HI! My name is Emily Shaver; I live in Dewitt, MI and have what other people would classify as a “super exciting” job. I work for Emergent Biosolutions, the only company in the world that manufactures the Anthrax vaccine. To me, it is what feels like hours spent in security that sometimes can take longer than airport TSA, spending lots of time staring at my computer screens (yes, screens plural), and knowing more about Microsoft Excel than I care to admit; but it’s not all bad, I get to watch airplanes take off and land all day out my office window 🙂 . I am not just defined by my marginally exciting job. I am a Christ-follower, sister, daughter, auntie, girlfriend, and friend, and I may or may not have a slight obsession with cleaning as well, but that’s for another day.
Over the last couple years, one of my favorite things to do (I know, crazy that my marginally exciting job just doesn’t do it for me) is my little business that I have created with Thirty-One Gifts. I got involved with Thirty-One back in January of last year, simply because I loved the products and I wanted a discount. As I sit here now, I am a Director and have a team of 11 girls. This little business has opened my eyes to one of my true passions and that is, people. I have really become myself in my ability to mentor the girls under me, celebrate their successes and truly just love that we are women and we are empowered to do whatever makes us happy. I could care less about the money that I make from Thirty-One; to me, the most important piece is that I can help someone in need through a fundraiser, donate my commission to a charity or just simply give back. Sure the products are cute and functional, but the relationships that I have built along the way make the cuteness of the bag so minuscule.
‘Living the good life’ to me has evolved over the past couple years. I was never one of those kids that were born knowing what they wanted to do when they grew up. I didn’t dream about being a teacher, a nurse, or anything specific. I envied those people who knew and pursued. I spent lots of time, money and effort going to school for things that I thought would make others happy or pursuing things that “I knew I was good at.” I sit here as an almost 30-year-old and it is safe to say that I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up, and until recently, I was ashamed to admit that. I graduated from college with a degree in Criminal Justice and I have several associate degrees in various different things, but it feels like I don’t use any of it in my everyday life at Emergent. I love my job, but it still doesn’t give me the feeling that I am doing what I was called to do, partly because I don’t feel like I know what that is. For a long time, I struggled to wrap my brain around the question of, “why didn’t God give me direction?”
What I realized is that God was trying to get me to set aside the trials of daily life and look to Him for direction and guidance. I have wanted to do so many things that never panned out and I used to find myself looking to God with the question of, “why didn’t you make this happen?” but instead, I should have been looking for the door that God was opening in its place. I may not have had the dream of being something specific when I grew up, but that doesn’t mean that God didn’t have direction for my life.
Hannah (the writer of this blog) and I are close friends and oddly enough, we both turn 30 within a couple of weeks of each other this year. We have had many discussions on how to begin this new decade of life and I simply just want to enjoy every moment and ‘live the good life’ as much as possible. Who cares if my carpet isn’t vacuumed several times a week, who cares if I had to work late every night one week, and who cares if plans that I made fell through, because it simply doesn’t matter, life is just too short to be anything but happy.
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This post appears as part of the In Her Words series. To learn more about In Her Words, click here.
Cindy says
Great writing Emily! Loved reading your story. It connected with me!