Good morning! Today I am excited to have the opportunity to celebrate my niece at her graduation party! She has been working so hard at everything she is doing and we are so proud of her for all of her accomplishments at this milestone moment! So this morning I thought it was only fitting to bring encouragement from my life experience and brag about the FAITHFULNESS of God!
Life is FULL of curveballs – can I get an AMEN! We start out having all of these plans of what we want to do and how we are going to accomplish it. Only to have unexpected moments come along to try to throw us off course and put us in a whirlwind.
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”
Proverbs 16:9
I am just one example of the truth that when you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, He will order our steps to accomplish His will! There are so many examples of this in my life, but this morning I want to focus on my current job that I have been at for the last seventeen years.
This story actually begins before I even landed the job… about a year before I got the job, we were living in New Jersey and Mer had an Aunt working for the company at the time in New York. She gave us the contact information for the recruiter who told me that I was not able to apply for the job because I needed to have a New York State driver’s license. I held onto her information and considered it a closed door.
The next year we had an opportunity to move into a basement apartment at Mer’s parent’s house and with much consideration we decided to make the move. When we got everything moved up and were finally settled, I reached out to the recruiter (who actually remembered me and my story) and within two weeks, I had the job.
There was only one drawback to this job, the new hires had to work a full weekend shift for the first year – Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon. This was the first and only time I was ever going to miss church consistently on a Sunday morning. This was not what I wanted to do but I felt the job was worth getting my foot in the door, so I did it.
This is where I shine the first highlight of God’s favor. The first two months were training which was Mon-Fri and then instead of being on the weekend shift for one full year, I was able to switch my shift early to have Sundays off. By the eighth month of being on the job, I was back in church on Sundays – PRAISE GOD!
When I was in the new hire training class, I set a goal for myself to eventually get into the Outside Plant Department. These were the guys that kept everything running and fixed all the main issues with the distribution cables. The first time I applied, I was told that I didn’t have enough time in the company – but on the very same day that I got denied to even apply, my brother (who was in the company six months LESS than me) received a call saying he was being hired for the same position I was applying for but in New Jersey.
After congratulating my brother, I called the Human Resource representative back to explain the situation that unfolded before me. The issue was escalated all the way to the Senior Vice President before coming back down with the decision to let me apply. Out of thirty two other applicants, I was one of two that were offered the job – PRAISE GOD!
But the dilemma I came across here was that when the job was offered, it was offered as a Sun-Thurs shift, meaning I would again have to miss church. Mer and I prayed about it and felt that it was an opportunity from God and we would continue to trust Him!
I finished training and my supervisor had a conversation with me about beginning the Sunday shift and I was like… about that… “Is there anyway that I don’t have to work that shift?” To my surprise, there was another shift available, but he had to offer it to another employee with more tenure first. The other employee chose the Sunday shift which allowed me to stay on the current shift – PRAISE GOD!
The next step of this journey was when I applied for a Compliance position within the company. I totally bombed the interview and was not receiving a call back for the job – in the meantime, another guy I worked with applied after me and was already in the job. I spoke with a couple other guys in the department and asked them to speak with their boss (who thought I wasn’t really that interested). Long story short, I ended up getting the job – PRAISE GOD!
This allowed me to stop being on a standby rotation with overnight callouts and gave me the opportunity to excel in different ways. There was an opportunity to apply for my supervisor’s position and ultimately, I was not chosen for the job – PRAISE GOD! That’s right, praise God! This ‘NO’ is one of the main reasons I am in my current job today which is an absolute blessing! The following year, I applied again for a supervisor position and was offered the job. Within a month of having the job, I was restructured into a different role with a team on a national level!
WOW – who am I to be in the position I am today?! ONLY GOD! I am blessed by who I work with and have had opportunities that I never thought possible and never knew existed! God is faithful and has directed my every step – the good and ‘seemingly’ bad.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28
To my niece, keep your eyes on Jesus – He will NEVER let you down, He will NEVER fail you, He will NEVER leave you, He WILL ALWAYS provide what you need, He WILL ALWAYS love you, and He WILL ALWAYS amaze you when you take time to look at what He has done! Trust in Him alone and stay in His Word! He has GREAT plans for your life – better than you could ever imagine! I love you, I am proud of you, and I am so thankful to be a part of your story! If you learn one thing from me, let it be to live every day becoming less like you and more like HIM! He makes us SO much better than we could ever try to be on our own! Happy Graduation day – watch out world, here she comes!
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your constant guidance, leading, and provision in my life! Help us to always trust that You are sovereign and You can change situations to align with Your will! You take our willing, surrendered hearts and fill them abundantly with purpose and life! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 