14 - Work

What do you like about your job?

Sooo many things.... I'm grateful today for the way writing regularly about gratitude sharpens my awareness of ALL the things I feel grateful for - it's not a short list! lol ❤

1.  Court Reporting, Creek County, 2007-2022 -- I loved the relaxed schedule, and I enjoyed the freedom and downtime, the fascinating cases, the dependable salary and State benefits, the days where justice prevailed, being in the biggest courtroom, a judge who valued court reporters and consistently treated me well, the crazy court stories, and working with good friends!!

2.  Court Reporting -- From Grady County to Creek County to Cleveland County, I've learned A LOT from the judges, bailiffs, court reporters, and attorneys I have worked with, and from all the cases I've observed (and transcribed and scoped and proofread) over the past 18+ years!!  My time at these courthouses has shaped my worldview in many ways, increasing my empathy and making me a more astute observer of human behavior, and I'm grateful for it!

3.  Court Reporting, Cleveland County, April 2022 to present -- I'm thankful for the awesome Preliminary Hearing docket, for our first court reporter raise and page rate raise in years, and again for having a judge who values me and is kind and willing to work with my crazy Practicum schedule!

4.  Restore Behavioral Health, August 2023 to present -- I'm grateful for a great supervisor, my fellow interns, not having to market and find my own clients (an established practice with a waiting list), and the chance to practice faith-based and traditional counseling with my six clients ages 8-28 (so far).  On a deeper level, I'm grateful to be moving toward this dream in a real way, grateful to be helping and connecting with others, and grateful for God's timing and work in all of the above!  

5.  Excellent Bosses -- With the exception of my first judge in Grady County, I am VERY grateful for the way my bosses have valued me and the court reporting profession!  Judge Golden and Judge Brockman both care about making a clean record (slowing down crazy-fast attorneys and clarifying it when someone is hard to understand), and I so appreciate the schedule flexibility I've had at both jobs (and believing both judges like and appreciate me)!

6.  God's daily GRACE -- From the Grady County days of IM-ing with Josh and Sarah and writing Xanga blogs all day to the days of painting my nails and reading the entire Left Behind series in my back corner office (pre-internet at Creek County)... to the years where I was off more days than I worked... to this year where I am decidedly busier than I've ever been at work and with school and in life, the quote below holds very true: "There is grace and a pace for the season you're in, and before you know it, a new season will come."  I'm thankful for God's sufficient grace that has allowed me to find joy and growth in every season - and for the way He gives us the grace we need day by day for whatever we are called to face!  "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.  Today's trouble is enough for today." (-Jesus, Mt. 6:34)

7.  Gradual Change -- I am thankful for the very gradual and progressive path toward career change.  I'm excited about it, but sometimes easily overwhelmed, so it's kindhearted of God to make it a gradual process with several mini-changes along the way.  By the time I make the full transition to counseling in 2025, I'll have been working with clients for a year and a half, and freelance court reporting work will always be an option if it's needed.  

So in spite of all my past fretting and ridiculousness that was sometimes mixed with selfish entitlement, I am so sincerely grateful for each of my jobs -- past, present, and future.  There are good things and life lessons I have mined from each of them.  I'm glad and grateful to be moving forward, slowly but surely.  I'm grateful for the internal healing and closure that has finally allowed that momentum.  I'm grateful to be making the best of both jobs right now.  And I'm grateful that we all have a chance every day to intentionally be a light in the world!

❤