Turning the Page.
I’ve written here and there, over the past several years, about embracing a theology of place and plumbing deep into the richness and redemption of God in concrete time and place. If you’ve heard me out and about, you’ve likely heard the phrase “In the trenches.” It has been my goal and desire to know God “in the trenches” — in the pockets and relationships and caverns of my own community. I have longed to follow Jesus in incarnation — to live a deep and wide life, right here - in real-time, in this place (Jamestown, NY), and with these people.
When I left the Boundless Enterprise and Danielle Strickland team two years ago to found Ally Co and church plant, I couldn’t have possibly imagined the change of tide soon ahead of me. All I knew was that I was being guided to rootedness and that obedience looked like following and concretely planting my life here (trading in travel contracts for local connections & collaborations - I wrote about that here, dated 5/15/22).
But in the days that followed my “yes” to this place, in what seems both like one quick breath and simultaneously the most pain I’ve ever felt, my mom and daughter were both diagnosed with life-changing diagnoses. Mom - with cancer- a cruel osteosarcoma that stripped her quickly of her independence and vitality, and my rainbow baby - with autism - and the behavioral challenges have been staggering.
I couldn’t have known then what I know now, but here’s what entrepreneurialism and presence (right here in these, my own trenches) have afforded me:
Caregiving
I cared for my mom from discovery through death. I didn’t miss a moment (literally). Just as tenderly as she birthed and mothered me, I midwifed her home. I will never regret our final months together - I’ll only wish that they had been longer.
Bandwidth
To learn, to understand, and to re-set our compass as a family for both the gifts and challenges of autism has taken space, emotional bandwidth, and empathy. We’ve created time real estate for all of the appointments, assessments, and care needs, we’ve put in the hard work of learning, and we’ve collected tools for the journey - both to care for our own needs as well as to fuel our babe’s passions and energies.
Flexibility
Entrepreneurialism isn’t for everyone and don’t buy the lie that it’s easy (it’s, in fact, very uphill), but it’s afforded me flexibility around my top priorities.
Humility
When you live, serve, work and raise kids in a small community, one thing you’re guaranteed is humility. There is ample opportunity for failure, humiliation, and dropped balls. But you know what the flip side of that is? Love. Real, genuine, authentic, grace-filled relationship and reconciliation. Any failure or misgiving, seasoned with forgiveness and opportunity, creates pathway for redemption.
You want to know what I think renewal and revival of a small city looks like?! SO much humility. And the willingness to keep on getting back up and trying again.
And on that note… Change
I’ve spent time over the last two years of leading Ally Co in-the-trenches with nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and churches, working on their change strategies. All over our beautiful community - from Warren to Dunkirk & in-between - organizations keep on choosing, amidst a landscape of change, to get back on up - to stand up again, to re-set resources again, to invest again in designing for a future that is hope-anchored and beautiful. It gives me absolute chills to be able to stand in the gap of this work with them and to be part of the collective, getting back up and trying again.
This season has born fruit, despite it’s many sorrows — on this I stand. I have indeed known God “in these trenches” and the Presence of Hope and Redemption in even the murkiest of channels has compelled me to go even further with my “yes” to rootedness in this time and this place.
And with that conviction, it’s my pleasure to share with you here, dearest reader, that on Monday, April 29th, I began a new role as the Director of Advancement at the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County.
This newest role will position me to cultivate donor relationships and partnerships that ensure the success of the United Way’s ongoing initiatives (including the very important distribution of funds to 42 programs at 29 local nonprofit agencies) and it will place me in the center of strategy for growth and long-term change in our beloved community (you can read the press release here).
I can say wholeheartedly that my whole life’s mission has been to participate in the mission of flourishing. Whether that has been in gang-ridden barrios in Tegucigalpa, or in hospitals and NICUs across Honduras, or out of the back of a food truck at Conduit Ministries, or on stages equipping women to leverage their voices, or in board rooms helping orgs re-organize for sustainability… wherever life has found me, whatever season or stage or location I have been in, I have sought to be active in participation with God in the mission of flourishing.
So, I turn the page again, into a new role and a new season — and resoundingly, once more, I say “Yes” to flourishing and to rootedness and to getting back up again, believing that really, truly, our best days as a community are yet ahead.
Thank you for loving me on this journey.
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Please know: Ally Co will remain active. It is a team endeavor (with network-focus) to support founders + organizations with accelerated innovation and it is much-needed in WNY. It’s a piece of the pie in community flourishing. I will continue to lead the team and partner with local organizations in their change strategies moving forward. For inquiries, reach out to admin@allyco.org .