When I resigned from my job on February 29, 2008, I really had no idea what God had in store for me . . . all I knew is that I finally needed to give in and give up and give God complete control over all aspects of my life, particularly in the area of whether or not I should be employed.
Several posts ago I shared that in retrospect, I now realize I was in a bit of a tug-of-war with God regarding His plan for my life, a few months prior to my resignation. I wanted security. He wanted me to trust Him to meet our needs. I wanted stability. He wanted me to seek Him in all areas of my life, including my place of employment. Finally, upon surrendering to Him regarding my job, and after a week of emotional breakdowns, He got my attention.
These past two weeks have been a gift from God. I've been able to regenerate and rejuvenate myself emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. My level of trust in my God and Saviour reached a new level as a result of my obedience to God's prompting and leading in my life. Honestly, it was complete surrender to Him when I handed in my resignation. For all practical reasons, me quitting my job would be considered a stupid thing to do by some people. But as I said in an earlier post, it was necessary to quit due to my failing mental health.
Last week I received a phone call from the Vice Principal at Mitchell and Ty's school. She informed me of a new position coming available at the school and she encouraged me to apply. While I was somewhat hesitant, simply due to the fact that I keep applying for positions there and never land a job, I wasn't sure I could handle the rejection (again). I had already noticed the job posting on the school division website but had not yet proceeded with sending my resume to them. But, since I had received this phone call, Wayne and I decided that if I didn't attempt to at least try out for the position, I'd always wonder over the fact that this might have been "my time".
Any other time I've applied for a job at the school, my hopes have been elevated to ridiculously high levels. While I claimed to "leave it in God's hands", really, I didn't. I held on to the potential outcome of job opportunities and didn't give the situation fully over to God.
Because of the resignation experience a few weeks ago, my perspective on God's control in my life has taken on new meaning. I can now say that I'm actually living the talk that I so carelessly proclaimed in the past. Now, this time, it was different. I gave this over to God. And I left it at His feet.
After submitting my resume, it took three days before I had a call for an interview. Honestly, I thought God had shut the door on this opportunity because in the past, I've received a call within 2 days after sending in my resume. The interview was scheduled for today at noon, right before I was to start my substitute work for the school secretary for the duration of the school day. The questions were all the same. Same format. Same 12 questions that I've been asked many times in the past . . . I tried to come up with interesting answers to the questions . . . truthful answers, but ones that were different from the answers I had given in the past at the previous interviews.
I left my interview feeling so relieved that it was over. That's all I felt. The interviewers gave no indication of their thoughts on whether or not they liked me for the position or not. It was all very formal and diplomatic (like it always is). I went to my pseudo-secretary desk and got to work. The next candidate for the position was waiting for her turn. I then became nervous. But I had pseudo-secretarial work to get done, so, that's what I did.
The next hour dragged. My interview lasted about 20 minutes. I did not see the other candidate leave the interview area, so I assumed that she was taking twice as long as me to be interviewed. I took that as a bad sign. However, I continually reminded myself that God is in control. He knows what's best for me . . . for my family. If it's in His will for me to have this position, He'll allow it. If not, He'll provide for us in another way.
At 2:00 p.m. the entourage of interviewers exited the interview room. I was then offered the position and accepted. The interviewer from the school division office told me that I gave one of the best interviews she's ever heard. Wow . . . that blew me away, because I didn't think I had done that well. But God knew; He just knew that I needed to hear something like that to help boost my self-esteem.
My new position begins after the Easter break. I'll be working with a 20-year old in a Life Skills program. I am so excited about this opportunity!!! Part of our day will be spent at the school working on basic life skills like money management, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. and the afternoon will be spent at a nearby town where the student will be involved in an actual workplace environment. This type of programming is new to our school and I'm really looking forward to working with the resource teacher and the employment supervisor to assist this student in reaching his full potential.
This position has been "in the works" for a few months, but it's taken up until now for everything to fall into place. There are still some logistical issues to work through, but one of the final steps was to find a suitable person to work with this student. The months leading up to this job offer were preparing me for God's blessing.
I am truly excited for how God is going to use me in this student's life. I know more challenges are ahead of me . . . but I have the assurance that God provides. He provides surprises in our life. He leads if we allow Him to.
