God's faithfulness and people's failures....

I know, I know....it's been a LONG time since I've updated this blog and several of you have asked questions about my job situation. I actually was purposefully avoiding writing about it for a while...but I will explain that later.

Here's the latest: I did NOT get the soccer coach job, actually never even heard from them, although I did call and follow through with my application. Not too surprised there... I decided after a while that I should look into nanny jobs here, even though I was seeing that the majority of families in Spokane who hire nannies pay them BELOW minimum wage (one family actually said they pay $3/hr!!) Not sure why anyone would chose to work below minimum wage, when you could easily get a fast-food job for more...but anyway, I did discover that there were a select few who were able and willing to pay more for a nanny (which makes the most sense, as you could put your kids in daycare and pay less OR hire someone to be one-on-one or two-on-one for MORE). So, I put an ad on craigslist and began getting multiple responses. I made it very clear with each of them what I charge and that whittled out several. I ended up going for an interview with a family that needed someone only part-time (they have twin 2-yr-old girls). I told her that I would be willing to work for her, but ONLY if I could find another family that could use me the other "part-time" hours of the week.

Well, to our surprise, there was another family that thought that might be a possibility. I met with them a couple times, they had one son who was two. I explained to them my situation and told them that I would need a GUARANTEE of the amount of pay/hours that I would get each week. After a week of them discussing it and talking with me, they said they would be able to do that. So, I told the other family it would work out and we all thought it was set! Well, here's the part where God taught me once again that HE is the one that is faithful, even when people aren't. After 2 weeks of working for the second family (and NOT getting the "guaranteed hours"), she told me that she was having a hard time with the new schedule (she was working more than before they hired me). Now at this point, although I didn't like to hear that my job could be in jeopardy, I could not fault her for the reasons she gave me...she said she didn't want to be a "working mom", that she thought her time with her son was precious and that she wanted to do what was best for their family. So, I thought that if she decided it was better for her family for her to work less and stay home with her son, that is great--that is what I would do if I had kids of my own. Well, a week later she told me she had decided for sure that it wasn't going to work out with us...and although it was hard for me to hear, it was good for me to be able to communicate with her that I understood, even though it is NOT easy to find a good nanny job here.

So then I was back to the beginning...and honestly, that was REALLY hard for me. I HATE job searching....and I hated the pressure that I HAD to find a job or we could miss paying bills. I was really struggling with it, as I had begun to relax and rest in the fact that it was all "under control". But God taught me once again, that I should be relying on HIM and HIS plan and not on my job, which I may think is my security and safety net, when it's really not. God has NEVER once failed me, even when people and situations have.

I had another interview with a family with twin infants...but they were not willing to pay my rate AND they lived far away. Even though it was hard to turn down job offers, I felt like I really needed to keep looking and not go back on my expectations. And WOW, God totally blew me away!! I have been hired by a second family and will be starting for them this Wed. The schedule that they need fits with the other family I still work for....they have an 8, 10 and 12-yr-old, so they need before and after-school care. The times the kids are at school, I will be able to get extra hours helping out with their laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping. The family I currently work for (with twin girls) have also discovered that they will probably need me more than they anticipated (as she is pregnant again) and actually I have been working more hours for them the past couple weeks. It has been SUCH a blessing to be able to help this family out, as well as to see the other family come along and their schedule to fit with the first family! God is faithful and SO much better at planning all of this than I am! Pray for my interactions with both of these families...that He would use me to encourage them, build them up and point them to Him.