The Unexpected

Life is full of unexpected things. From going out to your car one morning to find a flat tire to some guy asking if you want to go play mini golf on Saturday which ends up turning your life upside down. We all know life is full of unexpected things.

When Ed decided to pursue the job opportunity here in Indiana, we had every expectation that it was going to work out. Certainly not every detail would fall into place when so many things were unknown, but we clearly expected his new employer to be a solid guy with a solid offer. After all, we picked up and moved nearly 400 miles, Ed leaving behind if not a great job at least a steady one. We now know that nothing is “solid” in this world, especially people.

The whole thing started unraveling before Christmas, although Ed didn’t tell me until after the holidays. To explain the whole situation is rather pointless and, in truth, I don’t think we really understand why it happened. But his last day was to be December 31. At least his former employer pointed him in the direction of a new job. But for several weeks, things were very confusing. Ed worked the new job, then went back to the old job, then worked the new job…and then nobody wanted him and as of last Wednesday, he didn’t have a job at all. 

For the most part, Ed seemed to take it all in stride, although he confessed he felt useless and not worth a lot. I felt miserable. I had made him leave his home and everything comfortable to him. I felt it was all my fault he found himself in this situation and I wanted to fix it. I told him we could go back. I was already figuring in my head how much that would cost, trying to work out how I could work fulltime (the company I work for would lovethat) while he looked for a job and even thinking our old landlord might still have our place open. Ed told me to stop feeling that way. It wasn’t my fault. Home was anywhere the kids and I were, and he hadn’t liked his job in Pittsburgh anyhow. The Lord would work it out. And while I believed the last part, I can’t say my faith was the size of a mustard seed. I was still trying to figure out the best way to fix this problem.

So the last couple of weeks have been very stressful. I dashed about the house, trying to keep life normal for the kids (something we were just falling into with the boxes finally unpacked and the holidays over), doing all the regular chores but trying to still every fifteen or more minutes I could at my laptop working – tallying up the minutes so they added up to as many hours as I could possibly squirrel away while still doing laundry, cooking meals, cleaning, helping Ed look for jobs and still get a few hours of sleep, exercise and reading just to keep me sane. 

After the first week, I think the exhaustion just set in. I was too tired to worry anymore, too tired to make more plans, too tired to fight the inevitable. All I could do was pray God would provide day by day and continue to work as many hours as possible to earn as much as I could so at least we wouldn’t have to dip too much into our savings. And beg Him for a job for Ed – maybe not the career of his dreams, but at least something that would keep us floating until a job he could really like came around.

And I can tell you today that God does hear us. Of course He does not answer us as we think we should be answered, but He knows. He tells us to pray for our daily bread. I sat down on Monday to write several of the checks due at the end of/first of the month to discover that what Ed made in January and what I will get paid when the month ends not only covers our expenses, but will get us through most of February. And today Ed got a job.

We’ll see how it goes. It’s through a temp company that provides the hourly workers for Subaru which has a huge plant here in Lafayette. For the first month, he’ll work the first shift as he trains. He’s not 100% sure what he’ll be doing. He may not know for sure until the month is out, but I pray it will be something he can enjoy. His shifts will change after that, but at least they should be steady on a week-to-week basis and maybe even month-to-month, an improvement over his job in Pittsburgh when every week’s schedule was completely different. And if he finds himself having this job for 18 months to 2 years, Subaru will probably pick him up themselves, a job that could be well worth having. 

It’s a step of faith. But isn’t everything? Because the unexpected does happen. But, thankfully, it never happens outside of God’s sovereign hand.