An Open Door

Throughout the past 6 months of being un employed  there seems to have been a pattern. We would have a period with lots of  interest.  Meaning we would usually have more than one interview in a week. We would feel hopeful, anxious, grateful. Then we would go weeks without hearing anything back from those interviews. We would also not have any new interviews. There didn't really seem to be any evidence that the time my husband spent applying for those four jobs a week that are mandated for him to receive unemployment where going anywhere but into the wide open space of the internet. It was those down times that it was hard. We would start to worry about what the future would bring. We would wonder why nobody seemed to want to hire and at times it was difficult to not take it personally.

Then, out of the blue, my husband would get contacted for an interview and then invariable another interview from another company would come within a few days. These contacts seemed to come just at the right moments when we needed some hope and renewal of faith and ability to trust to the Lord. My husband has come to speak of these times as an open door. It was as if the Lord was saying, I'm here and I am taking care of you. Here is the next step in this process. Step through and continue on this journey. A journey that we couldn't see where it was leading but the Lord did. 

Over the past six months we have gone through many opened doors. These haven't all been in terms of employment either. The Lord has provided when we have needed. My husband has literally worn holes in the soles of his shoes. Must be all that walking around the classroom. Within just a few days of seeing my husband's need I received an email stating that we had earned enough rewards points that we had $25 we could use toward our next shoe purchase. On top of that I was able to find a pair of shoes on sale that cost..... Yep exactly $25.

I can't count how many times this has happened over the last few month. So many times where I will be needing an item and then I learn that  I have surprise points that I can use, thus allowing us to get that item for free or next to nothing.

It hasn't been just "needs" either. I love to use foaming scented soaps. Unfortunately these are more expensive than buying the bulk generic stuff and pouring into refillable containers. Because of this I allow myself this luxury  in the kitchen only. The exact day I pumped the last ounce, I once again received an email saying I had a coupon for a free soap. Truly a little miracle just for me.

The Lord has and is taking care of us.

My husband just had his 11th  interview. True to form, this interview was coupled with another one. In fact, both happened in the same day. The later of these two meetings was for a temporary job. One of the things my husband did early on in this job searching process was to join a Solidworks user group. He attended a dinner that was put on by this group and has frequently monitored this group's activity and postings. Recently one of the people in this group posted that where she was working was looking for some help trying to complete a project. The work was more of mechanical design, than engineering based, but something my husband could easily do. It would pay a lot more than substitute teaching (not hard when the max you can make is $60 a day). The down side is he would have to commute about an hour each way but that is do able, especially if just for a few months.

The interview was really more a formality and by that evening my husband had a job! He was also pretty excited about the work and the environment. He just seemed really pleased with the moral of the company and his experience in the interview. They guarantee that he will be able to work at least a month.

I can not say what a relief it is to have this work. We could both physically  feel a pressure lifted as we know finances won't need to be so tight. I no longer have to live by the principle of  just don't spend any money. I was also getting pretty worried knowing that substitute teaching won't be an option in about a month (down side to summer vacation). Now we can attempt to save to be able to handle things this summer. We also feel blessed for this work will give him some experience in the medical field. A lot of the current jobs seem to be for medical related engineers so hopefully this will help broaden the jobs we can apply for and have some hope of them being interested.