Being Brave Enough to Take Risks

By Sarah

God's Brave Women - Sarah's Story

Life is always changing. Nothing stays the same forever. Bittersweet, right? Change can be really hard. While I have always loved adventure, I have simultaneously found myself staying in spaces for a long time or saying “no” because I was scared of the unknown. For example, I worked as a barista in a coffee shop for almost ten years. There were many benefits of that job. The people, the life lessons learned…and many years’ worth of free coffee! In retrospect, I also see how I held back and missed out on other opportunities because I was afraid of failure. With this realization, God is gently teaching me how to adventure in a new and beautiful way. It is never too late.

Over the past year a lot of change has happened. I am thankful for the ways that I have grown during this time. As I have stepped out in faith and navigated the unknown, Jesus has continued to be my source of comfort.

"As I have stepped out in faith and navigated the unknown, Jesus has continued to be my source of comfort."

It started late last summer when I transitioned out of my full-time job so that I could primarily focus on school. This was a hard decision. In retrospect, I know that this was the best thing for me. Why? Because I had all of the symptoms of burnout. For the previous year I had been working full time and going to school part time. I was able to manage well for many months. Then it became apparent that something had to change. Perfectionism had played a part in all of this and had resulted in me spending almost all of my time at work or at school. It was taking a toll. Even though I have an incredible group of friends, this was a very lonely time for me because I was not experiencing personal connection on a daily basis. As an aside, perfectionism is not healthy or sustainable. I am currently unlearning perfectionistic habits in my life.

I was exhausted for the first three months after this transition out of full-time work. After it had been a couple of months and I was still feeling depleted, I went to a medical provider to make sure that there wasn’t something else going on with me physically. There wasn’t. My body was simply recovering from a prolonged period of stress. Then slowly but surely, I started feeling like myself again.

Another change happened last fall. Something amazing. God helped me to truly understand that I am enough. Imperfections and all. While I have had a cognitive understanding of this for many years, I experienced an emotional understanding of this for the first time. Even though it may not have been apparent,