I love this time of year when blooming things start blooming. 

I’ve always thought the flowers of the Bleeding Heart reflected the plants’ name. 

That is, until my friend Tyson suggested they “kinda look like little plucked chickens hanging upside down ready to be cooked.”

Now I’m not so sure…

“Life is an exhilarating ride for those brave enough to climb on.”

An incredibly appropriate sentiment. Seven years ago today, I said a nervous “yes” to an offer to join the team at United Way of Benton & Lincoln Counties. I say nervous, because while it was a great opportunity, I wasn’t *quite* sure if I was ready to take on such a role. It was a step up for me, you see, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that kind of professional growth spurt.

But that was then, and this is now. I wouldn’t have missed this journey for the world!

I learn something new every day.

Nothing about my job is mundane or routine. I love that!

I get to hang out with the cool kids in town–some of the most brilliant, kindest, generous, FUN people–and I feel privileged to know them.

I hear voices in my head–nuggets of wisdom from so many that have mentored me over the years.  “How does this further our mission?”      “Is that fixed or variable?”   “To what end?”    “What problem are we trying to solve?”   “Push the work out to the most appropriate level.”

I’m surrounded by people who take the work seriously, but not themselves. And that matters to me. A LOT.

Because of United Way, I’ve met people who have become some of my closest, dearest friends. We’ve gone gator gazing in the Okefenokee and snagged Arnold Palmer’s autograph. Graffiti-ed on the tables at Block 15 more times than I care to count. Gallivanted across Europe, sampling pastries, collecting street art, and narrowly avoiding ending up in Zimbabwe. Held book club over tea, hats, and fabulous Southern accents. Collected dinosaurs and gone off the map in Venezuela. Discussed going past the mailbox over peppermint hot chocolate. (Food and geography seem to be a pattern here…)

And then there is the work itself. Important, consequential, satisfying and fulfilling. Meeting need today and working to keep problems from happening in the first place. Increasing the capacity of people to care for one another.

It’s been an amazing seven years. I can’t wait to see what the next bring!