Posted by Olivia

After writing, From a Homeschooler Who Obviously Survived, I’ve received a lot of commentary on the subject of life after schooling. My favorite comment so far has been this:

“What I want to know is does the author have a real job, with benefits that’s going somewhere?”

When I read this, I was excited for two reasons. Firstly, it gave me reason to reevaluate my plan. My 5 year and 10 year plans are detailed road maps to my somewhere. While my two jobs (between 70-80 hours a week), two bi weekly cleaning jobs, monthly non profit work on the board of directors of a crisis pregnancy center and my other ventures may not seem glamorous right now, they are in fact a calculated, well thought out part of my plan.

A job with benefits is all good and well, unless you only have that job to pay the bills, not because you love what you’re doing. Now, I’m all about making wise decisions but no one is going to love every facet of their job, there are some really crumby aspects to every line of work. That said, if you are pursing that “somewhere” then it’s worth it. It’s more than worth it.

As a very real example, I’ll give you myself. I want to own a cooking school for kids who age out of foster care. Did you know, as of 2012, 80% of the prison population in Texas had been in foster care? Did you know that 50-60% of the kids who “age out” of foster care end up on the streets, homeless, in jail or dead, within a year of ageing out? That breaks me. So when I have really long hard days at work, when I’m running an 18 hour day that saw me leaving the house at 5:30 and not coming back to crash till nearly midnight, I can focus on the end goal, the “somewhere”.

I want to go to cooking school in Ireland, it’s highly suggested that you have at least a year of day to day grind in a professional kitchen before you apply to cooking school. My plan is to work (really, really hard) for that year. Learning everything I possibly can about the business side of the industry. Apply for the school. Wait to be accepted. Attend the school. Tour Europe. Come home. Work in an upscale restaurant while we (my family and I) build a wedding/event barn. The wedding barn will contain a professional kitchen that we will be able to run a catering business out of, that along with the renting out of the facility will provide the funds to build the Big House. The Big House when finished, will house eight students who have aged out of foster care and need a place to live and real life training. The Big House will have a huge commercial grade kitchen and be a place of hope, a launching pad for these kids who have no options.

The wedding barn and catering business will be run as a full fledged business. The school will be run solely as a nonprofit. The children who come to Valor Farms will be on scholarship. They should complete the course in three months. During those months they will not only be equipped with the skills necessary to work in a real kitchen, but an appreciation for good food, family and faith. And while I haven’t worked out all the details, I am diligently seeking both wisdom and direction, so if you know of anyone who may have valid input, let me know.

My “somewhere” isn’t a plush gig with health and dental. My “somewhere” isn’t a corner office with a view. My “somewhere” is most certainly not retiring at 60 with loads of cash.

No, my “somewhere” is a little country school that empowers young people, who have been neglected by society, to reclaim their future. To show them that their God loves them, that He knows the plan that He has for them, plans to prosper and not to harm, plans to give them a hope and a future.

Secondly, the comment excited me because it would give me an opportunity to say this: Wherever you think your somewhere is, His somewhere for you may look entirely different than mine. We can’t be so caught up in seeking security and comfort we forget that life is risky, life is often uncomfortable and hard. Job security, benefits, climbing the ladder are not bad in their own right, but I have more faith in God than social security, more reliance on Christ than Blue Cross Blue Shield. I trust Him enough to follow a calling that I’m quite sure will break my heart, ensure I never marry, and leaves me, a used up old woman, clinging to her Savior for her hope and her future.

Do I have a job with benefits that’s going somewhere? You decide.

 

Written by Olivia Brodock, author of No More Wasted Years, and is a chef, peer counselor and board member at a local crisis pregnancy center, writer, missionary and visionary. She lives on beautiful Straight Mountain in North Alabama, where she attempts to carry out the Great Commission with her family.