And now that you know the ending, just wait until you hear the whole story...
He first applied for a job at this school about 10 weeks ago (whew!) It was actually for a different position, and one that he was unsure of taking. He knew he could do it, but if you asked him what he would truly want to do, what his gifts and desires were directing him towards, he would have told you his dream job would have been to step over fully into a marketing position. Truth be told, it took a bit of a prayer and twisting of his arm to get him to apply in the first place. But we prayed about it, and he knew our God was not limited to an application, and so he took yet another step of faith and wholeheartedly put his hat in the ring.
A good six weeks later, he accepted a position at Trader Joe's, a local grocery store that we love (and who's roots are in California, so it really felt like a piece of home for us!) We are SO incredibly grateful to Trader Joe's, and we were bursting at the seams to tell everyone that he got hired there - except that, the day after he started there, the school finally called to interview him! All this to say, we've kept silent about this job journey the last several weeks because we didn't want any potential employers to question the loyalty or schedule of what we were pursuing.
You get it. Job hunting is hard enough! It was the best problem we'd had in weeks - to have been hired at a (albeit, most likely temporary) position while interviewing for a prestigious opportunity. We didn't want to confuse the situation by having "Found a job!" posted on a status update and muddling the unemployed waters. So, thanks for understanding and respecting our roll-out of this info!
A couple interviews at the school later, and God shook the very ground we were standing on. After interviewing Josh for a different position, the head of the school saw something in him that revealed the talents and passion he had for marketing. It was one of the most affirming moments I've witnessed in his life, and I'm so grateful God placed someone at the right place and time to recognize and distinguish this in him. Two more interviews (and a few more weeks) later...and it's official. He got the job.
We are ELATED. We are so so so so grateful. We are blown away by the goodness of others and the goodness of God. A year ago I would have told you that we would have NEVER moved here without a job, or that it would be impossible to do so, or that it would be irresponsible, or that there's just no way we could have survived three and a half months with no income. But, here we are. Because....because God. The end. Because we listened and obeyed, and really, really, really NOTHING more. God made it all happen. Only God.
And here's where I get real honest with you. Here's the part where you are feeling all "oh, how nice that worked out for you" and I'm about to blow that thought right out of the water for you...so, just keep reading.
The night before we got the job, God told me something. He said, plain and simply, "You know that if he gets this job it doesn't solve your problems, right? Only I can do that." I kind of brushed that off and said another prayer for the job, and then I BEGGED God for the job and then I thanked God and still said "but, please God, seriously, please let him get this job". I didn't quite let what God told me sink in all the way. I wanted Josh to get that job. It would be A problem solved, and so my heart and mind were set on that.
Then, he got the job. And, I felt relief. I felt joy. But...I didn't feel any more secure than I had the day before. In fact, neither Josh nor I jumped up and down like we had in the past when much smaller victories were won (You got a call baaaack!!!! You got an interviewwwww!!!) Not this time. This time was different.
Josh got the job. Hallelujah. But, that's not the victory here. The victory - the moral to the story - is the three and a half freaking months that came before the job. The miracle is the survival, the journey, the long road of impatience and questions and doubting. The loving marriage that sustained the waves of tumultuous worry. The food on the table brought by friends. The cards of encouragement and support sent by loved ones. The pride found in working a blue-collar job. The strength of a family cared for by a community and body of Christ. THAT'S OUR VICTORY.
I never could have guessed it. Even a few weeks ago I could have told you what this blog post could have looked like - a long and relentless bragging about my husband and how awesome he is and how good God is for rewarding his efforts. No. Not at all. Don't get me wrong - Josh is my hero - but, we're giving credit where credit is surely due, and that goes entirely to Jesus.
Here's something else - Satan hates it when we give Jesus the credit. And today, just as we were eager to awake with feelings of assurance and celebration, we were spiritually attacked from all sides as Satan did his best to steal our joy and distract us from the goodness of God. I'm really being honest here, gang. Today was ROUGH. Even my daughters were stressed out and overly emotional and the littlest things seemed like the end of the universe in our home. Each one of us was in a terrible mood, annoyed and frustrated, irrationally snappy and completely out of sorts.
We literally had to stop in the middle of our morning and pray aloud in our living room to just invite the Holy Spirit to be present with us, to help us focus on His peace and faithfulness, and to not let anything distract us from the beauty of the moment and the assurance of God's goodness.
But, here we are. We are here to CELEBRATE and let you know that God IS good. Wholly good. And the job is wonderful...but, it is merely a facet in the structure that is our lives as they should be lived out according to God's will. We are grateful - but, not fooled by the false sense of security that money and benefits offer in this world. We are humbled, and we are sincerely blessed by the long three and a half months where our faith was stretched far beyond the boundaries of our liking.
Thank you, thank you, thank you - to each of you who prayed for us, supported us, encouraged us, and fought the good fight through the victory of the wait.
God is using us here. God has big plans for us. God is good - really - all the time.
We're so grateful to celebrate God's goodness with you!
Love this post! A good reminder that Satan hates it when we give credit where it's due instead of taking it for ourselves. I needed something upbeat today and I am glad to rejoice with you.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the job! And I love your perspective on the journey of waiting- it is grace indeed to be able to see God at work when he says no and when he says yes.
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