I have a pretty awesome story to tell about God's grace...
Several weeks ago, Chris came home with a letter from the school... his intent to return form. He had to get the letter back to them within 3 or 4 weeks to let them know whether to plan on him returning to teach or not. Of course, last year it was a no-brainer... you have to give it a couple good years before you quit it. Well, he really is not happy teaching and I'm not happy with it either because of all the time spent away from home. Or, when he is home, he's still working on school work. So this year, we had some considering to do. It's really been taking away from simple pleasures in life because of his stress with teaching. So, when the letter came, we did a little soul searching... lots of talking and lots of praying. After a considerable amount of time praying about it, I had a total peace in my heart that he should stop teaching. Even if it meant being unemployed for a while, it would be worth it to get our life back. I made sure Chris knew that I stood behind him 100% no matter what he decided.
He called me at work one day during his lunch/planning period and said he thought he decided not to go back to teaching. He was going to return his form letting them know he did not intend to return. We got off the phone and I said a big long prayer for him, because I knew it would be stressing him out. I said a prayer for us in general, because this is sure to be no easy task. What if he's unemployed for longer than we can afford? What if he can't find any work at all, no matter the pay? We can make it on one income for a while, but not too long. We both began to worry a little about it. I kept praying, and Chris did too. We prayed together and separately.
The time came for his final decision and the deadline for the paper to be turned in, so he turned it in with his intent to leave.
A couple of weeks ago we were talking about it. He was expressing his concern and I said "I have totally accepted this as a blessing. We can get back to our normal selves and have a much more enjoyable life. If we have to live on one income for a while we will. We'll pay the bills, and even if we live off of rice and beans for a while, it will be worth it. God will provide us all of our needs, as long as we stay faithful." I was hoping this would make Chris feel better, but he simply said, "I'm just not there yet". He was still struggling with the worry about the finances.
Well, last Sunday night on the 11th, our nightly devotional we read together talked about how we need to be more specific with our prayers. We tend to generalize our prayers too much. So... Monday morning, Chris headed out for work, and as I sat down to eat my oatmeal, I had a long prayer before-hand. I prayed specifically for God to show Chris signs to help build his faith and know that we would be ok. I prayed for him to go into Chris' heart and give him a peace in knowing that everything would work out. I prayed for Chris to be able to accept what decisions we made and to live with the peace and comfort in that decision that I have. Then I turned it and specifically prayed for God to bring a job to Chris. For it to be a job somewhere in our area, local. Where Chris wouldn't have to drive more than 30 minutes or so to work and a job that he could enjoy.
That afternoon, I spoke with a lady I work with and she mentioned a county maintenance position opening. The pay wasn't great, but it's better than nothing, so that night Chris filled out the application. This could be his chance! We got excited about it and made sure the application looked nice. I took that and turned it in on Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon, Chris called me at work again...
He asked "how would you feel about me turning in a two weeks notice today?" I thought, "that's a quick turn-around time, God! I didn't know he'd feel that good about it!" This, however, did concern me. I was banking on the rest of the school year to get some of our debts in order before he was possibly unemployed for a questionable amount of time.
Chris said he had this overwhelming feeling come over him. A feeling like he's never had before, that he needed to quit his job now. He needed to put in his two weeks notice and be done with it. It scared me, and at first I told him I wasn't sure. But after we got off the phone, I prayed about it, and felt much better. I prayed specifically for Chris' worries to be gone and here they were lifting right off his shoulders. (Not entirely, but enough so that he had that step of faith to quit now.)
That night Chris worked on his official request for terminating his position. Basically, he wrote up his two weeks notice in a nice letter. One for the school board, one for the principal, and one for the CTE head. We printed those up on nice resume paper and he took the day off Thursday to go turn in all the letters.
Thursday morning, out of the blue, a friend called and says "how bad does Chris want to quit his job?" I think, well, he's turning in his two weeks notice today, but I simply asked "why?" He had a good friend from Helena in Clarksville who he had just spoken with. He just happened to ask him if he was looking for any help, and it just so happened he was looking for someone. Our friend told the man about Chris and put in a good word for him... He was interested and wanted to talk to Chris that day! He said it couldn't wait for tomorrow, he needed to call "today!" So I told Chris about it. Here two different jobs are being thrown at him, right after he has this overwhelming feeling, which I believe was a huge step of faith to quit his job.
It just so happened the man from Helena, which is a company that sells seeds and fertilizers, was going to be traveling to South Boston and wanted to meet with Chris. Of course, Chris fixed up his resume and went to meet with the man. It all just seems too good to be true, and when we talked about whether or not he would accept the position if offered... all I could think is this...
Sometimes we pray for things and they just don't happen. But then sometimes we pray for things, and God can blow us out of the water with his unending love and mercy and grace. I think this is one of those times where God is truly just turning around and specifically answering our prayers. It's amazing!
Chris is supposed to be getting a call today. Our friend said he spoke with the man the day after he met with Chris. He really liked Chris and as far as he was concerned he would offer the position to him. They'd been looking since November and haven't found the right person. He just had to ok it with his manager. So, Chris is holding tightly to his phone today and waiting to hear back. Whether or not they offer him the job, we truly see it as an amazing blessing from God that there is no need to worry. If we just have faith in him when we pray, he's going to answer them, whether it be our way or his.
So, keep praying and pray specifically, and sincerely. God will answer those prayers in his way and in his time!
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