I’ve invited Sarah Geringer to share a bit of what it’s been like for her to step outside of her comfort zone and embrace the kind of brave that has led her to become who God created her to be. I know you will be encouraged by her story and how God always continues to gently lead throughout every part of our journey.
Some people are born brave. I’m not one of them.
On every personality test I’ve ever taken, I fall in the “cautious” category.
I don’t like heights or speed, which means amusement parks don’t amuse me. For every decision I make, I waffle between the pros and cons before I finally decide, even if it’s just a restaurant menu. I’m a security seeker through and through.
Yet one year ago, I was brave enough to leave a dead-end job. And I’m so glad I did!
How My Bravery Grew
When I was 13 years old, I knew I was put on this earth to be a writer. I won writing awards in high school and majored in English in college. Yet I was afraid to jump into the publishing world in my twenties, not yet knowing the ropes. I pursued another degree in graphic design so I could have income.
When I graduated in 2001, I couldn’t find full-time work as a graphic designer. I settled for a receptionist’s job at an advertising agency, grateful to get scraps of design work or copyediting here and there.
In 2003, I accepted a job as an event coordinator. It allowed me to work from home and raise my children, and I adored being a work-from-home mom. But the creative urge kept surging inside me. I didn’t know how to fulfill it, and I felt frustrated. Every afternoon, I wrote in my journals while my babies napped to keep the writing juices flowing.
My contract went sour and I endured a brief season of litigation. Loyal to a fault, I decided to keep working three more years in a job that left me feeling empty and unfulfilled.
I started a blog in August 2010 to dip my toe in the waters of publishing. Stopping and starting several times, I didn’t keep it up. Yet my curiosity was piqued. God planted seeds of bravery in my heart in those early blogging days.
A Season of Challenges
When my job ended in 2011, my youngest daughter was three years old. I desperately wanted to stay at home with her until pre-kindergarten began at age four. So, we drained our savings account and I tried to find freelance jobs to no avail. When the savings account went dry, I resigned myself to finding a day job.
In January 2013 I started working as a high school secretary. I sat at one end of the desk and the head secretary sat at the other. She is an extrovert, and I am an introvert. I felt more than happy to play second fiddle. I thought, “I could never sit in her seat,” which was as busy as Grand Central Station.
Six months later, a new principal came on board. He sat me in the hot seat and moved the head secretary to a closed-door office. Warning signals sounded in my mind. I secretly thought, “I can’t do this! It’s not who I am!” But we needed the money, and I decided to give it a try.
In a small school, people expected the hot seat secretary to know everything and do everything they asked. “No” was not permitted. My introvert battery was drained every day from the constant interruptions and overflowing workload. I wished I had listened to my warning signals.
Cultivating Seeds of Bravery
To counter work stress, I started blogging every morning before I left. Blogging gave me a hit of pleasure and purpose at the beginning of my day, right after I enjoyed my quiet time with God. I started becoming more confident in my writing ability.
In October 2016 I self-published my first Bible study, and my bravery grew. As my job became more challenging and less satisfying, I kept thinking, “Writing is still what I was put on earth to do.”
After an unpleasant work confrontation in November 2016, I decided to leave after the school year ended. Every morning, I prayed on my drive to work. I asked God to help me trust him in a financial transition. I listened to Toby Mac’s song “Move” on repeat, trying to hold on until my day to be brave arrived.
Stepping Out in Bravery
In May 2017, I was brave enough to leave. My dear work friends threw me a going-away party with pizza, cake, cookies, and purple plates and napkins (they know my favorites). I sobbed as I hugged them goodbye. As a child of divorce, I abhor goodbyes. But I had to be brave enough to say goodbye so I could leave.
I walked out the front doors of the school for the last time, choking on tears. I’d been there for over four years, and I felt shaky as I stepped out into the unknown. At the time, I didn’t have work lined up. That’s terrifying for a security seeker like me. But I knew my purpose as a writer, and I trusted in God to provide.
I prayed that within six months, God would send me enough freelance work to equal or exceed my income as a secretary. He answered my prayer! By October 2017, I had enough freelance assignments to meet my goal.
God also blessed my desire to get published in the mass market. In March of 2018, I signed with a literary agent. Soon I will be writing my first traditionally published book. Because I was brave enough to leave, my dream of nearly three decades is finally coming true.
How Being Brave Strengthened My Faith
If I’d stayed in the relative safety of having a day job, my writing dreams may have never come true. I had to be brave enough to leave regular income to pursue the dreams God planted in my heart as a teenager. Sometimes we may need to be brave enough to step away from a steady income stream to follow the purpose God has for us.
On the day I cried, you answered me; you made me strong and brave. Psalm 138:3 #MadeforBrave #Sisterhood Share on XAs a major bonus, God used all the skills I developed along the way, even in jobs that I didn’t like, to make me a better writer now. He taught me professional marketing and organizational skills that are essential as a self-employed writer. He didn’t waste those years when my dream was not yet reality. He’s not wasting your “dormant” years either.
God never wastes our dormant seasons.
If God is calling you to be brave enough to leave a dead-end job, trust that He has planted dreams in your heart that He wants to see fulfilled. Believe that His timing is perfect and take small steps toward your dream every day. Trust Him to provide for you. God will empower you to be brave enough to leave, and He will bless your desire to follow Him.
I'm joining the #MadeforBrave #Sisterhood every Monday - Sharing our stories of becoming who we were created to be! #Brave #Hope Share on X
Sarah Geringer writes about Finding Peace in God’s Word at sarahgeringer.com and is the author of three books. Sarah lives in her beloved home state of Missouri with her husband and three children, right in the heart of prime viewing for the Great Solar Eclipses of 2017 and 2024.
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Download Your Made for Brave Manifesto…
Sisters, we are called to walk the way of hope instead of the way of defeat. We must claim more than our title of “Daughter of the King.” We must step up and also claim our position.
And we must claim these together. As a sisterhood; a sisterhood of brave women who stand strong in the promises of who God is and who we are.
- We all are Made for Brave.
- We are made to live for something authentic and brave.
- In living brave, we silence the past, transform the future, and take a front row seat to God’s wild and uncontainable love!
So, I’m inviting you to join this Made for Brave Sisterhood, each Monday as we share our stories and allow God to bring hope and healing. Let’s commit to being authentic and brave, one step at a time, side by side, holding each other up and nudging each other toward our true selves. And let’s claim the victory waiting on the other side of brave; for ourselves and our sisterhood.
Let’s celebrate our tears and our struggles as we peel away the layers of fear to reveal the beauty of brave.
Let’s risk everything that brave requires for everything that brave has to offer…
Becoming who we were created to be!
I'm joining the #MadeforBrave #Sisterhood every Monday - Sharing our stories of becoming who we were created to be! #Brave #Hope Share on XDo you have a Made for Brave story to share? Get the writing guidelines and submit your stories HERE!
