"And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the Lord exceedingly."
I have a personal testimony of this quality of God. I had been a stay at home mom for 24 years by the time my two youngest were in high school. My husband had been pressuring me to get a job for some time. My daughter was suicidal, and I was making myself available to come to her rescue at anytime of the day. School was brutal for her, and for a time I was driving down every day at lunch hour to spend that hour with her.
Out of the blue, a neighbor called to ask if I was interested in a part-time job. I wasn’t interested at all, and had no intention of looking for a job at this time. I had plenty on my plate, and my husband made more than enough money for us. We enjoyed a nice lifestyle, and I didn’t see the necessity of working outside the home. I worked 24/7 inside the home! I politely thanked her for thinking of me and said I would think about it. My friend called back 30 minutes later and asked if I would please just come in and talk to her boss. I laughed and told her I would.
I threw on a dress the next morning and showed up at their office, five minutes away from my home. I had only just remember that morning that I didn’t even have a resume. I told myself I was just gathering information. I sat down with the owner and the office manager. They explained the scope of their company, and what my duties would be. The office manager left for a phone call and the owner started talking about compensation. Now prior to this, when I thought about working, I knew I could never get a job that would pay over $10. I didn’t have a college education, and figured the best I could do was work at a 7-Eleven or Walmart. But in my mind I had had a lot of life experiences and would not work out of the home under $11. When the owner asked me point blank what hourly amount I was considering, I blurted out $12 an hour, surprising myself. He said, "Well, we wanted to offer $13 an hour." I think I was a little shocked. I never thought I was worth this much money. Sounds ludicrous today to say that out loud, but it’s true. I asked him if I could think about it.
I went home and told my husband I had been offered a job. I asked him why he thought it was so important that I work right now at this time. He told me that God told him I should get a job. I did all in my power not to roll my eyes. He was not living in a way consistent with having the Spirit tell him anything, let alone tell him anything regarding me. All this did was just make me angry. The next day I accepted the job and started working part time. I had told the owner in the interview that my family came first, and if my daughter needed me for any reason, I would need to leave immediately. They were behind me all the way, and letting me know that they also believed family came first, and that as long as I got my work done, they wouldn’t mind if things came up. They were very, very supportive.
This job has been an exceeding blessing ever since. The people I work with became a second support group that built up my starving emotional tank and they verbally valued my work regularly. The bonuses were generous, the compliments genuine. After a couple years, my friend retired and I was offered a full-time position. I was given a nice raise, and after my divorce, my boss gave me another raise so I might be able to stay working for his company and still be able to support myself. I had always wanted to be a full-time mom and full-time grandma after the first decade of staying home with my children. I had no interest whatsoever in working. But this job was truly a blessing in disguise, and I had no idea at the time that events would lead me to ask for a divorce and separate from my husband in every possible way. I feel like I have tried the most part of my life to be obedient to God's commandments, to do the best of my ability. I feel like he has blessed me exceedingly, pressed down what was in my cup, shaken it to get things settled down even more, then kept my cup overflowing.
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