Follower of Christ; resting in His grace. Experiencing fullness of Joy in the presence of my Savior. Lover of life and all things crafty.
I graduated in May 2010 with my B.A. in Linguistics, intent on teaching ESL. However, God saw fit to redirect my path to a job in Corporate America, and I now see how He uniquely fitted me for where I am today. Though my heart is oriented toward home, I am joyfully pursuing Christ in the path He has established for me. I do not know what my future holds, but I know the One who holds my future.
I've so enjoyed listening to non-traditional Christmas music in recent weeks...particularly Keith and Kristyn Getty's New Irish Hymns album. The tunes are lovely and the lyrics are sound. Here are the words to two of my favorites for you to enjoy as you celebrate the grace of God in humbling Himself and coming to earth.
BORN WHERE THE SHADOWS LIE
Born where the shadows lie To answer every cry of man This child who formed all life Now breathes our breath Born where the Father loved Born helpless to a mother's arms She smoothed the tears upon The face of God
Born with a road ahead Alone these blameless feet would tread The path God chose to walk Before all time Born holding life and death Born bearing heaven's wealth of peace That fills where none can fill Our living stream
Born now with man to dwell Our Lord Immanuel Come see the King the Christ Child born to us Born now with man to dwell Our Lord Immanuel My soul can finally know the God of Heaven
Fullness of Grace in man's human frailty This is the wonder of Jesus Laying aside His power and glory Humbly He entered our world Chose the path of meanest worth Scandal of a virgin birth Born in a stable cold and rejected Here lies the hope of the world
Fullness of Grace the love of the Father Shown in the face of Jesus Stooping to bear the weight of humanity Walking the Calvary road Christ the holy Innocent Took our sin and punishment Fullness of God despised and rejected Crushed for the sins of the world
Fullness of hope in Christ we had longed for Promise of God in Jesus Through His obedience we are forgiven Opening the floodgates of heaven All our hopes and dreams we bring Gladly as an offering Fullness of life and joy unspeakable God's gift in love to the world
I don’t have anything against people who use Facebook. I personally choose not to have one, and I have often been asked why. When I answer, the asking individual often seems to feel the need to apologize for their own Facebook account. Why? I was asked—and gave—my own personal reasons for not joining. I was not condemning the other individual for their decision.
However, I do have some concerns about the site in general…so, even though you did not ask, I would like to give you my reasons for NOT joining Facebook.
1. It’s a waste of time—How many hours can someone spend in the virtual realm? I have enough trouble not wasting time as it is…why add another distraction.
2. I don’t have time—Work starts for me at 7:00 a.m. and I’m up by 4:15 to make sure I get there on time. After work, I also have evening classes—which by-the-way don’t end until 10:00 p.m. I’m usually not in bed ‘til between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m.
3. It’s a faux relationship builder. What happened to spending time with the family and friends that are flesh-and-blood living beings? I covet the nights I don’t have class, and I can sit down to dinner with my family. Sometimes I still feel like an international student living in my own home. I just found out someone was pregnant with twins—and I didn’t even know she’d been married for several years already. Talk about being out of the loop!
a. Virtual “friendships” (even with those you already know in real life) are shallow. If you are willing to friend me on Facebook, yet you never even talk to me in person/real life, I don’t consider you a real friend. A true friend who wants to build into the relationship will be willing—and desirous—to spend time: on the phone, to sit and write a letter/email, to go for coffee—even if it only works out once or twice a year.
4. It breaks down the barriers of discretion—How many intimate details of daily living are people willing to share over the internet, that they would be mortified (or even just slightly embarrassed) to speak or elude to in the presence of another person. The internet has made it easy for people to create a persona for themselves that isn’t necessarily accurate. As the country song goes: “I’m so much cooler online Yeah, I'm cooler online.” Do I really need to know what color bra you are wearing (yes, that was a real status update phenomenon on Facebook last year)? Or what celebrity you think you look most like? Or that you got “stoned” on your homemade skittles vodka (with pics of course)???? Really people?! Is there no shame anymore?!
5. It’s ridiculous! Imagine what life would be like if Facebook went live. If we LIVED Facebook!!! How absurd would life be?!!!
I have been searching for work casually since Oct./Nov. of last year, and seriously since March/April of this year. Unfortunately, it felt like I was fishing in a dry pond. Not only has the economy created a tough job market, but my major didn't equip me with many of the skills that employers look for: 1 year minimum office experience; proficiency in excel, access, outlook, adobe, quickbooks....etc. That's all well and good when you plan on getting a Masters Degree and teaching at a college, but not so great when God changes those carefully laid plans just before you graduate.
Now, I'm not accusing God of "getting in my way." On the contrary, I feel like a living example of Proverbs 16:9
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
It has been 5 months since I graduated. Five months of looking for work. Full-time, part-time...it didn't matter; I just needed something.
Several times there were "close-calls." I would get a call for an interview--sometimes even go for an interview, only to hear silence afterwards.
I sent out 39 applications/resumes and cover letters to over 26 different companies (I often applied for more than 1 position), networked with people from work, school, church...and continued to pray and seek part-time work in the interim.
Out of all that, I only had 4 interviews...1 over the phone, and 3 in person. Of those, only 2 places called to set up a 2nd interview, and of those 2, only 1 actually followed through with the 2nd interview. And that is where I was eventually hired.
Look at how God--in His timing--provided work for me.
In July, my family visited a church that my coworker attends. A gentleman ("M") at the church approached us after the service to welcome us. He has 2 daughters, and saw that Mom and Dad had 2 daughters too. After chatting for a bit, he learned that I had recently graduated, and was looking for work. He gave me his business card and told me to email him my resume. He said they didn't have any current openings, but that a few might possibly come up towards the end of the year. I thanked him, and sent him my resume--then promptly forgot about the whole thing.
Three weeks ago, I received a call from the HR manager of the company ("C"), saying she had received my resume from "M"--who, as it turns out, is the president of the company! She wanted me to come in and interview for an open customer service position. The interview was scheduled for September 7th.
Humanly speaking, I did almost everything you are not supposed to in/for an interview:
a) Arrive early--My directions were wrong, so I arrived just on the button.
b) Dress conservatively--I still had bright red toe-nail-polish on (BIG No-no!) In my defense, my clothing was a conservative black, and I was wearing nylons.
c) Never wear your hair down, especially if it's curly; curly hair (when down) looks unprofessional--My hair was still wet from the shower, and was not cooperating with my updo, so I wore it down.
d) Don't wear dangly earrings--Oops.
e) Be prepared--I hadn't finished filling out the job application (bad bad BAD), and my allergies were acting up, so my head was stuffed, my nose was a dripping faucet, and I felt lousy.
When I walked into the building, I immediately felt at home. I felt comfortable. The hour long interview went well, and I felt like I connected with the HR manager--which allowed me to be completely open and honest about my lack of experience. The next step was to meet with the company president. We had a 5 minute chat--since, as he said, I had already had my preliminary interview with him. (Who would have guessed that he was evaluating and assessing me while we were talking at church?). He told me that "C" liked me and thought I might be a good fit, and that I should hear from them by Thursday.
That Friday, I called to follow-up, as I had heard nothing by Thursday. I again called the following Tuesday--both times I had to leave a voicemail. Still hearing nothing, I emailed the HR manager on Friday, Sept. 17th.
Monday, September 20th, while in class, I received an email from "C" apologizing for the delay and asking if I was available the next day (Tues. the 21st) for a 2nd interview. Unfortunately, I emailed her back too late to get the Tues. slot, but we were able to reschedule for Thursday (the 23rd) at 10am.
Thursday morning rolled around, and found me nervous. I actually interviewed twice, and with 3 people that day. The first was with the head of the department, and the second was with the 2 supervisors under him. Again, I felt very comfortable, and things seemed to progress naturally. I really sensed that I could be "real" with everyone and not have to word things "just so." At the end of the interview, I was told I should expect to hear from "C" sometime the following week.
That was this Thursday. Friday morning I got a call from "C" extending an official job offer. However, as it turns out, they want to hire me for a position other than the one I initially interviewed for. Rather than work customer service, I will be the administrative assistant of the entire department. That means I'm supporting 3 individuals: the 3 I interviewed with on Thurs. To my knowledge, this position was not open at the time I interviewed, but was rather created for me.
I am so grateful for God's provision in this area. Things were getting tight for me, yet I couldn't even get hired part-time for a temporary job at a coffee shop or bookstore. I was getting quite discouraged, and then, out-of-the-blue, God orchestrated a Monday phone call which led to a Thursday interview, a Friday job offer, and a Monday start date. It has been amazing to see how God so clearly orchestrated everything, and I am constantly praising Him for it.
I have no desire to repeat these past months of famine, but through it all God has revealed that what He had planned was best for my soul. Not finding work...was the best for my soul. Not getting to go visit my sister, BIL and new niece with the rest of my family...was best for my soul. Having interviews without call-backs...was best for my soul.
If any other situation were better for my soul, God would have placed me there. Whether in times of plenty, or times of famine, wherever I am is God's best for my soul.
