Written by Jason Montoya. Posted in My Life.

The Final Blog Post Of The Year (2014) - Grateful

This will be my last blog post for the year.

Being intentional about resting and releasing in each aspect of my life is a top priority for me. For this purpose, I want to take the last month of this year off for this blog. While I may visit social media and make a few comments on occasion, I will be mostly letting it go as well for the month of December. My hope is a renewed energy, new ideas as I continue to share my journey and insights in 2015. Before I cut off just yet, let me share an update of the the journey this year.

We are eight months past the shut down of Noodlehead Marketing. It's crazy to think about how much our life has changed in the last year. We went from having 2 children to 3. We went from living in my parent's condo in Norcross for 9 years, to moving to Lawrenceville, and renting from our new landlord. In addition to these two major life changes, we also shut down our company with no clarity on where our journey would take us next.

It was weeks before we shut down when Todd Miechiels called and eventually contracted me to help with the 315 Project. Two months after this point, there were over a dozen projects where I was working with leaders to solve their problems. Vision, accountability, communication, marketing, recruiting and websites were many of the areas we focused on. I was utilizing the skills and strengths I had developed over the course of my career meeting leaders where they were and helping them how I knew best.

Work continued to flow our way so I continued to do it. Trusting God while I focused on doing great work, maintaining relationships, and pro-actively communicating. When one project finished, another one came to light. God provided a steady amount of active work and a pipeline of work to come. Grateful is how I would best describe my feeling today.

For those of you familiar with sports, teams usually watch film of the game the day after to reflect, learn and grow. Well, over the past eight months God has been busy showing me my life's journey film reel. I have learned what it was like to be on the other side of me in different seasons of my life. This included, the good, the bad and the ugly. It has been inspiring, sobering and compelling. New experiences have triggered memories I had long forgot as I learn a new level of humility in the face of reality.

While it has been chaotic at times, it seems steadiness has stuck with us and our life is now one of trusting God about what is next. I have especially enjoyed the recent work with my friend Craig Haynie of CablesandKits.com. We have been working together in articulating his vision for the company and helping them to see the obstacles they face internally and externally as they move towards it. While working with a friend can be fun, it can also be more stressful at times. We both were intentional about our concerns with working together before we started and it has been a new and unique experience.

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The other big milestone, turning 30, was exciting. My wonderful wife put together an amazing four course meal where each dish she made represented a season of my life. My parents, sisters, their spouses and our kids were apart of this amazing meal. Also, if you dare to venture out... there is a short video of our exciting evening... and it's funny... (Thanks Ryan!)

Here is how she described the four courses/seasons of my life.

Course 1 - Ages 5-10: "Jason was a simple guy who followed the rules. He said he wished he had tested the boundaries a litte more at this age but what he didn't realize was that his spice was just forming as he was getting ready to come into his own. This is a simple course with a hint of spice in the cole slaw and cheese hidden throughout the meatballs with a playful drizzle of jalapeño jelly over it."

Course 2 - Ages 10-20: "During this stage of Jason's life he was super outgoing, playful, friendly, and inviting all with his own little spice. Things often looked chaotic and like they might fall apart at any moment, but somehow all the many individual parts came together beautifully in the end. This course is an heirloom tamato salad over arugula, with basil crystals, candied ghost peppers, and a green goddess dressing. Each piece is in its own right very good, just like Jason, but the whole picture is amazing. A savory sweet mouthful with a touch of heat."

Course 3 - Ages 20-25: "This course is sophisticated, and while delicious it is lacking the fun playful nature that has always marked who he is. During this stage of his life he did a lot of growing up fast, so fast that some of the best parts couldn't quite keep up. A Filet mignon over a spiced butternut squash puree because, while some of him was lost, the hint of spice still remained. On top of the fillet is a crumble with some of the candied bacon. Hidden inside, because he hid away some of his best and strongest parts during these years."

Course 4 - Ages 25-30: "Mexican hot chocolate cake, topped with candied ghost peppers & candied bacon. The bacon carries over from the previous course to represent the lessons he learned from that stage of life. The candied peppers from the 2nd course return because so has his fun loving spicy side. It should be a rich decadent dessert that is fun and spicy, which is who Jason really is!"

Thank you, to my wonderful wife for her amazing support in my journey and her way of celebrating it!

Lastly, I want to take a moment and thank the clients who have hired me since Noodlehead Marketing was shut down on March 31st. When we let go of the company I had no idea what work would look like after taking this leap of faith. God showed up in an amazing way and I am extremely grateful to the following companies, and my parents, for being a part of his provision for us during this time.

McKeever's First Ride (Deenie & Laurie)

The 315 Project (Todd Miechiels)

Builder Specialties

Joyfields Institute (Sobem Nwoko)

CablesandKits.com (Craig Haynie)

Braselton Stover House

Precision Pain Relief Center (Don Capoferri)

Concrete Replacement Specialists (David)

Full Porch Press (Bryant Cornett)

Mom and Dad

Capital Ideas (Beth & Gina)

The Third Bucket (Randy Brunson and Rick Cope)