Good Evening

Thank you, Fr. John, for that kind introduction.  I’m Melissa Baldwin, as Father John said. I grew up in Olympia attending St. Michael’s School and Parish.  I went to college at the University of Washington and have stayed in Seattle since graduating.  I became a Holy Rosary parish member about 3 years ago but really became involved in the last 2 years.

So for the past 12 plus years I worked happily for Washington Mutual in Corporate Marketing. Unfortunately, as you know WaMu laid off its employees and closed its doors.  Since then I have found myself with a lot more time but it was up to me to choose  how to use that new found time.  I also knew I needed to have my positive  personality kick  in   even more and  I couldn’t do it alone.

I didn’t want the “unemployment” label to deteriorate my confidence and moral and bring on anxious and sleepless nights.  By nature, I’m pretty happy go lucky but when I started having doubt and worry about my future, it scared me.  Ultimately, I was faced with the path of isolating myself or choosing to branch out and grow new relationships through my community to keep this positive outlook.

Volunteering was my light bulb answer.  So I plugged into some professional volunteer programs for networking opportunities and to give back to the community which always feels good. but this wasn’t my answer.   I was looking at so many avenues but not looking at the obvious, my church and parish life community.

I pretty much always went to church, sometimes not on a regular basis but knew it was something that was ingrained in me and I could never leave it.  Although, when I did go, I was just going through the motions and coming and going without getting to know anyone.  This was comfortable to me.  I didn’t have the responsibility or the accountability to anyone, outside of my own action of going to church. It was one day when I was looking through the bulletin that I saw the need for someone to do the flowers for the church altar.  Perfect, a small way I could get involved and use my creative side.  This would be the first step of me getting to know some of my parish members and soon deeper relationships.  These relationships lead me to being apart of the Confirmation team, the Women’s Spirituality Group and now the Stewardship Commission.  This was it, I was filling a void.  I was beginning to surround myself with likeminded people. I didn’t even know the church was the relationship I was seeking.  In a sense the church was seeking me for a relationship and God directed me there, knowing that that was my need.

Being part of the confirmation team had the most impact on me.  I felt like I went back to the basics of being a Catholic and what that means. I learned so much from the classes that I was teaching.  I now get a lot more out of church, rather than just showing up and going through the motions. I had a give and receive relationship with Holy Rosary.

I received more than just that good feeling, though.  By sharing more of myself and becoming more involved, I received the assurance that God will take care of me.

My faith grew stronger and my anxious and sleepless nights subsided.  I saw a need and met that need for both myself and Holy Rosary.  It was a win, win.

By connecting to my community through my time and talent at Holy Rosary I’m able to impact others positively, grow my faith and have a great affect on my attitude and behavior.

I’m still unemployed but I honestly can say my worry is not there. I have so much trust and faith in God and it’s absolutely a direct correlation of becoming more involved through stewardship.  I engaged my church and in return, they have engaged me.

Thank you.