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Healing Wells *** Digging the Wells of Healing *** 503-560-7310
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A NEW AND
BETTER JOB AFTER BEING LAID OFF Up until last August I had been working
for a high-tech start up company. As
with all start-ups, I was working extremely long hours. To add to the misery, my direct line of
management was, to put it simply, not pleasant to work for. At a family reunion, an aunt of mine
asked everyone to pray for me and my job situation and for God to send me answer
on whether I should stay or leave my job. The
very next day I was escorted into the VP's office and fired on some trumped up
charges from my manager (which they would not name). Don't you just hate it when God's is
subtle with his answers?! To be honest, I was both shocked at the injustice and
thankful to be freed from the situation. The day after I lost my job,
my wife Tricia finally saw herself clear to leave our four kids at home with me
while she went to the doctor for a long overdue appointment. She was still breastfeeding our youngest
and had been in a great deal of pain for a long time. At first she was treated with
antibiotics for mastitis. But after
a week of treatment, her condition only worsened and she returned to our doctor
insisting to be checked for an abscess. At
this point, the doctor conceded that she might be right, but a specialist would
have to evaluate it and drain it if needed.
The next possible appt. was nearly two weeks away! Realizing this was not something to let
go, she pursued it until she was able to get an earlier appt. arranged at the hospital. When they did the initial
ultrasound, the doctor was grave. He
said it looked like a tumor with a fluid sack by it and said she would need a
biopsy right away. She mentioned a
friend who had discovered she had stage 3 breast cancer when she was nursing her
baby and asked the doctor if that's what he thought might be the case with her. He just nodded and got her ready for the
procedure to try to aspirate the fluid. Not
knowing that all this was occurring, at 2:30pm, the kids and I got together at
home and prayed. Apparently, after
little success at first, it was just at this time that they were successful at
draining first one, then two vials of pus.
Then they exclaimed that everything looked so different, they would wait
on the biopsy. A culture of the
fluid confirmed the presence of staph bacteria, consistent with an abscess. Her
recovery was not as rapid as she expected, though, and she is humbled by God's
providence in having me home just when she needed me to take care of her and the
kids. One of the hardest parts for
me was dealing with the financial situation.
Our savings was down to next to nothing.
How could this be the financial blessing that had been prayed over me? I was very mixed on this.
I knew that God wasn't surprised by my being fired. I have proof on all of the other
countless times where he has provided, so why would he stop providing now? He wouldn't. I knew that I had to focus on Him and rest in the assurance
that He is our provider and NOT ME! I'll admit that we struggled with that
issue. One word of advice, never balance your check book with the stack of bills
close by unless you've prayed over them first! A major financial blow came
when I was denied unemployment insurance. The
company lied to me and my former co-workers as well, saying they were neutral on
whether I got unemployment or not and that it must have been my testimony alone
that caused me to be denied. However,
the truth came out at the appeal when all the negative accusations made against
me to the caseworker were read. I
was so mad, and so were my coworkers who had come to testify for me. They urged
me to consult a lawyer and even offered to help pay for it. However, I never
felt that was what the Lord wanted me to do. Later we were surprised to receive
notice that the judge at my appeal saw through the lies. He declared that I had "done my
best" and that I had not wilfully wronged my employer and therefore was
entitled to receive unemployment benefits retroactively to the time I was fired. That retroactive pay with my first
benefits check was enough to cover another month's mortgage! Hallelujah! And the
continued checks, although not even enough monthly to cover one mortgage
payment, would help us get by. We
did get by. My ex-coworkers took up
a collection for me that was almost $1300! Family sent us checks every now and then to see us through. My mother-in-law had the best "Holy
Ghost Coincidence!" Just prior
to this, she had won $5000 of groceries from a major supermarket chain, so every
time they came to visit she would slip us a couple of gift certificates to buy
food with! God is more than
faithful! We were also remarkably
blessed on Thanksgiving when two different women-one a single mom with 6
kids-were led to share their bounty with us.
We received such an over-abundance that we were able to supply another
unemployed family with groceries as well. That
was a great day! Being out looking for work in today's market was another big stretch for me. Jobs were scarce to begin with and after 9/11 the job market completely froze. As both my previous companies failed, more and more of my friends lost their jobs, too. Prophecy came from you and others that God had the perfect job waiting for me. My wife and I knew that God had plans for this time, but only now can I begin to see the fruits of it. My marriage and family life has grown to deeper depths as all of us looked to God. I can't begin to explain how wonderful it has been. It is the same true-ism that what man had intended for evil, God used for good! And now, after five months of being unemployed, I have started a six month contract job (with option to hire permanently) with a major utility company AND with a 28% increase in pay! Funny thing is, I was poised to take another position but delays came to block any official offer being made until this second company-closer by and offering more money-was able to contact, interview and hire me. The other job offer came through just hours after I had accepted this better one! God is more than faithful, he loves to bless us more than we can conceive! In Him! -Scott Robertson
Hamilton Filmalter |