God's Provision

It's so unbeknownst to me why God works the way He does, and that's okay with me. About a week and a half ago, I interviewed for the Taste of Trinity coordinator position on-campus. I heard about this last available job through a friend in my Trinity Wives' Small Group and thought I'd give it a shot. Jeremy and I both went into the situation feeling that if God closed the door on this opportunity, I would stay at Starbucks a little longer and start looking for alternative opportunities after the holidays. I hadn't heard back from them after a few days (even though my contact had said that I would hear sooner than that even) and began to suspect that I didn't get the job. I'll be honest--it was a very discouraging couple of days for me. But, at the end, I decided that Starbucks was definitely where God had me and He would continue to meet our needs throught it. I was contented with my situation and Jeremy was too--disappointed, for sure, but contented.

And that was where we were at until yesterday afternoon when I got home from work. I had a message both on my cell phone and on my home phone (and an email in my inbox) from the Human Resources department asking me to please contact them about the position I had applied for. I was thankful that they were letting me know "in person" that I hadn't gotten the job...as opposed to sending out a letter or something like that. After playing phone tag, I finally caught up with the woman who was trying to get a hold of me. It turns out that she was calling to offer me the Taste of Trinity coordinator position! It was such a strange feeling, though, when I found out wha tshe was calling about. I had been so sure that I hadn't gotten the job and so sure that Starbucks was where God had me for awhile that I was kind of shocked. (Incidentally, Jeremy had much the same reaction when I told him.)

I'm super excited to be working on-campus. There are so many benefits! Jeremy gets one free class per semester, I get one free class per semester (if I choose to take it), I get 18 personal/vacation/sick days per fiscal year. Oh yeah! And did I mention that not only do I get Thanksgiving and the day after off (paid and I was going to have to work on them if I stayed at Starbucks), Trinity is shutting down all campus offices for a week (paid!) over the Christmas holidays. What's so cool about this is that we had already planned a trip (that very week!) to Nebraska to visit both of our families and we would have had to take it completely unpaid before. Jeremy and I were just talking about how we were going to make ends meet that month and God has already provided a way! I will get a 1 hour lunch break every day (yeah!) which I will get to go home for!!! Oh yeah, and for those of you concerned that I'll have to give up Starbucks coffee, be concerned no longer. There is actually a Starbucks coffee machine right outside the Admissions office! I can still get Starbucks coffee every morning for free!!!

I met with a couple of people from the department today about pinpointing a starting date and found out that circumstances beyond anyone's control prevented them from calling me before yesterday. Isn't it strange how God works things out? I'm still a little in awe over how God changed my attitude and then BOOM!: He gave me another job opportunity. It still seems surreal.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about why things happened the way they have. I don't know for sure the whole reason why, but I've come up with some positives:

*The salary for the job on-campus is a little lower than I probably would have accepted in July. However, since that time, God has shown me that we can be frugal when we have to be. I probably wouldn't have accepted this position had it been offered to me in July, but now, I'm thankful for the opportunity and appreciative for God's provision of money to meet our financial obligations (and a little extra!...but not much). :)

*Jeremy and I have had to become better communicators when dealing with our finances. We are more on the same page now than we ever have been. We have started good habits that we plan to continue into this new job situation.

*I have learned to be content in a job that I don't necessarily like.

*I have trusted God more.

*I stand amazed at how God works out details.

Praise God for His provision!