It had probably been the most horrible year of my life, at that point in time. My marriage of four years was ending to a man I had grown up with in church. He had become incredibly abusive and ended up leaving me for another woman. (Bless her heart.) In doing so, he had taken all monies, turned off all utilities and essentially left me penniless with my two daughters. He cut us off from every available resource we had shared together. I had been a stay at home mom, so there was no income.
Daily my girls and I would pray for God's provisions and weekly I would seek any kind of employment that would be available to me. I was willing to take anything to be able to put food on the table for my girls in order to make sure they had proper provisions.
For six months, every week, I diligently searched for work submitting application after application, mailing resume' after resume' - hoping and praying that God would provide me work to support my precious little daughters. I kept getting one rejection letter after another, eventually creating a one-inch thick file of rejection letters. I knew God's hand was in this because it was too unusual for me to not find work in my field - especially while looking so very hard and using every resource I could find. There were too many positions for which I had applied where I was definitely qualified. I could see God was right there with me the whole time, but I just did not understand why the work didn't come. For some unknown reason, He was closing all the doors. He continued to supply our needs for the entire six months. He paid the utility bills, provided us with more than enough food and even provided me gas for job interviews. He was there with us the whole time and never left us alone.
It was through all of this that I learned how to allow God to be my husband. I am so grateful to this day for that lesson, for there is no better husband than God.
One day I saw an ad in the paper for a position at a boy's boarding school in a county about two hours away from where we lived. I qualified for the position but knew that if I got it, we would have to move out of town. I didn't like the idea of moving the girls even though the position sounded secure and the pay was good. But, I sent off another resume' with another prayer that if the Lord wanted me to have this position, this was one I really wanted. I asked for His blessing.
A few weeks later, a phone call came and I was called in for an interview. I was to meet with the Dean of Admissions and the two Assistant Deans for the interview. I was elated - and very nervous. Six months of job searching and this was my first interview. I prayed I would say all the right things and give all the right answers.
The day of the interview came on a cold, winter day and I chose to wear my finest navy wool suit hoping to look impressive. Through all that I had been that year, the suit fit rather loosely because I had lost considerable weight. Not only that, but my under things were loose as well. However, I didn't worry about it much. I seemed to look okay considering all the weight loss and loose fitting clothes. Soon I'd have a good job, a new place to live and our lives could get back to normal.
I wanted everything to be perfect so I had practiced interviewing techniques, I prayed over every move I made - I did absolutely everything I could do to gear myself up for this big event. I drove the two hours to the interview, praying the whole time that God would help me through this and seek His will. I finally arrived to my destination, pulled my clunker car into the parking lot along with the BMW's, Mercedes' and high dollar sports cars, parked my God provided vehicle, turned it off and prayed one more time before going in. I had never in my life been so nervous for an interview.
I took deep breaths, calmed myself down as best as I could and walked up the sidewalk, knowing God was walking beside me. I entered a foyer which led to the reception office. I was greeted by the receptionist and gave her my name. After a short wait, one of the Assistant Dean's came out to greet me and escort me through the reception area, through the secretarial pool and back to his office where we would hold the interview. He closed the door behind him and informed me that the other two Deans were unavailable for our discussion and it would be just him and myself.
"Whew!", I thought. At least I wouldn't have to face a small committee - one man was enough. I was just that nervous.
He offered me a seat. I sat down directly across from him, remembering that eye contact was crucial. The interviewing process began. As we were talking, I could feel that my skirt was quite uncomfortable near my knees. While looking straight into his eyes, answering his questions, I tried to discreetly adjust my skirt so that I could be more comfortable and concentrate better.
The interview continued. Again, distracting my attention, I felt the discomfort of my skirt around my knees. And, again, I tried, with extra caution this time, to discreetly adjust my skirt while looking straight into the face of this strange man's face - the one who held my fate in his hands.
Finally, the interview was over and we stood up and shook hands. He opened his office door and I walked out feeling that the interview had gone rather well. I felt confident, relieved and satisfied.
As I walked out of his office, through the secretarial pool, and through the reception area, I felt a strange sensation around my calves wondering if there was something wrong with my skirt. By that time I had made it to the exit door, stepped out onto the porch area, looked down and saw that my half-slip had settled in a soft pile at my ankles! I suddenly remembered that I was at an all boy's school, quickly looked around to see if anyone else had seen my underwear fall off and discovered that the grounds were graciously quiet. I stepped out of my slip, picked it up, stuffed it into my small purse and laughed out loud towards the Heavens!
I kept wondering what the Assistant Dean was viewing as I left his office, and what the secretaries and receptionist saw and thought, as I marched through the office with my head held high full of confidence not knowing that my slip was slowly sliding down my legs.
I walked back to my car and thanked God for the interview. Even though I had lost my slip in the reception of a distingquished boarding school, I could feel God's presence with me the whole time. All I could do now was go home and wait.
I waited, without expectation, and a few days later my phone rang and I was asked to come back in for a second interview! I ended up getting the job, often wondering if I was hired because they thought I need money for clothing that fit.
God provided me with all that I needed, taught me lessons of faith and love and gave me a good laugh when times were really hard and tough.
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels." ~ Isaiah 61:10
No comments:
Post a Comment