You know when you go to work having a plan, having it “all together”, and before you come home, your entire plan has changed? Like this morning, when I went to work and had a job, compared to this afternoon… When I didn’t.

You see, a few weeks back I sat in a meeting where my boss told us 4-6 of us would be let go in the summer. Okay cool. Type A personality that I am, I sat down and made my list of what bills were due and when and which paycheck could pay them, and the absolutely  last day we could be without income. I had it all figured out.

Then, a few weeks later when it was time for my annual review, I asked the boss if he could give me
an approximate date that I would be laid off.  Of course I’d been applying for jobs since I’d heard but it would still be nice to know. 

Mid-to-late-May, he says.

Ah yes, right on schedule. 

Fast forward two weeks to a second annual review (SOP) with my contracting company. “Here’s your ending paperwork, Karen. April 24th will be your last day.”

WHAT?!?!?

In what country does April 24th fall in late May? This is not on my schedule. 

I went back to my desk and methodically marked off the number of working days I had in April. My thoughts go back to the last time I thought I had my plans perfectly laid out. What happens next is a bit of a blur. NOT because I don’t remember it, but because the sheer provision of my Lord is amazing. 

God bless flex time, because I used it that day to head home from work and tell the hubs (for the third or fourth time that day) how I had no idea what to do with our budget and school and hello, that is two WHOLE paychecks less than I was figuring. 

As I’m freaking out to him, he shows me this job he’d found for me online. It’s a little further south in Alabama but closer to Disney World, so it can’t be all bad, right? Right! I email the company my resume, and get an immediate response. Which is awesome, because it’s Friday. Stick that in your cap for later. Anyway, she says, “Karen, would you consider this job in Mississippi instead?”

Well, I don’t know. Should I consider that job in Mississippi? 

Back to Friday. It’s the end of the day when I email this gal. By Monday morning I had a call back from the hiring company. That week I did a phone interview. Then for my birthday the very next weekend, the hubs said “Why don’t we drive over there and see if we like it?” I have a sweet friend who lives about ninety minutes away. Spontaneity is not her strong suit, but guess what? She convinced her family to skip church and drive down for lunch with us. 

So we drove to Mississippi for lunch. (Who does that?) It looked a lot like Alabama. Very rural. Very quiet. “Town” isn’t too far away. We could live here. My sweet monkey backpack friend reminded me “You know, a lot of famous writers come from Mississippi.” God love her. I think God whispers in her ear the exact things I need to hear when I need to hear them. 

Two days later I did another interview. And because our family makes big decisions together, we all went back to this strange and foreign land to interview the company who was interviewing me. The three of them drove around and explored while I did my thing, and then afterwards, we house hunted, found a neighborhood, commandeered the services of a local real estate agent who was showing another family a home the next neighborhood over, and fell absolutely in love with a house. (More about that later.) A few days later, I got an offer. 

Here’s what I love about God. In Alabama, there were no doors opening. None. No one asking me to stay here (besides my friends, of course). No opportunities knocking. No interviewers calling. Every door here is closing. Not slamming, but slowly creaking until little by little there’s no room to walk through. Our house lease is up at the exact time we need to move… You know as Christians, we pray for God’s will, and we pray for open doors where we need to go, and closed doors so we can be sure. 

As much as I love, love, LOVE Alabama, how much sweeter will Mississippi be, knowing that this path is exactly the one we’re supposed to be on? For you, all of this happened in a couple dozen paragraphs. But for me, I’ve prayed for answers and direction, and tried not to worry, and then sat back to watch how awesomely God coordinated every single detail for us. All of this change spanned the course of less than 2 weeks. How amazing it is to me that God can work out the provision and details to change an entire life path in two short weeks when even a month ago, we never would have guessed we would be headed there. Who would have thought He could coordinate even the smallest details, like the realtor being the next neighborhood over and literally come in the very house we were looking at, on the same day, at the same time we needed one? Don’t fool yourself into thinking God doesn’t concern himself with your smallest concerns. He does. He SO does. 

We still have to find a house (and I am praying for the one we love) and somewhere for me to live until the kids finish school and dance season. But if God can do all of Part One in just two weeks, I cannot wait to tell you about everything He does in Part Two!

With Great Expectations,

XOXO,

Karen