A new job!

by Granny Girl

My new job starts tomorrow! My last job ended ten months ago and it's been an interesting, blessing filled journey. I had been given a generous severance package from my old company. That, coupled with unemployment benefits for six months was enough to get me through. I began working in residential real estate and realized that I'm not a "commission only" type of person. I like the steadiness of a paycheck.

At the beginning of this year, things began to get really tight. My oldest son had left his job in the oil fields and moved back home. He worked different jobs and went to school to get a license to start his own backflow testing company. His fiance lived with me, too. She had to quit her job at a grocery store because the long commute was just too much. My unemployment checks ran out. We were completely dependent on God for our provision. And He came through!

The first week in February, I landed a job that paid very, very well. Then, all of our income tax returns came in. Woohoo! My son and his fiance decided they could afford to get married and our agreement was for them to rent my house from me. They liked the house and I wanted a place to start over on my own. With the income from my job and a loan from my son and his fiance, I was able to afford a pretty little rent house around the corner from where we lived. They got married on February 28th and I moved while they were on their honeymoon.

A week later, my job ended. The agency that placed me there had told me it was a temp to perm job, but the company had actually listed it as a temp only. They were very kind and even gave me a day's notice before letting me go, which is more than most temps get. It was a wonderful place to work, but to be honest, I was exhausted from the move and really appreciated the break. I knew if God had provided that job in order for me to get my house, then He would provide another one in order for me to keep it. The job loss was an even bigger blessing when I needed to go to Florida and be with my niece after her son got shot. I couldn't have done that if I had been working. God is good!

So, March would have been a really tough month since I had no job, but I closed on my one real estate deal! I had represented a good friend of mine who bought a cool little condo in downtown Fort Worth. The commission from that deal was enough to pay my bills for the month. God provides!

April rolled around. My sister offered to loan me enough to get me through the month and I accepted her offer. I applied for jobs daily and also signed up with some temp agencies. I started getting calls from commercial real estate companies and interviewed at a couple of them in Dallas. That's the field I've always worked in as an admin and my resume opened some doors of opportunity. In big real estate companies the wheels grind slowly. Even though the interviews were going well, no job offers were going to happen quickly.

But then I got invited back for a second interview at one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the world. They really wanted me! I told them my concerns about the pay, which was a little lower than standard, and my need to arrive early and leave early so I could drive the long commute and still have evenings with my grandson. Amazingly, they agreed to raise the salary and adjust my hours. So why was I not excited? I really grappled with my lack of joy over this opportunity. I just didn't want to work there. In my mind's eye I saw myself as one tiny cog in a great big wheel, clocking in every day, keeping my head down, doing the job and going home. The reality of it wouldn't have been anywhere near that, but that's how I felt. I prayed for peace and guidance.

While I was waiting for their official offer and trying to talk myself out of my slump, I got an unexpected phone call. A commercial real estate broker who used to work with me in my former company (I was her assistant) called me and asked me to come work with her. Bam! That was what I was waiting on and I didn't even know it! She was starting up her own brokerage and wanted me to come help her. As she excitedly told me about her plans for the future and the deals she already had in the works, peace and happiness grew in me and I knew this was exactly what God had been preparing for me all along. And to top it all off, I will also be working for an established development company that she is sharing an office with so the responsibility of my salary won't be completely hers. They will share it 50/50. That gives her some financial relief while she's in start up mode and it gives me stability. I don't even care that it's a longer commute. God will work it out so that time with my grandson won't be slighted. The pay is good and the people are great. The opportunities are endless. God is so good!

About twenty seconds after my friend texted me the official offer of a job, I got a phone call from the really big company with their official offer. I was able to turn it down without any regrets. God's timing is impeccable!