Gainfully Employed (partly part time)

I have a job.

Like boyfriends and pregnancies often do, this job came when I wasn't looking for it.

I have written about my journey over the past year or so to diligently seek the Lord's direction in how I am to spend my time now that my boys are in school. I spent the last year and a half praying about it and committing myself to NOT take on any responsibilities. I wanted to be careful and purposeful in making commitments. I was expecting that after a year of praying toward it, some huge revelation would come over me... some great "calling" that the Lord would place on my shoulders with great pomp and circumstance. Yeah, that didn't happen.

I have also written about finally coming to the place where I knew I just needed to start moving forward. It's one thing to know that you should be doing something, and another thing to actually know where to start. In the Lord's perfect timing, it was during this fumbling time in my life that I heard a radio spot on KLOVE asking for volunteers at a medical clinic in Waco called the Meyer Center Donation Clinic(under "Programs" click "Clinic"). This clinic operates on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, providing medical and dental care to folks who don't have insurance and cannot afford to pay for medical services. (The clinic is a ministry of Mission Waco, which is a Christian-run organization that serves the poor in our community). This immediately sounded interesting to me, so I called.

That was in December.

In February (after volunteering there several times and loving every bit of it), the coordinator told me that he would be leaving in May to start similar clinics in China. Naturally, they were looking for someone to take his place. My first reaction was to throw my arm up in the air and yell, "ME!! ME!! Pick me!" However, I started to realize the reality of the idea: How could I be away from my family from 4 pm until 8 pm every Tuesday and Thursday night? These are the only 4 hours during any weekday that I get to see the boys. I simply couldn't be gone from them that much. It was out of the question.

So... I began to think creatively. How could this work? What about if Terrill and the boys worked with me? Jack would be great at handling office/clerical tasks. Whit would be too young for that, but what if he and Terrill hung out in the waiting area and played games with the kids and families while they waited?

And what about job sharing? What would really be ideal would be to find another person like me - who wanted to help, but couldn't do 2 nights. Perhaps someone would be willing to work one night, and I could work the other. But WHO? Who would want part of a part-time job helping the sick and the poor?

And then right before my eyes, in the most amazing of ways, the Lord worked it all out in every detail and in His perfect timing.

I prayed for the Lord's will, not sure if this was the path for me. I asked Him to provide that 2nd person. But to be honest, I couldn't imagine how He was actually going to do it. The clinic coordinator was leaving in less than a month. They had to replace him in the next 2 weeks. It didn't look promising.

I prayed a lot prior to my interview. I really wanted to hold these plans loosely, since they seemed so far-fetched. In my mind, best-case scenario would be that Jimmy, the Mission Waco Director, would be on-board with my job-share idea. I figured if that passed, THEN we'd have to start the impossible task of finding this person.

The interview blew my socks off! I never even pitched my job-share idea, because Jimmy came up with it on his own... and he came up with it on his own because he had the perfect person in mind... a nurse who was interested in the position, but hadn't applied because she didn't want to work a full 20 hours a week!

So within the next 24 hours, I became the new co-coordinator of the Meyer Center Donation Clinic!!

I was praying for bread, and God place an entire meal in my lap.

I just hope that, in days to come, when I am floundering and messing up in my new job, and as I begin to doubt myself and God's calling me there, that I would remember how He carefully worked out the details, even in the midst of my lack of faith.

When it seemed impossible, He made a way.