“Have you lost your freaking mind Cassandra?!”
Those are the words I heard on the other end of the phone from several people when I turned down the job opportunity of a lifetime a few weeks ago. Well, the opportunity of someone else’s lifetime to be more exact…
Editor for the Denver Bronco’s publications team
I stared at the e-mail for quite some time before clicking it closed and calling to decline the offer for an interview– an interview opportunity that was literally dropped in my lap without me ever pursuing a job opening.
This summer, just a week after deciding not to move to Texas, said e-mail came to my phone. With just one tap of my finger on my iPhone screen, visions of a cushy full-time desk job with a generous salary, benefits, bonuses, and a ridiculous amount of free NFL swag started to flash before my eyes.
But before I could even entertain what living off of a salary double what I currently am making would look like, I had other pictures come to mind.
Pictures of my Denver Street School kids– students who have been incorrectly labeled by society as “troubled” or “delinquents”– laughing while “talking” to each other on their banana-telephones in my classroom after school…
Pictures of the sweet babies and teen parents that I will get to work with this upcoming school year…
Pictures of the laughter and deep joy that comes from being a part of a team of teachers that is anchored in the truth of the Gospel…
Pictures of generations of DSS students who have come to know the Lord and are not only following Him personally, but who are raising their own children to know Him intimately and passionately…
Pictures of students’ birthday parties in my backyard and baptismal celebrations on Sunday afternoons…
Pictures of students from different sides of town, with different stories, learning to love each other as Christ loved us… as a family.
Pictures of students finding academic success for the first time in their lives and finally understanding the movie-like joy of throwing their caps in the air on graduation day…
Everyone knows that cheesy saying, “A picture’s worth a thousand words.”
Well, in my case, all of these pictures are priceless.
No amount of writing will ever accurately capture the emotions, prayers, or love that each of these photos stirs up in my soul.
So, maybe it makes me insane, but no one could ever put a price tag on my job. No amount of money or free Broncos gear could ever buy me away from these beautiful young people that God has placed in my life.
After quite the season of wrestling with whether I was supposed to be at the Street School for this school year, I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is exactly where God has me.
However, I also know that I cannot do this alone.
God, in His infinite Goodness, has designed the Street School to be a community supported ministry. And one way that the community is able to support the school is through helping our staff to raise support for our rather small salaries.
Over the last several years I have watched God provide in extravagant and honestly, miraculous ways and I believe that He will continue to do so, but I need your help!
If you’re reading this, I am asking you to pray for me.
- Pray for guidance and wisdom on how to spend my salary in ways that further His Kingdom.
- Pray that I would learn to wait patiently on the Lord in times of need and want.
- Pray that I would have my daily bread, no more and no less… and that I would want no more and no less.
I have been blessed with a beautiful home full of loving, Christian women who adore my students and long to see our house used as a tool for ministry, whether that be through advocacy dinners, Bible studies, or birthday parties, but that doesn’t lessen the fact that there is rent to be paid and food to be purchased for said ministry tools.
So, if you’re interested in supporting me financially, you can make a small one-time or monthly donation by clicking on the Donate Now tab at www.DenverStreetSchool.org. Simply designate your donation as “Faculty support for Kacy Leyba” in the comment section.
If you are “old school” and own a checkbook, you can mail a check payable to:
Denver Street School
PO Box 140069
Denver, CO 80214
And just write Faculty Support for Kacy Leyba in the memo line.
[The school is a government certified 501(c)3 non-profit and all donations are 100% tax deductible & secure, I promise!]
Whether you are able to support me in prayer or financially, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
No, this isn’t an easy job by any means, but it is my honor to laugh and cry with my students everyday as they walk through the valleys and on the mountain tops and learn what it is to be loved by our King.
Thank you for your generosity and for allowing me to pour into the lives of Denver’s at-risk youth for another year!
Blessings always,
P.S. As always, I will be logging my journey here on my blog and via newsletters throughout the year, so be sure to subscribe to my blog in the right column or send me your e-mail so I can keep you updated on the amazing things that God is doing here in Denver at the Street School!
Louise in the Light 