We miss having Peter around the house during the day. And I know it's been strange for Peter being in an office 5 days a week, trying to balance 2 jobs, school, a wife and kids, friends, gym time, and ministry. The week goes fast! And I know it's been hard for him only really seeing the boys on weekends.
But the one thing we keep coming back to is this, God is faithful. And this job is an answer to so much crying out and so much prayer.
And we are so grateful.
And in the moments that feel hard, like when the boys ask where Dada is, and I kindly inform them he's already left for work, or that he woke up early to go to the gym, or that he's not coming home till later as he's working his pizza job tonight, I hold fast to the fact that God is faithful.
His provision of this job was so very clear and it's such a beautiful story. And I can't believe I've waited two months to share it with you.
So here I go before we completely forget all the details.
May we steward this story of God's faithfulness well and may you see Him in all the details.
So as many of you know, Peter was in the job market, and he had been looking for meaningful employment since October 2015. And he started at his new job just two months ago. When I type it out like that, I can't help but think WOW that was a really long time!
And as I've said before, this season was so incredibly hard. Through it, we experienced so much growth, so much pain, so much grief, and so much joy. And as hard as it was for me, it was so hard to watch Peter go through it. He would continually put himself out there, only to face rejection after rejection. And then he would get back up and do it all over again. The questioning of his worth, of his skills, of his calling, of God's provision was hard for me to watch and witness.
But then something happened as God continued to chip away at all the things that didn't honor Him, He was reminding us of who we are and whose we are, and that our identity is fully in Him. Nothing else matters. And we had to enter into a new level of humility and a new level of laying down of self time and time again.
And even though the journey felt so long, I feel like it took us that long to get to the place where we could fully trust God whatever the path may be and however long the wait may be.
And the Sunday before Peter saw the job posting and applied for it, our Pastor was preaching on Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they will SEE God. And he ended the sermon with two questions. How do you see God showing up in your life right now? And how do you want to see him? And we were each given little pieces of paper to fill in this blank, I want to see God.... And I turned to Peter and said should we bring them forward, and he said, no I'll bring them forward when I go for prayer after the sermon. I almost started bawling right then and there as I knew he had entered into an even deeper level of humility.
The truth is, we had nothing left in us. We had reached the end of our own ropes and we needed others to carry us, so we stepped forward for prayer. And when the two lovely ladies asked how they could pray for us, Peter got a little choked up as he shared the season we were in, and I started crying as I asked for prayer as to how to support him well in this season. And then they laid hands on us, and we just fully released the tears and the control, and allowed their words to wash over our broken spirits, to heal us, to restore us, to encourage us. And when the Amen arrived, we all looked at each other with tears in our eyes and I thanked them for their words and for that Holy Spirit moment as they spoke truth right to the depths of my soul.
And then just a few days later Peter found a job that he was excited about applying for. It was a position with an organization called Forest Stewardship Council, an organization he had heard about, but most of their jobs are in DC or elsewhere, not here in Washington. So he was intrigued, and figured he had nothing to lose.
So a few days later, when he finally had the time to sit down and apply, he went to look for the job online, but he couldn't find it there. So he called the number he had to see if the position was still open, and he reluctantly turned in his application thinking it was probably too late. And his now boss emailed him back, stating that the position was closed, but she wanted to set up a phone interview with him. And she also asked him how he got her personal phone number as the number he'd called her on was her personal number!!
So a week after our momentous moment at church, the moment where we truly let go and just fully released everything to the Lord, we began to see the FSC logo everywhere! And that Monday, Peter had a phone interview, and it went really well and they asked him to come in that Friday for an in person interview. And Peter left the interview just feeling like if it's not me, then it's someone else who is truly incredible! And then the next Tuesday morning they called him and offered him the job!
Thank you Jesus.
And in the week or two of waiting, we saw God's hand in all of it. Time after time, we heard Him say, I see you, I know you're there. From Peter's favorite song, How He loves by David Crowder, coming on Pandora right as he's breaking a fast, to going back back to work at Pagliacci after like a 6 week hiatus from being out of the country and not being scheduled and realizing they had changed their boxes to include a diagram outlining their Paper trail and FSC gets a shoutout, to being able to use examples from his Pagliacci job in his second interview.
God's hand was in all of it, and we felt that hand so profoundly.
And looking back, I'm just blown away by God's provision every single step of the way through the extra income from Peter's pizza job and the random financial gifts that would show up just when we were questioning whether we should dip into our savings or wondering whether it was financially wise to take time off work to travel to Ireland for a very important wedding!! He provided and you guys we didn't spend an ounce of our savings during that entire season of waiting, or maybe I should say, the balance remains the same as it did 18 months ago, which truly blows my mind.
And as I said, we are so grateful for this job, for a different season, and we're now trying to find balance within this new season. Change is hard, but we're adjusting. And I think it's easier to adjust when we truly feel like God has called Peter to this job in this season.
Again, a huge thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement, we are just so grateful!
If you want to read more specifics about this particular interview/job journey, check out this post.
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