Living with Loren

I was sitting in St. James Baptist Church on Sunday, invited to a Women’s Day program, when the woman assigned to give the charge stood up. She looked out into the crowd, paused for just a moment, and said:

“Make something out of nothing.”

The words settled into my spirit like a weight. Heavy. Familiar. True.

Because I’ve been there. I’ve lived that charge more times than I can count. And in many ways, I’m living it again right now.

Fast forward to today. I’m sitting in my classroom, a special education teacher, trying to catch my breath between classes, and if I’m being transparent, anxiety has been creeping in lately. Maybe it’s postpartum. Maybe it’s the weight of starting a whole new career at 33 years old. Maybe it’s just life. Either way, my mind has been loud.

So, I’ve been listening to lo-fi music—something my fellow teachers put me on to. I didn’t know much about it, so I looked it up. Turns out, lo-fi is created by taking parts of a song that would normally be discarded—background noise, imperfections, old samples—and turning them into something calming, steady, peaceful.

And suddenly, I got it.

That’s exactly what it means to make something out of nothing.

I’ve done it before. March 2018.

I was in debt. Bills piling up. Living paycheck to paycheck. Rent creeping higher. I worked as a loan processor, watching other people qualify for homes, knowing that ownership was better than renting. But how could I own anything when my credit was bad and my debt was high?

I had nothing.

But I got up.
I made a plan.
I worked tirelessly.

I paid off debt. Opened a secured credit card to build my credit. Picked up three jobs for six months. I was exhausted, but I had a vision—I wasn’t just working to work. I was working to build something for my future children.

By September 2018, I became a homeowner.

People told me I was moving too fast. They doubted me. Worried for me. But their fears didn’t alter my plan, because I knew what I was working for. I was turning nothing into something.

And here I am, doing it again.

Starting over. New career. Lower salary. No prior classroom experience in the States, just the teaching I did on mission trips. Some days, it feels like I’m rebuilding from scratch. But I know better.

Because nothing is never truly nothing.

Women have been making something out of nothing since the beginning of time. Madam C.J. Walker took the little she had and built a beauty empire. Viola Davis grew up in poverty and became one of the most celebrated actresses of our time. Katherine Johnson used her mind to send men to the moon, even when the world tried to tell her she wasn’t worth listening to.

We have always taken scraps and created sustenance.
Taken pain and turned it into power.
Taken what was overlooked and turned it into something that could not be ignored.

So, if you’re in a season where it feels like you have nothing—nothing left to give, nothing in the bank, nothing to hold onto—look again.

Because maybe, just maybe, that nothing is actually the beginning of something greater than you could ever imagine.

Until Next Time,

Keep Living!

Love, Loren