The last few years have been a "little" challenging on the work front. Cliff and I are neither one job hoppers, we tend to get a job and keep it a long long time. I started work for a paint company when I was 20 and worked for them for 13 yrs, Cliff started work right after college at a stone mill and worked for them for 18 yrs. We both went on to other long time jobs after that, me for a solid surface distributor for 9 years and Cliff for a concrete tilt wall plant for 11 years. I tell you all this to let you know that stability in the work place is important to both of us and definitively what we're more comfortable with.
You've heard that saying it was the best of times, it was the worst of times? Well that pretty much describes 2010-2013. I was laid off after 9 yrs in Jan 2010, the company I was working for first pulled out of the Texas market then went out of business completely by mid 2010. If you'll recall 2010 was not a good economy in the United States. Texas fared better than most but it still was not pretty. I finally went to work for a company that sold textbook tracking software in the fall of 2010 with the understanding that the job would go full time in the first quarter of 2011. I think it was in Feb 2011 that I was called in to what I thought was going to be them telling me they were moving me to full time to be told they were laying me off. The legislature in Texas had passed budget cuts for the School System and the company I was working for had to shuffle their resources around to deal with the fall out from that, I didn't fit in the new scheme. I went to work for a different solid surface distributor as their Accounts Payable person, my expertise is Accounts Receivable. I learned a lot but it wasn't a particularly great fit. I got laid off from there in Jan of 2012. From there I started working 2 part time jobs doing A/R, A/P and Payroll along with anything else in the Accounting realm that needed done. In Jan 2013 Cliff got laid off from his Supervisor job of 11 years. One thing we've held on to through all of this is that while all of them were surprises to us, God knew they were coming all along and had already made plans to deal with the resulting challenges. This is why one of my life verses is Jeremiah 29:11, it's listed to the right as one of my power verses.
Why am I telling you this sad sad tale you ask? Really I'm only telling you to lay the foundation for how very great God is, and so I can share some of the "it was the best of times" part. Through out the last 5 years of job upheavals and uncertainty God has been so awesome. He's done so many amazing things. He got me an impromptu job interview by hooking me up with a lady I was in line with for lunch, to show me that it didn't matter how many applicants were out there when it was the job He had for me He'd put all the pieces together. Honestly if He would of actually spoken in an audible voice I wouldn't of heard him any clearer. He let me have great interviews that didn't lead to job to show me that as awesome as that company looked when it was the job He had for me it would be even better. This week Cliff had a job interview at 2:30, I put a posting on Facebook that simply said " Cliff has an interview this afternoon, prayers appreciated" within hours I had something like 30 likes and several comments promising to pray. "Funny Thing Happened" - there are two businesses with very similar names, one is in Plflugerville, one used to be. Cliff thought his interview was with the one that used to be in Pflugerville, when it wasn't there he found their new location and went on in. Guy told him he didn't call him, they don't have an opening at the moment but he interviewed him anyway for an HOUR & HALF. Ended up saying he was going to talk to his boss to see what they could do, he really wanted to hire him on. With so many saying they'd pray we don't for a minute think Cliff went to the "wrong" place. We don't know if this is the job God has for him or if it was a confidence building way of God showing him He's in control and has a plan, but we definitively know it was a good thing.
While we have dealt with 4 other layoffs in the last 5 years and God has taken care of us through all of them, this is the first one that affected our insurance coverage. With all of us haveing various preexisting conditions and all of us on various prescription medications to deal with those conditions I was trying very hard to keep my focus on God and not worry about it but I was really having a hard time. Anxiety attacks were sneaking up on me and having to be prayed away. Then God showed me the following verse
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
Ephesians 1:18-20 (NIV)
Immediately the stress regarding the insurance coverage melted away and I'm happy to say has not returned since. I mean seriously if God can raise Christ from the dead He can certainly take care of our insurance needs. It doesn't matter that purchasing Cobra Coverage will take almost 75% of Cliff's unemployment checks, God is more than big enough and powerful enough to take care of it and provide for us. And now for why I named this "Just a Little Dippy", I have shared this part of the story several times and each time I've said God showed me this scripture in Isaiah that says we have access to his power the same power that raised Christ from the dead. How can I be worried about insurance when we have that kind of power available from a God that is more than willing to use His power to take care of His Children. Today I searched and searched Isaiah for this verse only to discover it's not in Isaiah it's in Ephesians. Like I said I'm just a little bit dippy, fortunately the truth of this promise is not dependent on knowing exactly where it's located in God's Word, it's in knowing who made the promise and who's children we are - God.
I pray your week will be full of God's incredible blessings,
René
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