Waiting on God's Job

After 5 months of waiting, my husband started working at his full time job with stellar medical benefits on Dec. 13th! Prior to our move to North Carolina he began filling out applications in the area. By July he flew to NC for two weeks hoping to have some interviews. He came home with nothing. Not one interview. His only job lead was given to someone else. Our hope was to leave Kansas with a job waiting for him in NC so there wouldn’t be much lag time between paychecks. That simply didn’t happen. Believing that going to seminary in North Carolina was what God wanted for our family, we followed through on our moving plans.

I don’t think Travis ever stopped applying for jobs. Not during the move or once we arrived here. He was filling out online applications and emailing his resume from the hotel rooms we stayed in along the way. Once internet was hooked up at our new home he was back at it again. My husband never gave up. We stopped counting how many rejection emails he received. There were a bunch of them; well written, impersonal yet polite, cyber refusals. The most frustrating part was being denied the opportunity to interview in person and show them who he really was. Our high tech, time saving, computer programs now weed out the “unqualified” applicants largely based on key words found in the resume or a number of correct “hits” in the application. Also during this time we heard from native Carolinians that they had never seen unemployment this bad in the area. Discouragement was always a decision away. We just kept saying to each other, “I guess that wasn’t the job God has for our family.” The mental battle was between what we felt, and what we knew to be true about God. All those rejections weren’t personal. Travis didn’t need to win a job, he needed to keep plugging away and wait for the job God would give him.

The other thing we did constantly was pray. The kids were fully aware of the situation and it was a blessing to hear them praying for God to provide a job for their Dad and expressing their trust in Him in their own words. Any time any of us felt doubtful or frustrated we reminded ourselves that God was in control of this situation. That He had a perfect plan and timetable for this. We were all learning to wait prayerfully and faithfully.

Applying for all those jobs and receiving all those refusals was very humbling for my husband. It also taught us to not expect God to give us the same thing we had before. (He left a really great job of 13 years to answer the call to go to seminary to be a pastor.) We weren’t even sure full time with benefits was going to be His answer. We considered part time, minimum wage, me going back to work, and even applying for government assistance. All of these options humbled us further. We constantly asked God to guide us in the right direction and to soften our hearts to be willing to accept whatever He gave us. Again, it was great to walk through this with our kids and not just tell them, but show them that our desires should always be superseded by what God wants for us.

We are so thankful 5 months was all we had to wait. There are many within our church congregation without work who have been waiting a lot longer. Many whose circumstances are more delicate financially than ours. It was great to point out to our kids that God has always taken care of us. We have never gone without our daily needs being met. Having been in this learning time for the last several months has made us more aware of ways we can bless those around us who are struggling. As a family we desire to respond quickly, compassionately and generously when we become aware of the needs of others. This is just one way we can show what the love of God is like. Just one way we can encourage our family in Christ and remind them of His unfailing faithfulness. To God be the glory at all times and in all things!