Yes, it's been months. Let's just skip that for now.
It has been a stressful couple of weeks. Things at my job had gotten progressively worse, I recently started a new business venture parttime, and school has been reaching the boiling point. My job at NPUC has been the brunt of my stress recently. I won't go into that right now, but suffice it to say, that even though Jon and I were preparing to get me out of there and he had recently gotten a bunch of interviews and interest (which was a HUGE deal for us; he's been graduated for two years and not a single interview despite all of his efforts), we were comfortable, but not officially ready for me to quit. Well, it seems that God had other plans. And He wanted it done in such a way that I would A) not put it off B) not continue to try to work there full time, or part time, or even per diem and C) never, ever go back. For anyone that thinks God is hard to read, sometimes He's just loud and clear. And if you don't listen, He just gets louder and clearer. Thanks to Him for that!
Anyway, the situation was taken out of my control. Jon was researching two different jobs that were both interested in him and several different career paths. He met with several different schools, sought counsel from my dad, his friends, his CLC brothers and some of his professors at Seminary. We decided that we would wait until Friday when he got at least one official offer before I put in my two weeks notice, which I did. So he had two weeks to make a decision. He thoroughly and painstakingly researched all of his options and possible paths and spent a lot of time in prayer. It all came down to a prayer and then a phone call with my dad last night before his meeting this morning. He went into it fairly confident of the outcome and he was right. The details matter too though.
The first job was for a management position at Taco Bell. There is nothing Jon wants to do less than work in food again. Even as a management position. But they really liked him and were willing to pay him way more than they probably should and most importantly, they were willing to bend over backwards to work around his school schedule while he completes his second degree in the next year. It's definitely not what we wanted. I know it's a stupid reason, but it's embarassing to tell someone that you work at Taco Bell when you're 24. Especially when you have a degree and you have a family to support. You feel like you have to justify yourself.
The second job was for a writing position at Guardian. The pay was good, and what's more, they really loved him. They appreciated his skill and ability and they loved his integrity. They would have even been willing to be flexible with his work schedule to allow him to take his classes. But they would not be willing to do all of this just to lose him in 1 year, which is our projected time table for him to finish school.
Just incredible. Had this offer come 24 hours ago, he'd have taken it. But after all of the prayer and guidance, he felt confident that God was leading us in a different direction, and we're trusting that. It's crazy to me that we wanted this for so long, worked for it so hard, prayed for it night after night for two long years, and He actually gave it to us. But He also let us know that He has something better planned, and He gave us the courage to follow Him. He never ceases to amaze me. If I believed He would give me what I wanted, I didn't expect He would give it to me like this. That always seems to be the way with Him, at least in my own life.
So, I'm done at NPUC in ten days, and will be self employed from now on as a Premier Designs Consultant, which pays better and allows me to spend 90.4% (I did the math) more time home with my daughters. I've wanted that so badly. Jon is going to finish out the fall semester at seminary, take the winter semester at seminary and then start at Pitt full time in the spring to earn his second bachelor's degree in computers. He'll be working full time as a manager at Taco Bell until he completes his degree, which will hopfully be in a year.
Now I'm going to be praying for this next year to speed by, followed by an immediate resolution, and patience to last til we get there!
I'm going to leave you with an excerpt from lyrics to a song I've had on repeat for a while, but that also speaks a lot into our lives right now: You Lead by Jamie-Grace
I've got waves that are tossin' me,
Crashin' all over my beliefs,
And in all sincerity, Lord,
I wanna be yours,
So pull me out of this mess I'm in,
Cause I know I'm wanderin'
Lead my soul back home again,
I've always been yours,
And this world may push, may pull,
But your love it never fails,
You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
Cause I know what you got for me is more then I can see,
So lead me on and on, on and on,
Just lead me on and on, on and on
I'm excited to get started, to get moving. But I'm ecstatic to see and feel God working to strongly in our lives. I'm so proud that I have a husband who trusts and follows God, even when it's terrifying and not what the rest of the world expects of you. I'm feeling incredibly blessed and encouraged. Lead us on.
