Plans
It’s been over 22 years since I interviewed for a job I wasn’t sure I wanted and never expected to have more than a couple years. In my professional life, I wasn’t one to be in a job for more than 3-4 years. Early in my career I was in radio and I wanted to advance. Advancement often meant moving to bigger and better. Plus, I embraced change and tend to get bored with status quo. The last job I had in radio left me disheartened and unwilling to explore other radio jobs. It certainly wasn’t in my life plan to work in an assisted living, so I assumed it would give me experience and the change I needed for the time being. Honestly, I really didn’t have any long-term plans. Having gone through a divorce and finding myself out of the career path I had originally chosen, my plans went out the window. I guess you could say I had to be broken to be willing to be open to new plans.
Looking back, I see God’s hand in everything. Not the part where I was broken. It’s not His fault nor His desire for me to have been divorced and hating my job. He was the Rock who helped me pick up the pieces. I had been out of radio for a year and divorced for around 4 years, so I was earnestly praying for the right job and for a man to love. I had already applied at several places that didn’t pan out. I was truly at the end of my rope when my mom saw the ad in the Mansfield News Journal help wanted for this job.
I would never have applied for Wedgewood had my situation been even just the slightest bit more promising. Please understand, that is not a slam to Wedgewood. It’s just a totally different career path. The man who is now my husband didn’t even want to hire me. I didn’t have any experience in senior healthcare. His dad (Who I now call father-in-law) made the decision to give me the opportunity.
Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I had been praying for the right job and man and God was clearing the path to answer my prayer. Everything that had happened… me losing my radio job, my divorce, and the boredom I felt at my current job, caused me to seek Him with diligence, like Jeremiah 29:12-13.
“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”
His answer was in no way what I envisioned…not even close. It’s important to note, Jeremiah 29:11 says He knows HIS plans He has for me, not MY plans I have for me. I’m glad I was forced to search for HIS plan. I’m glad I was forced to seek Him harder than I ever had before.
I’m thankful He knows what’s best for me. I’ve learned sometimes what I think is best is not at all what He KNOWS is best. I am thankful He knew what was best for me. His best is WAY better than I could ever have hoped or imagined. Everything lost through my divorce was gained back 100-fold when I answered an ad for a job I wasn’t even sure I wanted.