Still Here

Almost 14 years ago to the day, I was working for a very large corporation. I had been with them for almost a decade and in management with them for more than 7 years. While the money was good and some of the benefits rewarding, the stress became too much to always produce numbers better than the previous day and there was the expectation that we sacrifice anything outside the company to achieve that. Full days off were becoming rare, phone calls to fix issues would, more often than not, turn into having to come into the building. Budget issues preventing adequate staffing required other managers and me to fill the gap. This was weighing not only on me, but even worse, on my wife and girls. Family events were interrupted constantly; any type of play or program for my girls would almost certainly take place with me absent. All of this to say, I was reaching a breaking point of both physical harm to my body and the complete absence of me for my family.

One night I was able to sneak away early for an evening performance my girls were in at church. They were over the moon that their dad was there, but my wife could see the pain and exhaustion in my eyes. After the program, I sat in the car with my wife and girls for a few minutes. At this point I must say how lucky I am that God picked the woman he did for my wife. She knew, even more than me, that this wasn't sustainable. She put her hand on mine and simply said, "you're done." I wasn't sure what she meant, so she proceeded to tell me that she would rather us lose everything than she would to see me the way I was at that point. So, we talked and prayed about it the rest of the night and the next morning I tendered my resignation. Being the company that they were, I was not allowed to work out my notice and was escorted to my office to clean out my desk then relieved of my keys and let go that day.

The decision to leave that job was a true leap of faith and relying on God to guide my next steps. The blessing of having worked for this large corporation for so long was that there was a pay out to the associate upon leaving the company. This payout took place regardless of exit reasons. So, I took some time off and spent some much-needed moments with my daughters and my wife. We went camping, we went to the local pool, we mini-golfed, we stayed up late and watched movies together, and just reconnected in a way that had been missing for far too long.

In the month after I left the company, we had Bible School at our church. For the first time in years, I was able to work and contribute to this and enjoy seeing my girls participate. During that week I ran into a friend and he asked me if I was looking for a job. I told him I was but wasn't sure what I wanted to do. He let me know that the company he worked for was hiring for summer help. I talked to my wife and then approached the company and applied for a position. I was hired as temp summer help in their shipping department. It was a significant pay cut from what I had been making, but with the payout from my previous employer it would give us that much more time to make a decision on what was next.

After the first day, my wife asked how it went. I told her the first thing we did was pray, and not only pray, but pray for a people group somewhere around the world. I also told her I had discovered that this company was dedicated to donating half of its yearly profits to Bible translation. After morning prayer, I had gone back and they showed me how to ship. The whole environment was so much different than what I had been exposed to before. People were energetic, there was laughter throughout the day, and everyone seemed to be genuinely happy about what they were doing. I wasn't sure what the future held, but over the next couple of months I felt things changing inside of me. I felt myself becoming the man I had been many years before. I was able to smile and laugh and still have energy to be with my family after the work day. I felt fulfilled at the end of a day and like what I was doing was directly affecting someone and their journey with Christ. I wasn't sure what awaited me at the end of the summer and busy season, but I was enjoying going to work every day and feeling God in the things I was doing.

When the summer came to an end, I was approached about taking a full-time permanent position with the company. I prayed about it, then talked it over with my wife. We reviewed our budget for needs versus luxuries, determining what we could live without. She, probably more than me, knew this is where we needed to be and more importantly, this is where God wanted me. I wasn't sure for how long or what the future would hold, but 14 years later I am still at My Father's World and still feel led by God everyday that this is where he wants me. I'm still so fulfilled by the things we do here everyday and the impact that it has on people's journey with God. I love seeing the reviews and videos of people sharing what the curriculum has done for them and their families. Our success here has never been measured by a dollar sign, instead it is measured on impact for Kingdom.