Everyone is asking questions regarding the new job my husband recently acquired. I’d like to give you a little insight as to how this all came together.

February 17, 2015 was the day Duane was laid off from his job. This happened to be the eve of Lent and I had half jokingly told him that he should give up work for Lent.  He did do exactly that and did spend his time looking for work. We used this time to pray and seek God’s direction. Duane has also felt God calling him into some type of ministry although he wasn’t sure what that was to look like either. He met with a good friend that has been in ministry a number of years and listened to his counsel. It appeared that God was telling Duane to put ministry on hold for a little longer. Duane had also been talking with a former manager from his previous employment who had moved on to work with another company. This man encouraged Duane to apply for a position with the company he now works for.

In the meantime Duane did apply with another company and once he received their offer it was evident that although it would have been a comfortable job to have, their salary came in much lower than Duane’s previous job was paying him. We could have managed but it would have been a struggle to get ahead.

When I told people about Duane’s impending job layoff they would say “God has something better in store.” As much as I would have liked to have believed that, I thought we had it pretty good as it was. How could it possibly get any better? We continued to pray for God’s direction and for his provision. God was faithful in always providing for our family and thank you to all of you that helped to contribute with gift cards and cash or checks. I had given up yeast during Lent and also since we needed to cut back on our spending I gave up shopping for groceries except for milk and eggs. Our pantry is full as well as our upright freezer so I wanted to use up the food in there. It's amazing how full our pantry and freezer still are!

The last two weeks Duane has been talking with his friend at this particular company and on Good Friday he had the official interview with this company. It pretty much sounded like he had the job but the next thing would be to hear what their offer for salary would be. As it turned out they wanted Duane to give his proposal. He started crunching numbers until he came up with an amount that sounded decent. Well, they declined that first offer. We thought for sure they would come back with another number but asked if he would submit another amount. All this was going through what engineers use called a “Job Shop.” The gal working with him asked if he would take X amount of money and he said he really would prefer XX amount of dollars. We were on edge waiting to hear back. We thought we would hear back later in the day since it was at 6:50am on Tuesday, April 7^th when Duane spoke with the job shop representative.  We prayed together that the company would accept his second offer. We were sitting on pins and needles the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday. Finally early on Thursday morning, April 9^th, Duane received the call that the company accepted his 2^nd request! What a sigh of relief! Duane was once again employed and if you know anything about being a “Job Shopper” these guys make BANK!

For those of you that said, “God has something better in store,” you weren’t kidding! This is absolutely beyond our wildest dreams! In fact on Tuesday morning at 4:30am the Spirit woke me from a sound sleep with these words, “In Your Wildest Dreams.” I looked up some images on the internet with that quote and came across Ephesians 3:20 which I posted on Thursday morning as my first announcement that husband had a job.

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)

So now everyone wants to know who Duane is working for? The Job Shop Company that hired him for this contract is “Intertek” which hires globally. Duane’s full time position is based in Corpus Christi, TX as a Piping Materials Control with Mossi and Ghisolfi Group. His tentative start date is April 20, 2015. I’m reading through his compensation, benefits, nature of employment and contingencies package as I’m writing this. Wow!

This is a one year contract and is renewable until the job is complete. At first we thought this job would require a move to Milan, Italy.  M & G’s home office is in Milan and for Duane to become familiar with them he will be required to work his first two months in Italy. As part of overseeing Materials I believe he will also travel to India and China and then will be in Corpus Christi, TX where the Plastics Plant he will be working on is being built. Duane will also have a home office here in our home as he will be able to come home to visit for a week at a time every now and then. He still has to work while he’s home that’s why the need to set up an office at home.

Duane knows that God is stretching him beyond his comfort zone with all the traveling he will be doing. I’m pretty sure God is preparing him for something more down the road so this is part of the Grand Plan God may have for him in the future. It is exciting! This job will allow us to finally get ourselves fully out of debt and then position ourselves well for our retirement years or actually for our “Second Act” in Life. Even with Duane working with M&G we have things we will be working on during this time also. I plan on keeping my position at CCV but will want to adjust my schedule to free me up to do some traveling with Duane also. This job also gives Duane the experience he needs to ramp up his resume. It gives him certain responsibilities that employers want to see cultivated in a person that may be seeking management positions. So this is a good move for Duane’s career.

Thank you to all of you who have been on this journey with us in prayer. God has been so good! I came across this Italian saying while looking at travel packages to Italy, “La Dolce Vita” which can either mean “The Sweet Life” or “The Good Life.” I think we all wish for that day when “Our Ship comes in,” I know for sure “Our Gondola has arrived!”

Here’s to “La Dolce Vita!”