I still cannot believe this happened so fast! I just can't. In the past, interviews and follow-ups had taken weeks, and this all happened in one day. GOD IS SO GOOD. It is contract work to start, and we have every hope it will turn into a permanent position within the next 3 months.
So, David will be working for a solar chemical injection pump company as their bookkeeper. The company is a subsidiary of a larger, oil and gas company. This is a great opportunity for David, as it gives him oil and gas experience and manufacturing experience, both of which can be VERY helpful for working in Houston. Our city is heavily invested in oil and gas, so this job will be so beneficial for David as he continues to cross over from a career in banking to that as a CPA/financial advisor.
I can't even tell you all how happy I am, and how happy we are. I sometimes felt like this unemployment situation would never end, and I'd said more that once (here, and here) that while I knew God gave us this cross for a reason, it was truly hard at times.
There were SO MANY people praying for us, I can't even list them all. It would be impossible. And I can't tell you how much that meant to us. Other friends slipped us gift cards, which were hard to accept (out of pride), but deeply appreciated. Just last week, a friend send us a few gift cards "to bring some joy to your family." Oh..it did. It so did. I was able to take my girls out to lunch for the first time in over a year. One of the gift cards was to La Madeline, so we went one day last week. I'd never taken them there before, and they loved it. I really wish this person could have witnessed the joy on my girls' faces. Just eating out is a real treat for us, and having it paid for was an extra blessing! I used a Walgreens gift card to buy the candy for Christina's slumber party this coming weekend, and a couple of other birthday party necessities.
Yet another gift card came to us just before my 40th birthday, so David and I went out for dinner, something we hadn't done in months. Just going out without the kids is a treat in of itself...am I right all you moms out there? ;-) We haven't used a couple of the gift cards, but we plan to save them and pay it forward when God tells us it's time. Paying it forward is so awesome! It feels SO GOOD to give back to others after people have blessed us time and time again. To know people cared so much about our family...it's all I can do to not bust out crying while I type this, I'm telling you!
We have learned so much about grace, love, humility, sacrifice, and community this summer. We thought when David was laid off the first time we had "learned our lesson." And yet, God felt we had to dig deeper, more than we'd ever thought possible. It was truly a struggle at times...heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, earth shattering. I cried so much, I probably could have filled at least one of those dried up reservoirs in California. But oh...God didn't give us more than we could handle. No...He continued to grace us, bless us, renew and restore our faith and hope in HIS plan. He send many hands to hold up this cross with us, and prayers to give us strength when we felt it was impossible to go on.
Thank you friends. Thank you to St. Terese of Lisieux, who through her intercession, blessed David with a job and send us roses as a sign of God's grace (yes, she really did!). Thank you to our church community, St. Ignatius who supported us more than once. To everyone who offered us a prayer, a smile, a gift card, a hug, please know this. I thank God for you, for your generosity, and your kindess. I always, ALWAYS prayed for you and will continue to do so. We owe a debt that can't be repaid, but we believe it will be repaid in heaven!
