a long time since I have posted on my blog. Reason being, The Promise Chair Affair has been my main focus right now.  The project has absolutely taken off and I couldn't be more grateful. Check out http://thepromisechairaffair.blogspot.com for all of those details.

As for me personally, God continues His work in my heart. I have been learning so much about myself this semester and most of it has stemmed from the amazing courses I am taking. Self Leadership being the main source of self discovery, but also my Journalistic Essay class. We have been given several opportunities to write about our past, memories, loved ones, and personal struggles. It has not only been healing to get these things down on paper, but it has truly re-sparked my love for writing. I have gotten one B the whole semester and my professor gave me some very encouraging words by informing me that he really enjoyed reading my work. I was flattered, humbled, and reminded of the days when journalism was my main squeeze. 

Back at Valencia Community College and even sooner at Dr. Phillips High School, I was very involved in journalism. From being the features editor/photographer to the editor-in-chief, I thought I knew for sure that this was going to be my vocation! I loved the late hours in the news room, the hustle and bustle of several people trying to meet deadlines. I learned about music, since it was always playing from the speakers of emo-punk students. I learned to lighten up, wear jeans, and laugh at myself when I made mistakes. When I was "the boss" I always lead with "we" statements, I never pointed fingers, judged others writing styles, or demanding requirements if I myself were not following the same. It was the beginning of my understanding of leadership...and I loved it!!

Writing was my outlet. I got to scream through words about my parents divorce. I got to laugh through words at the mindless people that roamed the halls of my school. I got to cry through words about my sadness and loss of a dear friend. I HAD WORDS!

I know I still do and I feel that I have more to say now than ever. So I say today that this blog will begin having many more conversations like this one on it. The semester ends Monday, so the month of May will be "Theresa's Blog Appreciation Month!"

The Promise Chair Affair

To my Friends and Family:

I have partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a non-profit organization, to create an art project to support women who are battling breast cancer. It is called "The Promise Chair Affair." The details of the project are listed below. 

I will be hosting a group of 10 women, who are battling breast cancer,  once a week for 5 consecutive weeks: April 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29. We will be meeting in the Susan G. Komen offices located at: 1350 Orange Ave, Suite 260 Winter Park, FL 32789. I will be purchasing plain wooden chairs, paints, brushes and supplies, for these women to create a themed chair of their choice. Each week they will add a little bit more to their chair in hopes that after 5 weeks they will have created a masterpiece all their own. I am hopeful to have an artist present to help with creative ideas, artistic assistance, and implementation . 

After the projects are completed, we will host a voice auction in which we will spotlight each woman, give her an opportunity to share her story and describe her work of art! Each piece will then be auctioned off and all of the proceeds will go directly to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The event is planned for Wednesday May, 20th. It will be a classy evening of wine, hors d'oeuvres, music, silent auction, and of course the main event will be the voice auction involving our 10 "artists."

This is a great opportunity to meet some incredible women! This project allows these women one night a week to not think about cancer, to focus their attention, energy, and strength on something beautiful, and in the end have created something from nothing!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please let me know if you

have any questions or need any further explanation. If you are interested in being a part of this project, please contact me via email: trosey17@yahoo.com.

With hope and determination,

Theresa Ferreri

In the beginning...

WoW! The day has come that I have finally started a blog! The busy mind of Theresa Ferreri is finally going to slow down enough to put some things "on paper." It is a little scary to think that whatever I allow myself to begin rambling on about on this page, will be viewed by other people, yet at the same time it is very freeing to know that I have a voice. 

The main purpose of this blog is to create a place where I can begin sharing ideas, helping & supporting others, and ultimately glorifying God through the amazing opportunities he has presented to me! 

I invite your feedback, ideas, thoughts, prayers, or even just quick hello's! 

This is... "The Start of Something Great!"