Category Archives: Looking for Direction

These posts talk about all of the different ways that I asked God for direction and the ways in which He responded.

I Dare You to Prove it, God!

Posted on: June 16th, 2014 by Sue Anderson - 2 Comments

I’ve made many, many mistakes in my life and so when I began feeling a prompting from God to leave my full time job I wasn’t prepared to just run after that without being 100% sure that was His will. For the better part of my life I’ve been on my own with no one at all to fall back on and so I wasn’t prepared to walk away from every speck of my financial security without being certain this was what He wanted me to do.

There were so, so, so many ways I felt God telling me that this was what He wanted, but I needed something concrete to be sure. Other than the day that I audibly heard God tell me that it didn’t make any earthly sense for Noah to build an arc either (read that story here), this was by far the most obvious, glaring way in which He let me know He meant business and that I better get to work preparing to follow Him.

Now I realize that this story is going to sound like a story out of a story book, or out of a feel-good movie. It’s so far-fetched that it is going to be hard for you to believe this really happened. But I think that’s the entire point I am trying to make with this blog and impending book, that God wants to play an active part in everyone’s lives. I want people that don’t know Him to realize that there really is a God and He’s not just floating out there somewhere. He’s walking through this journey with you and He’s got big, big plans for you if you’ll just let Him in.

Let Him Shine Through You

Okay, enough of that, now on to the story. Once I audibly heard God’s voice reassuring me that although me leaving my job didn’t make any earthly sense, it was what He wanted me to do, I was pretty darn certain that I knew God wanted me to walk away from my job. However, I was scared. I knew I wouldn’t have anyone to fall back on if things blew up in my face and so I needed to know with certainty that He was telling me to do this. I needed something concrete from Him.

I was almost constantly “in conversation” with God about this. On July 1, 2012 my business account only had $56 in it. I remember so clearly saying to God in resignation, “OK God, if this is what you want, I need a very clear sign. Once you give me a clear sign, I’ll do it. If you put $20,000 in my business account before year’s end, I’ll know without a doubt that this is what you want and I will follow.” I remember even laughing out loud as I said this because I knew that if that were to happen, that would be a miracle. I also nervously knew that there was a very great possibility that would happen, and then I would no longer have an excuse not to follow His will for my life.

Can you believe that there was $20,000 in that account by October that year?! (That was exactly one year after He audibly spoke to me!) It was as if God said you gave me until year’s end to get the money in your account but I want to make sure that you understand that this IS my will so I’m putting it in your account earlier! Now let’s get on with this! ~ So I did.

My New Soul Sister

Posted on: March 31st, 2014 by Sue Anderson - Leave a comment

At the end of January, I blogged about the book Following God One Yes at a Time by Connie Cavanaugh and how reading that book was the final confirmation I needed to make the big leap and quit my “real” job.

You’ll never believe the impact that one little blog post made. It’s amazing all of the crazy things that God will do in your life if you just show up for what you believe he’s called you to do. He continues to blow my mind so often.

After writing the post, I emailed Connie Cavanaugh just to let her know that I had blogged about her book and the impact it had on my life. Having run a business for the past 7 years, I’ve learned that it’s important to let other businesses know when you’re promoting them for many reasons – one of which is that by promoting them, they usually end up promoting you back.

I honestly didn’t even know if Connie would even see my email but I sent it any way. At the least, I hoped that she would see my email so she’d know that her words and her story had impacted my life. And at the very most, I had hoped that she would like my blog post enough that she might share it on her social media pages, which then of course would help to get the word out about Modern Day Noah.

Of course, God had much bigger plans than that! I received an almost immediate response to my email from Connie. After emailing back and forth a couple of times, we decided that we needed more time to talk. So we scheduled a few hours to talk a couple of days in a row. We talked almost 6 hours within 2 days! What we learned right away is that we’re soul sisters. You know those people that you just meet but you feel like you’ve known them your whole life? That’s who we are.

As if that isn’t crazy enough in itself, I’ve blogged about how I believe God wants me to write a book and be a motivational speaker (even though the thought of public speaking paralyzes me). Well guess what Connie Cavanaugh does? She’s an author and travels the world speaking! She does exactly what God has shown me in several visions that he wants for me. He never fails to put what you need to follow His plans for your life right in front of you if you’re open to it.

I’m following God strictly in faith, and somewhat blindly. I don’t know the first thing about writing and publishing a book. I don’t know the first thing about public speaking, motivational speaking or getting clear on exactly what your message is – but my new soul sister and mentor knows all of that. God has connected us so that she can help me down the path that He has for me. I am confident too that in some way He will use me to help her down the path He has for her as well.

The Power of Planning

Posted on: February 18th, 2014 by Sue Anderson - Leave a comment

If there’s anyone that understand the value of being organized, it would be me. I’ve always been an organized person who found organizing to be both easy and therapeutic. And for the past 7+ years, I’ve worked as a certified professional organizer helping others get organized. I know how great it feels to know where to find things when you need them and where to put them when you’re finished with them. I also know how important it is to have systems in place for keeping things organized. I’ve had the pleasure of helping others get their home, office and lives organized so that they could enjoy the things in life that really matter.

I also know that planning and visualizing your goals plays a huge role in the process of getting organized. So much so that it’s the first thing we do when we meet with our clients. I’m a big planner but I’d have to say I’m an even bigger doer. Sometimes slowing down long enough to truly map every single thing out just doesn’t look as exciting to me as just doing it, so I just jump in.

My struggle with organizing has been to try to organize all of the great business ideas and goals I have because there are so many of them. They are scribbled down here or there and repeated here or there. It can look and feel so overwhelming to try to map things out when there are an overabundance of tasks, ideas or stuff to organize. Another hurdle to getting them organized has been the distraction of my everyday life of running a business. Since the first day I started my organizing business, Simplified Living Solutions, I’ve worked 2 very full time jobs. Although I’ve been able to organize these thoughts, ideas and plans in a way that I could always find the information, I’ve never had enough time to capture them all in one place so that I could organize, prioritize and break them down into doable steps.

I have been working on doing just that for a while now, trying to block out any other nagging distractions that would normally pull me away from doing just that. Today, I am finally starting to see a sense of semblance after pulling together every little note I wrote down for the past 7+ years and beginning to organize them. It’s exciting and empowering!

It’s so funny to me that I’ve struggled with this because I spend my days teaching, empowering and coaching our clients to do this very thing. They often feel overwhelmed at the thought of it. They often don’t know where to start. And they often would prefer to just ignore it as much as they can. I have found myself feeling the very same way about this project because it all seems so big. YET, I know that getting started is the hardest part. AND, I know the wonderful feelings and structure that getting organized brings. It’s also very motivating and empowering to sort through everything, keeping only those things that you need, use or love and freeing yourself of all of the other “clutter” so you can focus on the things that really matter.

The Day God Smacked Me in the Face

Posted on: January 29th, 2014 by Sue Anderson - Leave a comment

One of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome when I first began to really understand that God was prompting me to leave my full time job was the obvious blaring truth that no one leaves their job after working somewhere 26 years. Especially someone like myself who only had 3 1/2 years to go until I could take early retirement with a full pension.

I wrestled back and forth with God about this for several years. The more obvious it became to me that He really was telling me to leave, the more I would ask Him how he expected me to survive financially if I left. He knew as well as I did that I’ve never had anyone that I could fall back on in my life and so this risk wasn’t one that I could just take and hope for the best.

What is amazing about this entire journey is that He never lost His patience with me as I tried to wrap my head around this concept. He always managed to communicate with me in a way that I could understand His direction. He did this a variety of ways, but mostly through what I call “God Taps” and through other people’s actions or words.

Sue 1987 & Kathy 1988

One of the most powerful ways He helped me get over the thought that no one quits their job after 26 years, was to use someone else to prove to me that people really do. Kathy started working where I worked about 3 months after I started. We became fast friends and hung out a lot. We were union members and Kathy became very involved in the union leadership. She always knew so much more about the company, the union, the rules, the proper expected behavior, etc. than I could ever hope to know. I always admired her and looked up to her for that reason.

Both of us were “lifers”, just doing our time like a prison sentence until we could retire. The company we worked for was so unbelievably toxic that you could never just go to work and do your job. There was always drama, hurtful and false rumors and management vs union wars. People stayed there because of the great benefits and wages – that was it. I don’t think anyone there actually enjoyed their jobs.

In August 2011, Kathy was preparing to go on vacation for 2 weeks. The day before her vacation started, she was going through the things in her desk – tossing old notes, giving away this or that trinket and getting her stuff organized (you know I’m all about that!). Nothing seemed funny about it at all. We all get the bug to declutter and organize from time to time so I saw it as nothing more than that.

However, the very next day someone told me that Kathy had given her 2 weeks notice and she wasn’t coming back. She hadn’t told a soul she was leaving until after she left. I remember thinking to myself “WHAT?!?! That can’t be possible. Not Kathy! She’s so much smarter than that!”. The minute I heard this I texted her begging her to tell me if what I had heard was true or not. She confirmed that it was all true. She wasn’t coming back. (Kathy now spends her days helping motivate people to lose weight. Check it out.)

This was the day that God smacked me in the face with someone else’s actions and said “Yes. People really do leave. Even after investing 26 years of their lives somewhere. And that is what I’m telling you to do”. From that day forward, the ball was in motion for me to figure out how to make the leap myself. This included meeting with a financial planner, refinancing my house to reduce my interest rate, discontinuing anything that wasn’t necessary (house phone, extra cable channels, etc) and challenging God a few more times to be sure before I actually took the leap in March 2013.

Signs of New Life Sprouting Up Everywhere

Posted on: January 9th, 2014 by Sue Anderson - Leave a comment

I know money is important to survival. I honestly do. I wasn’t born into money. I definitely have had to work very hard all of my life. And I’ve gone through many, many struggles because there was a lack of money since I was a single parent with absolutely no help, even from my children’s father. So believe me, I understand first-hand how important money is.

When I began trying to wrap my brain around the fact that God was telling me to take this leap of faith and leave my financial security, obviously money was the big obstacle to His plan for me in my eyes. As I began to lean into considering leaving, I did a lot of planning. I even met with a financial advisor who immediately told me that I would be foolish to leave my financial security. It’s funny though that after hearing 5 minutes of my story and all of the ways that God had been showing me that was His direction, she honestly started to believe it herself.

New Life Springing Up

It’s been 10 months now since I left my “real” job and there have only been 2 big financial scares. But even with those, I haven’t regretted my decision once. The number one reason I haven’t regretted it or gotten scared is because I tested God over and over before I finally took the leap and I feel confident this is His plan. So I do trust and rest in the fact that “He’s got this” (He’s in control). He’s not going to let me fail because my life and the results of this leap of faith will be a testament to Him.

The second reason is that I see signs of new life all around me and most importantly, within me. There are changes within me daily, if not hourly. OK, hourly might be a bit extreme. But there are so many WONDERFUL things that have happened that money just can’t buy! I feel that I am really living now, not just merely surviving. I’ve already mentioned the weight I lost but there are lots of other physical changes that have happened that represent the internal changes. I am in the final leg of making some bold changes in how I look, complete with new glasses and new hair. For me, that’s a BIG DEAL! Though I’m still no beauty queen, the new changes are lighter, freer and even a bit riskier for me.

For the last 4 years of my “real” job, if I wasn’t working with one of my organizing clients, I wore sweat pants and an over-sized T-shirt EVERY DAY – even to my “real” job. (Remember, I worked nights. That’s a whole different ball game in a business office.) I NEVER wore make up and I seldom tried to fix my hair. Since my big leap of faith, I’ve worn make up more often, changed my hair style several times and slowly started acquiring new clothes that fit. The biggest thing I’ve learned during this process is that it makes me feel better about myself. I didn’t realize that I’d been stuck in a vicious cycle for the last 4 years.

By wearing sweat pants, no make up and not spending much time on myself each day, when I looked in the mirror I didn’t like what I saw and I would feel discouraged. So there was no drive to change this because when you look like hell all of the time, you start feeling like it. This little change of taking time to take care of myself has caused my feelings of self worth to blossom! Are you spending time taking care of yourself?