Tis The Season

Recognizing Chapters in our Lives

The holiday season is in full swing! Hallmark movies, shopping for gifts, lights, trees and hot cocoa with whipped cream are on everyone’s to do list. I always look forward to this time of year, especially now that I have grandchildren. Watching my kids with their kids carrying on holiday traditions is very heartwarming. As enjoyable as the holiday season is, it seems like it goes by so quickly each year. Before you know it, we’ll be ringing in 2021 and all its opportunities and challenges will be on our doorstep.

Much like the holidays, our entire lives are made up of different seasons. Some are lighthearted and full of joy and others are so intense they leave an indelible mark on our hearts. Our relationships have seasons as well. Some people come into our lives for a short season, others for a lifetime.

A Season In Time

Every season has the same components: a beginning, a middle and an end. Being able to recognize where we are in the seasons of our lives is very important. For instance, aborting a season prematurely or dragging one out too long after its expiration date can be very detrimental.  Most students come to OGI having endured some of the most traumatic seasons you could ever imagine. However, they are resilient and determined not to allow the past to dictate their future. This is exactly the necessary attitude to successfully transition from one season in our lives to the next.

Some of our students enter the world of culinary arts with excitement mixed with a little apprehension because of all the unknowns.  It isn’t long though before they have formed new friendships with their fellow classmates. Many of these new relationships carry on long after they graduate and move on from the OGI classroom into their new culinary careers.

It takes an equal amount of courage to roll up your sleeves, dig in your heels and decide to embrace a new season or the ending of one in our lives.

The End of a Season

It is with mixed emotions that I acknowledge my season as Executive Director at OGI has come to an end. Through much prayer and confirmation from my family and legacy team, I know that I have completed my assignment at OGI and it’s time for me to move on.

In 2016 when we launched OGI, we knew we were creating something special. Built from conception into over 200 graduates in 5 countries, hundreds of lives have been changed as a result of coming into contact with the opportunity that OGI provides.

One of the greatest joys of my life has been being a part of the team that built OGI into what it is today. The satisfaction of knowing you have had a small hand in changing someone’s life for the better is very rewarding. I will never forget the amazing people around the world that I have met and collaborated with during my season here.

I am eternally grateful for this opportunity and I am excited to see OGI continue to grow and change people’s lives through life skills and vocational training.

God Bless You

“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own.” – Charles Dickens

Judy Lamborn designed the Life Skills component of OGI’s Culinary Arts Program model currently taught in classrooms around the world.