stronger

after an unexpected half year hiatus here on flickr i thought i would give a few words of explanation about everything that has been happening. i realize i probably don't need to, but many of you have quickly become close friends, and friends don't drop off the face of the planet for a few months and then show up again like nothing happened.

 

i also wanted to say thanks to those friends who made a point of staying in touch, or sending me a message or an IM to check in and see if everything was ok. you know who you are. thanks. it was appreciated and definitely needed.

 

i'll try to give you the condensed version. but it's a bit of a complicated story.

 

at the end of last summer i was nearing a breaking point. after almost five years, life in nash vegas - that's nashville for anyone who hasn't lived there - was becoming an endless cycle of frustration and dead ends. dreams i had been pursuing, and waiting years for always seemed just out of reach. i was ready for a change. earlier that year, a close friend had accepted a dream job down in orlando and moved to florida. i went down to visit. in the span of a week, i had a job interview and what seemed like a great job offer. i accepted, of course, and moved down to the sunshine state.

 

three weeks later, the miracle fell apart. without real rhyme or reason, my new employers told me they didn't feel things were going to work out, and good luck. i was stunned. and i was totally blindsided.

 

long weeks passed. and then months. interview after promising interview. but no new job offer.

 

as the holidays came around, i made the reluctant but necessary decision to pack up and head back north to be with my family. weeks passed pursuing countless job leads there, but with no response. absolutely nothing.

 

i was depressed before. and now? i was just numb.

 

when hope continues to disappoint, it becomes easier to stop feeling all together. hope becomes a cold, double edged sword. too heavy to hold on with any real strength, and too difficult to let go.

 

i guess i'm just too stubborn, or maybe just too stupid, to know when i should give up. everything seemed to scream that GOD had long since abandoned me, or had never shown up in the first place. but something deep and fierce inside of me remained defiant and refused to give up hope.

 

i decided to trust that GOD had a plan and a purpose for everything that happened down in florida. i started searching for job leads in orlando again. one of the prospects called back. i took a risk, and the step of faith, to fly back down to orlando for the interview.

 

i was offered the job a few weeks later. so far it's been everything i hoped for and more. the last few months have been full of final transitions down here, moving,emptying storage units, buying expensive car insurance and all that fun stuff.

 

anyway, thank you again my friends for all the love, prayers, and encouragement. it's good to be myself again at long last.

 

and it's good to be back.

Done