Grace is my middle name, but I never much thought about it's meaning until the last few years. My favorite definition is from Max Lucado who says, "Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off." That is pretty much exactly how I ended up where I am right now.
I've always been a really decisive person and I love to check things off a list. So at age 4 I decided I was going to be a nurse and I didn't stop until I got a doctorate degree with a 17-year career at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in pediatric oncology. Along the way I bought a house, got married, traveled every chance I could and felt content and accomplished while checking off my life boxes.
Needless to say, my world got turned upside down when I found myself separated from an emotionally abusive, bi-polar husband and moving home to the bedroom I grew up in. I had to question everything I ever thought I knew about myself and wonder where my decision-making psyche went wrong and if it would ever right itself again.
I'll be honest, I rolled over and played dead for a few weeks, but I had this overwhelming sense of opportunity in the midst of the chaos. I prayed a lot during that time and found that God really does speak if you actually take the time to listen. And the things I heard were to accept grace, pour out love, and essentially go make lemonade out of my lemons. I knew I had a lot of soul-searching to do and I was more than a little bit afraid of what I might find!
Ever since middle school I remember not being able to do my homework or start on a project until my room was perfectly clean and organized. So, I actually started my soul-cleanse with a physical object cleanse. It was easy to get rid of all the stuff I no longer needed in my new one-bedroom living establishment, but it was harder to let go of hurt, anger, fear and resentment. The hardest part was to let go of all my ideals, my life plans and all of my control. For the first time in my life I didn't have a plan and it freaked me out, but I also felt utterly free! In what felt like an instant, I knew I was going to start a professional organizing business, Grace 2B Free.
I've always been one to color inside the lines, follow the rules and rarely show any sign of vulnerability. The choice to suddenly launch myself into the world of entrepreneurship has never felt like my own, but rather where Grace has called me, and so far it has indeed given me the power to pull it off. I'm starting this blog to link my business with my life so I can share the impact of living by grace. Hopefully you'll laugh, maybe you'll cry, and every once in awhile you might learn something about organizing! Hence the name, life...with a side of organizing.
