Upward Blessings

Dave and I went to the dedication of the new Upward buildings this evening. It was such a wonderful event and I was so honored to be there and so proud to have been a part of the history of Upward. It was a great moment for them. I left Upward after five years of being there about two years ago. And thinking back on my time there, Upward played and continues to play such a huge role in the life of Wayfarer. It seems like only yesterday that our family and the Norris family made a trip to Spartanburg to talk about two positions that were available at Upward... A marketing coordinator and an event coordinator. Just the roles that Wendy and I played in our jobs in Birmingham. We were hired and Wendy and I worked full time the first couple years while our husbands started Wayfarer with no saleries. Caz had and has always been so generous to me. To hire me, to allow me to go part time when Wayfarer needed me, and letting me go with blessings when it was time to leave Upward.

I've been gone almost two years now but it was like a homecoming this evening. To see so many people that I had spent each day with while there was so nice. They are all doing great and are playing such an important role as Upward is reaching around 500,000 children this coming year. I am very proud of all of them and in some ways reconnecting with some of them after a few years was like we just had our last converstation yesterday.

God has been so good to me to allow me to experience working environments that have been filled with such purpose. From serving at Student Life in Birminham to Upward and now at Wayfarer, it has been so neat to see how God has used each of these times as a building block to where I am now. It was amazing walking through the new building. It is such a state of the art masterpiece. A place to love to come and work at. Courtney asked me tonight if it was hard to not be there anymore. As I thought about it I realized that is wasn't. I sure do miss the people but I know for certain that the role I play at Wayfarer is somthing that I have been so strongly called to.

And for Upward. I am so proud that I was a am a part of the history of what they are doing for the Kingdom. Wayfarer is also going to be partnering with them in some of their curriculum world. I am very excited about that. Any opportunity that we have to make an impact on the Kingdom is such great stuff. An honor that we don't take lightly.

So thank you all you Upward friends for the years of working together. It was great to celebrate with you on all that God has done for the organization and the vision for the future. I'm so proud of you!