When God says 'wait'
Have I ever told you the story about how I got my job? My wonderful job that I do from the comfort of my home, sometimes in my pajamas and fuzzy slippers if it's just that kind of day. The job that has let me be present for my children in the ways that I want to be present.
No?
It all began with an accounting job, working long hours as a CPA for a public accounting firm, not really loving what I was doing, certain there was something 'more' out there. My heart ached to be home with my boys, to find some sort of better balance between my work and parenting, to reclaim some sense of being myself. But the timing felt wrong, and none of my interviews for other jobs panned out, and so I waited. And then a client sought me out for a job that would take me out of public accounting...and I turned it down. I turned it down because something inside whispered that it was only a step sideways, not forward, and that the time for moving forward would come.
And then God asked me to do something terrifying. Just as strongly as I had felt the 'not yet' of waiting, I felt the 'now'. And the Now was frightening. Quit my job, find some clients and do bookkeeping from home. It sounded fabulous except for that 'find some clients' part because when I tell you that I am an introvert who could not sell my services to anyone I mean INTROVERT and I mean NOT A SALESPERSON! Capitals, exclamation points, full emphatic declaration.
But I listened, and Mike supported (because he's awesome like that), and I turned in my notice at the firm. And then, about two weeks before my last day, I panicked. Because this was REAL and it was REALLY HAPPENING and oh-my-goodness-I-needed-clients. And a computer. And accounting software. I was scared, but when Mike and I talked about this we knew, deep down in the part that hears God whispering, that this was still the right move. It was only a few days later when one of the firm's clients asked the receptionist if she knew anyone who was looking to do bookkeeping part-time, maybe even from home. She gave them my name.
Can I tell you how wonderful it has been to work for them? They met my salary request, they provided every bit of hardware and software I needed, they paid for phone and fax lines to be installed in my home, they had exactly the number of hours that I needed to work. And they have been wonderful people to work for.
I thought I would do this job forever.
Then things changed. Out of the blue, their main client and the source of most of my hours was sold. I was facing the reality that in a matter of months when the sale was final I would essentially be out of a job. Yes, we would still have Mike's income. We wouldn't starve or lose the house or anything, but we'd need another small source of income just to close the gap. I was crushed. In my mind I envisioned myself working in an office again, feeling out of balance again, the boys coming home to an empty house and how on EARTH would I manage their activities now that they are older?
And what about that dream I had to be a writer? The dream that was just starting to gain momentum, the words and stories that were taking hazy shape in my mind? Was it dead before it even started?
I started making tentative plans for where to look. Substitute teaching? Contact my old firm to establish professional contacts that could lead to a similar job? And then on Monday, God said 'wait'. And the word was so peaceful that I listened. I told my small group about it, and the doubts I had that said "Is this really God? Or just my wishful thinking?" I resolved to listen and wait.
On Tuesday my boss told me that the sale was being pushed up to year end. THIS year end. As in 'three weeks away and not two months'. I told a friend that the waiting just got harder. But still I felt 'wait'. And I prepared to dig in and wait, with gritted teeth if I had to. Because although I haven't always felt that God and I are on speaking terms, and sometimes I've questioned everything that I think I know about him, there just really isn't a whole lot else I can do when he gives peace about something that would normally have me scrambling to Fix This NOW!
On Wednesday I went to my step class as usual, and I may have been a little extra distracted and its probably a good thing I didn't twist my ankle because most of that class was a silent prayer to help me wait, help me wait, help me wait. And then I came home and showered and sat down to work. I popped off a quick email to my boss about some paperwork, and then the phone rang.
I thought my boss was calling about the paperwork. He wasn't. He was calling to tell me about a bonus they would be getting from proceeds of the sale; a bonus that they wanted to share with me. And while I won't tell you the specific amount, I will tell you that it is enough to give me a few months of working at this dream of writing, without worrying about finding a job right away. Yes, we'll still have to be cautious with our money. But it is ENOUGH. Enough to dream a little, enough to see where God is taking me.
I called Mike and cried. I emailed my friends and cried some more. My friend called me and we rejoiced together and I hung up the phone and the doorbell rang. It was the mail carrier, with the package I'd ordered from Amazon a week ago. Kyle's Christmas present, and a book that I'd just tossed in because it was on my wish list and I needed to make up the amount to qualify for free shipping.
Do you see that? Uncover the art you were made to live. It felt like a confirmation and a promise all in one.
But that's not quite the end, because on a blog that tells me what the free Kindle deals are for the day, THIS was the very first book listed. And I will just tell you that it is my first research book for the story I want to tell. And it could be coincidence, or it could just be that God has a sense of humor, because when God says 'wait' and you listen, and all of these things happen at once, really all you can do is sit down with God and laugh together at how much More he is than you could ever expect.
No?
It all began with an accounting job, working long hours as a CPA for a public accounting firm, not really loving what I was doing, certain there was something 'more' out there. My heart ached to be home with my boys, to find some sort of better balance between my work and parenting, to reclaim some sense of being myself. But the timing felt wrong, and none of my interviews for other jobs panned out, and so I waited. And then a client sought me out for a job that would take me out of public accounting...and I turned it down. I turned it down because something inside whispered that it was only a step sideways, not forward, and that the time for moving forward would come.
And then God asked me to do something terrifying. Just as strongly as I had felt the 'not yet' of waiting, I felt the 'now'. And the Now was frightening. Quit my job, find some clients and do bookkeeping from home. It sounded fabulous except for that 'find some clients' part because when I tell you that I am an introvert who could not sell my services to anyone I mean INTROVERT and I mean NOT A SALESPERSON! Capitals, exclamation points, full emphatic declaration.
But I listened, and Mike supported (because he's awesome like that), and I turned in my notice at the firm. And then, about two weeks before my last day, I panicked. Because this was REAL and it was REALLY HAPPENING and oh-my-goodness-I-needed-clients. And a computer. And accounting software. I was scared, but when Mike and I talked about this we knew, deep down in the part that hears God whispering, that this was still the right move. It was only a few days later when one of the firm's clients asked the receptionist if she knew anyone who was looking to do bookkeeping part-time, maybe even from home. She gave them my name.
Can I tell you how wonderful it has been to work for them? They met my salary request, they provided every bit of hardware and software I needed, they paid for phone and fax lines to be installed in my home, they had exactly the number of hours that I needed to work. And they have been wonderful people to work for.
I thought I would do this job forever.
Then things changed. Out of the blue, their main client and the source of most of my hours was sold. I was facing the reality that in a matter of months when the sale was final I would essentially be out of a job. Yes, we would still have Mike's income. We wouldn't starve or lose the house or anything, but we'd need another small source of income just to close the gap. I was crushed. In my mind I envisioned myself working in an office again, feeling out of balance again, the boys coming home to an empty house and how on EARTH would I manage their activities now that they are older?
And what about that dream I had to be a writer? The dream that was just starting to gain momentum, the words and stories that were taking hazy shape in my mind? Was it dead before it even started?
I started making tentative plans for where to look. Substitute teaching? Contact my old firm to establish professional contacts that could lead to a similar job? And then on Monday, God said 'wait'. And the word was so peaceful that I listened. I told my small group about it, and the doubts I had that said "Is this really God? Or just my wishful thinking?" I resolved to listen and wait.
On Tuesday my boss told me that the sale was being pushed up to year end. THIS year end. As in 'three weeks away and not two months'. I told a friend that the waiting just got harder. But still I felt 'wait'. And I prepared to dig in and wait, with gritted teeth if I had to. Because although I haven't always felt that God and I are on speaking terms, and sometimes I've questioned everything that I think I know about him, there just really isn't a whole lot else I can do when he gives peace about something that would normally have me scrambling to Fix This NOW!
On Wednesday I went to my step class as usual, and I may have been a little extra distracted and its probably a good thing I didn't twist my ankle because most of that class was a silent prayer to help me wait, help me wait, help me wait. And then I came home and showered and sat down to work. I popped off a quick email to my boss about some paperwork, and then the phone rang.
I thought my boss was calling about the paperwork. He wasn't. He was calling to tell me about a bonus they would be getting from proceeds of the sale; a bonus that they wanted to share with me. And while I won't tell you the specific amount, I will tell you that it is enough to give me a few months of working at this dream of writing, without worrying about finding a job right away. Yes, we'll still have to be cautious with our money. But it is ENOUGH. Enough to dream a little, enough to see where God is taking me.
I called Mike and cried. I emailed my friends and cried some more. My friend called me and we rejoiced together and I hung up the phone and the doorbell rang. It was the mail carrier, with the package I'd ordered from Amazon a week ago. Kyle's Christmas present, and a book that I'd just tossed in because it was on my wish list and I needed to make up the amount to qualify for free shipping.
But that's not quite the end, because on a blog that tells me what the free Kindle deals are for the day, THIS was the very first book listed. And I will just tell you that it is my first research book for the story I want to tell. And it could be coincidence, or it could just be that God has a sense of humor, because when God says 'wait' and you listen, and all of these things happen at once, really all you can do is sit down with God and laugh together at how much More he is than you could ever expect.
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