Sunrise in the Valley of Peniel

After eight months of participating in this recession, I will start a new job on Monday. It has been a difficult time and I cryptically blogged about it a few posts ago.

http://boyceinthewilderness.blogspot.com/2010/10/in-valley-of-peniel.html

The way in which this job came about was nothing short of miraculous. Three months after moving my family to Utah, the engineering firm that hired me experienced a turn down and I got laid off...last hired-first fired. I was given a generous severance package that lasted for about four months and, for the last four months, there have been lean times at our home.

The difficulty in finding a job during a recession was compounded by the fact that I had just arrived in Utah and didn't know what firms even specialized in my area of engineering. For months, I would scan want ads, look on the internet for head hunters and send out resumes wherever there was a hint of a possibility...all to no avail.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, there was a ray of hope. A head hunter called and told me that he had set me up on an interview. I was excited because this was the first interview I'd been on in eight months of looking. I decided that my sport coat was a little shabby and I needed to look at the big and tall shop to see if any were on sale.

I don't know who makes all of the fashion decisions in big and tall men's clothes but, apparently being twice as large as anyone else isn't enough, they feel we need to call attention to ourselves with loud colors and patterns. Nothing seemed appropriate and, the only sports coats that were conservative enough for a job interview were well out of the $130 budget I'd set for myself.

For over an hour. the clerks and manager all tried to find something that would fit both my budget and my frame and be conservative enough for a job interview at an engineering firm. They mentioned that they could have something in my size and budget in a week and that's when I told them that this was the only job interview I'd had in an eight month search and I needed it the next day.

I turned to walk out of the store when the manager called me back in, saying that he'd 'found' a suit....not the sports jacket that I was looking for, but a suit....It was in my size, very well put together, the fabric was a very conservative dark gray...and (what a coincidence) the suit just 'happened to be on sale for $125.00'....they threw in a free belt as well.

My interview was the best it had ever been and the interviewer told me that I would start on the very next Monday. I was elated. It seemed that my troubles were over and that our family could finally start enjoying some niceties that we'd foregone over the last eight months. Then, later on that day, I got a call from my interviewer telling me that he had discussed things with the CEO and that the position had been put on hold for a week or two. I was a little disappointed but still confident.

When a week passed and I hadn't heard anything from the interviewer, I started to get worried, however, on our weekly visit to the temple, my wife and I both felt a very strong confirmation from The Spirit, that my employment woes would soon be a thing of the past.

Then, this last Monday, I got a call telling me that it didn't look like the position would be available after all. My heart sunk and I went to my knees to ask Heavenly Father why I had been promised something that didn't seem like it was going to come to pass.

About an hour after my prayer, I got a phone call from an engineering company that I'd never even heard of. They had pulled my resume from a website I'd put it on eight months ago. They wondered if I could come in the next day and interview.

Once again, it was a very good interview but, when I asked when they would be making a decision, the head of the company told me that I was the first of many candidates they were seeing over the next week. As I left, I saw two of my competition waiting in the lobby, both younger, thinner, and more dynamic than myself. I left the office a little less hopeful than when I'd entered.

Anyway, I just got off the phone with the head of the company. They made me an offer and asked me to start this next Monday.

Just try and tell me that there is no God...that He's not aware of my situation....that He's not concerned for my well-being....that He doesn't keep His promises.

Just try.