Surprise! God was planning.

As humans, we plan and think we’ve got it all figured out. Sometimes our plans don’t work out, so we plan some more. We learn and we grow.

But at the end of the day, our plans don’t mean much if they aren’t in line with God’s planning.

Normally I only do one post a day, but I’m going against the norm today. We have had a week of surprises and I’m bursting to share them…

PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay

God has been planning some amazing things for our life and His plans revealed themselves this week:

Surprise #1: The Husband got a job yesterday

Exactly one week ago was The Husband’s last day of work at his job of more than 11 1/2 years. At that time, he had a few applications out and one good job lead. That was it, no interviews in process, no true job prospects.

The Husband and I live on a lot of faith. We know that God will always take care of us. Sometimes it is scary stepping out there not knowing what is to come, but step we do, and often it results in surprises and blessings beyond our wildest dreams.

Surprise #2: It isn’t the job he applied for

Friday he had his first interview at a plumbing company. He is not a plumber, he applied and was interviewing for a different position within the company. Monday he got a call back saying they wanted to talk to him again, but were no longer hiring for that position. Instead they were now hiring a plumber’s apprentice and asked if The Husband would be interested.

He said yes.

Surprise #3: The Husband is going back to school

Tuesday he went in for his second interview. It was obvious they were highly interested in hiring The Husband. After his interview he came home. We were waiting for the phone to ring again. I figured we may not hear from them for a day while the owners discussed some details. Yesterday afternoon, he got a call and a job offer which he quickly accepted.

In our state, you have to be an apprentice for 4 years before becoming a licensed plumber. It is a long program, but designed to make sure you know the trade before going out and claiming to be a professional.

In addition, you attend 4 years of trade school. It is about 6 hours a week of classes plus homework. So for the next 4 years The Husband is going to be working 40 hours a week and attending school some evenings. Big changes for our family!

Surprise #4: The company is paying for it!

As part of this company’s apprenticeship program, they pay for it. It is all covered. Not only are they training The Husband, they are paying for his school. I’m blown away by this huge blessing.

Surprise #5: The Husband started today!

Yep, you read that right. Exactly 1 week after his last day of work, he began working again. In all he had 6 days off, counting the weekend. In this economy, that does not happen.

Surprise #6: A new career for The Husband

We never fathomed The Husband being a plumber. In fact, we had talked about it and dismissed it. The process is long, and there are some challenges along the way. An apprentice doesn’t make nearly as much as he was. We are taking a significant pay cut for the next few years and things are going to be tight.

His time at home will be less. Even after school his shift is different. He will be working a “normal job” instead of a 6-2. That means he won’t be around in the afternoons nearly as much. He will be on call at times still, but it will be on a rotation. He won’t be on call 24/7/365.

Not only was he out of work for a minimal amount of time, but he has been given so much.

A job, a debt free education, a career, a way to be the provider.

 

My One Word this year is “whatever” and this is a prime example of living whatever. If you had told me Monday morning that The Husband would be back to work by Wednesday as a plumber’s apprentice, I would laughed in your face.

God has been working and making plans for our life for a very long time. All this stress and planning, seeing each one fail and crumble one by one, leaving me shattered on the ground, broken and lost seems so trivial now. When will I learn to stop getting upset over the no’s and instead take each one as a step closer to God’s plan?

I feel beyond blessed today. I have many friends with husbands currently looking for work. Some of them have taken part time lower paying jobs just to have something, others haven’t found anything at all. They have struggled for months. To you I say, God has a plan and He is working on it right now, and when he’s ready to spring the surprise, it’ll be amazing!

I know the next few years are not going to be easy. Having to work and go to school is no easy feat for anyone, especially parents. I am going to have to pick up the slack and be there for the girls when they miss their dad. I’m going to have to figure out how to do some things around the house that he’s always taken care of so he can focus on work and school. I need to find more creative ways to save money and lessen the financial impact on our family.

I’m blown away by God’s blessings and what he has surprised our family with. I have found myself speechless several times today.

For that, all I can say is thank you for taking care of us God.

~Crystal

 

(as a footnote: I normally only post once a day but wanted to share this now instead of in a few days. I left the baggage post up because it is still appropriate. I need to deal with my suitcases and keep my baggage open. If you haven’t read that post, I encourage you to check it out here.)