Twists, Turns and the Tender Care of God — Lisa Espinoza

Today was a gigantic billboard with big bold letters reading - LISA, THIS IS GOD. I’VE GOT YOU.

I have to tell you a bit about my circuitous route to today, and then you will understand

Three years ago, I went back to school for my 2nd bachelors degree in Communicative Disorders and last summer became a licensed speech language pathology assistant (SLPA) with the goal of practicing in the field and deciding if I wanted to continue on for my masters to become a speech pathologist.

One day this past fall, I said to Chip that I wanted to keep my eyes open for something at Beach Kids, a local therapy center with a great reputation. Lo and behold, less than one minute from my saying that to Chip, I got an email from Beach Kids. Though I was happy at Mission Hills Christian School where I’d been Admissions Director for the past 7 1/2 years, this was definitely a God thing, and it was time to make the leap to the new career I had been preparing for. During the transition, I began working a few late afternoons at Beach Kids while working the first part of the day at Mission HIlls. My last day at Mission Hills was to be December 31. I was enjoying getting to know my kiddos at Beach Kids, and the staff there were welcoming, kind, and a great team of people to work with. This was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Then December 15 happened.

I didn’t return to work at Beach Kids until January 21. They had told me to take all the time I needed, but I felt I should get back to work. It turned out to be too soon. Speech therapy is a rewarding field, but it’s not always easy, especially right now when every day brings something new that punches me in the gut, and I have to suck it up and make sure I’ve gathered the appropriate therapy materials to address the appropriate goals using the most appropriate activities and am taking correct data…all while making sure the kiddos are engaged. I knew God had opened the door for me to be at Beach Kids, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to be there. But everything had changed.

December 15. New game. New rules.

One of the new rules is — do whatever you have to do to take care of yourself. I was grappling with what that looked like. I had told a couple of people the week of January 28 that now — now that everything is different — I just want to be home and write. I need flexibility and space.

On February 1, I got a call out of the blue asking if I would be interested in coming back to Mission Hills part-time. “You can work from home and figure out the schedule that works best for you” are the words that struck me. God heard my prayer and handed me the answer.

I’m not a quitter, so it was difficult to think about leaving Beach Kids. God took care of that. During a meeting with my supervisor, she asked, “How are you doing?” That’s all it took. I broke and said, “I don’t think I can do this right now.” We cried, she hugged me, and the Beach Kids owner and staff once again demonstrated that their primary concern was for my well being and encouraged me to do whatever I need to do to take care of myself right now.

So here we are today. I woke up and made myself a spinach smoothie, part of my morning routine for much of my 7 1/2 years at Mission Hills. I drove to work and walked through the front door like so many hundreds of times before. New normal meets old normal.

So many smiles and hugs and “welcome back”s. Even a cold bottle of kombucha. It was all so familiar, so comfortable, so right, so — HOME.

GOD, THIS IS LISA. THANK YOU.