Providence

Hey!

Today has been an up and down day. Doreen got up early and went to take her HOBET test. Basically an exam to test her aptitude to begin Dental Hygene school. 3 Hour standardized test. While she was gone, the girls and I went and played soccer in the park, then walked a bit and played on the slide and swings before heading home.

The rest of the story starts last night. I was reading a friend's blog and she mentioned that her hubby, a former co-worker, was dismissed/fired/laid off. That was JUST before crawling into bed. So, I told Doreen and we tossed and turned for a bit feeling for the family.

Then this morning, while at the park, I get the idea to give him a call. Figuring he might be cleaning out his desk or wrapping up a few things, call the office to talk with him. The person who answered the phone started acting really odd when I asked for my friend. I was patched through to another friend - so I asked him what was going on and found out that 3 other people/friends were dismessed/fired/laid off. What the??? Has my former boss gone crazy? He just fired 80% of his staff. Crazyness.

So I spend most of the rest of the morning on the phone talking to these people and others about this situation. I'm in shock because these people are good friends and don't deserve this type of treatment.

At the same time, I can't help but be extremely thankful for how things came together for me to change jobs when I did. To not be dealing with that extra stress for the last 8 months, or having the extra frustration or be in a situation where I just get dismissed/fired/laid-off and trying to decide what to do.

Was that providence? I'd really like to think so, but I tell ya, the decision to put an application at what was to be my current job was very difficult. But we felt like we were in a room that was shrinking and I couldn't last there much longer. So we started trying door knobs. After much discussion, prayer and agonizing - I put the application in with the prayer that if the company called - I was to take the job and if they didn't I was to stay where I was and make the best of it. Over my life, I've watched other friends go through a somewhat similar situation and knew that if things were questionable that I needed to go ahead and try a few doorknobs and see if the Lord had another doorframe for us to walk through that the knob would twist. It rarely ever twists on it's own. Ya know?!!

Well - one of the door knobs opened things up to a doorway that lead to a different job and a more peaceful way of life. (By the way, please help me pray for my friends as they look for the next door they end up walking through. It is interesting to see how the different families are reacting to this - some good with excellent support, some not so good.)

Anyway - needless to say the ministry has been decimated. In it's hey-day in Vonore, we had like 26, or so, people employed there reaching hearts and lives - connecting people with Christ. With some people leaving on their own their positions weren't always filled. Then we had a major shakedown and one point, then things ran smoothly for a bit, then another leadership change - and that lead to my leaving - now this. The only thing I can say is "WOW!!!!"

That was the definite downer of the day, and pretty much it's been hard to not think about it.

But Doreen got home (And overall she feels like she did great on her test) and so we talked about it, which is always theraputic. Then we had lunch, ran some errands, got rid of some junk in our spare bedroom and garage, then went swimming, then home for the evening.

All in all - an interesting day.

Now - I go to bed. Time to sleep blissfully, have breakfast with the family, maybe do a couple of things and head to work at noon - then drive to Lousey-anna! I'll be home Wed night and probably done for the week.

Excellent!