My Super Fantastic Awesomely Wonderful Can't Believe It Is Real Update

To say these past couple of weeks have been crazy would be an understatement. I've been sitting on an update for a couple of days now because I needed some time to wrap my head around it all and just sit and reflect on it. God is just amazing!

But before I give you the details I need to take you back a bit to early July or maybe even before that. The Man and I have wanted to move back to Alabama for awhile now. We had hoped we'd get to do it when he lost his job last year but it soon became apparent that it just wasn't the right time. So in early July we talked and decided that he would just start putting some feelers out there, try to see if there were any jobs available in any of the areas we wanted to live. He immediately found two opportunities and did phone interviews with both places. Job B was a definite no go but Job A seemed quite promising. So another phone interview was soon set up for that job. A week and half later we hadn't heard anything else from Job A so we figured it wasn't going to go anywhere. We were cool with that. The Man had a job. Things were going along just fine. We were just hoping that sometime by the summer of 2010 we'd be making our way back down South. There was plenty of time to look. So The Man goes into work on July 23rd, our 15th wedding anniversary, and as you know, he loses his job quite unexpectedly. They did not give him a real reason. We don't know if they heard that he was looking elsewhere or if there was some kind of personality conflict with one of his superiors. He'd never been reprimanded in any way and his work record was solid. There was no need to doubt his performance. We were completely shocked. But now we can look back and know without a doubt that losing his job was a God thing.

The afternoon of the 23rd he received a call from Job A requesting an in person interview the following week in south Alabama. The girls and I had already planned a trip to Alabama to visit my family that next week so we decided we'd just take a family trip down there together. The Man decided he would try to make some contacts and set up more interviews while down there if possible to use the trip to his advantage. He did manage to schedule two more phone interviews and another in person interview while we were down there. His last interview was Thursday afternoon and we left Friday morning heading to North Carolina to spend some time with his Grandmother and family. It was lovely to be able to spend 10 days with family with the bonus of getting some interviews in. On the way home Sunday, The Man got a call letting him know that Job C was a no go. We were somewhat disappointed but he had been told a decision about Job A would be reached by Monday so we should hear then. We were still hopeful.

So Monday rolls around and nothing. Tuesday....nothing again. Then Wednesday....nothing....nothing....nothing...then a call saying a decision on Job A hadn't been made yet and he was still in the running. And then Thursday afternoon the call came. And Oh My Goodness, there was a job offer. Two weeks after losing his job he had an offer! We're having to wait until the background check comes back for it to be official and to get more details but he has a job. Hooray! Thank you, Lord! And it gets even better. There are two openings so we will either be living in south Alabama or along the Florida panhandle. I have dreamed of living there my entire.adult.life. We have spent the better part of 15 years going to wherever these restaurant jobs have taken us knowing that God had a reason for us to be in each place. To be allowed after all of this time to live in a place that we have longed to live is somewhat overwhelming. I think that's why it's taken me a couple of days before I can share it here. I'm just so grateful and excited and just Wow!

I've had a couple of days to begin to see how all these little pieces are fitting together. If he hadn't been fired on the 23rd it would have been hard for him to make that in person interview on the 29th. The job loss last September and the "interim" job that he found were all pieces in bringing us to where we are now.

I've thought alot about the verse I was given the day The Man lost his job.
Jeremiah 29:11
"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 know that even if the unemployment dragged on and the money ran out that I would still have hope and a future in Jesus Christ. And I am all the more humbled by this new opportunity He's set in front of us because of that.

Before I had learned about The Man's job loss on our anniversary, I had written the words "I can't wait to see where the next 15 years take us." in his card. I had no idea that God would reveal a new adventure to us so quickly. I am so ready for the next 15 years and beyond.