Can you believe that Thanksgiving 2011 is just right around the corner? I feel like so much of this year has been go-go-go…how did this holiday season get here so fast? haha
I’ve been working with a Christian foster care/adoption agency since September 2010. When I was hired, I committed to staying for two years no matter what. I knew God wanted to teach me about committment and not taking the easy way out. Little did I know how that would play out. At the middle or end of July, our prevention team was informed that we would be getting laid off at the end of this year’s contract: August 31st. I questioned God about our 2 year plan…I kept asking Him, “now what?!” I thought maybe I thought wrong and I hadn’t really heard His voice, and how foolish this was going to turn out.
I applied for jobs every day, I lost a lot of sleep because of anxiety and fear of the unknown future. He lovingly filled me with His peace, but remained silent. I then became confident that somehow I was going to stay with the agency in a different department. Nothing was coming together so that it would happen right away…but I was definitely asking God what the hold up was. Didn’t he know August 31st was coming up quickly!?!?
August 31st came around and it was sobering to say goodbye to what I thought was a pretty great team of coworkers. We had been pouring ourselves into a program that we began from scratch…only to have it be snatched away from us (and the families of DFW). We turned in everything, went out to lunch and then went home. September 1st, I woke up and applied for unemployment. NOT one hour later…I get a call from HR that a caseworker has resigned and although the company was not able to financially open up a new spot, I could fill in hers. “So would you like to take the job?” YES! My benefits hadn’t been terminated yet and I still had PTO, so I enjoyed a long holiday weekend and was to report back to work the next Tuesday at 9am.
Since then, my new responsibilities, my new team have been even more challenging than I experienced in the first year at Arrow. I’m now a foster care/adoption case worker serving 14 children so far. I’m privileged to be with a team of strong believers who care way beyond the superficial and constantly bring our needs and plans before God. My understanding of God has been blown to bits through teachings and conversations with our receptionist. I haven’t done work worth deserving of His favor and I constantly ask him, “why?” (while at the same time uttering…but thank You don’t take it away!) =P
I know many are feeling pinched financially and there’s probably a lot of reasons to worry…but don’t you see His loved one? Do you not know who He is and what He is capable of? This is just a glimpse of Him who is greater than the world’s economy and understanding. Do not give up hope and when you know you have heard Him say “go”…don’t falter, just go and don’t turn back. And if you doubt or question or need a little push to keep ya going…call me! 🙂
