Trust and Obey, There is no Other Way

Do you trust God? It is really easy to say yes when our life is going all easy breezy. That's why I think God places trials in our lives to help us trust Him. Or sometimes, to help us realize that we aren't trusting God at all.

The past several months have been an exercise in trust for us. Anthony has been job hunting. He has interviewed with Samsung for three different positions there. After the first interview, we waited and waited only to find out that they hired internally. Okay, okay, maybe the position required more experience than Anthony had. We were disappointed, but it was good interviewing experience. A week or so latter, Anthony was called in for another interview. Apparently, the first guy who interviewed Anthony really liked him and passed along his resume to another hiring manager. Wow, totally unexpected! He interviewed, but they hired internally. Frustrating, yes, but soon afterwards Samsung called with another position. Anthony interviewed twice for this position, and we felt for sure that he was overqualified and would be a good candidate. Unfortunately, HR called Anthony a few weeks ago and let him know that they had hired internally again.

To be honest, at this point we were mad. We felt like the last four months were a big waste of time. We spent the next couple weeks wrestling with these emotions and eventually coming to the conclusion that God is still in control, there must have been some reason Anthony did not get this job, the right job will come along for Anthony is God's timing.

Last week, Samsung called and offered Anthony the job he last interviewed for. Apparently, there were some issues behind the scene, and the internal candidate didn't work out.

But God knew that was going to happen.

He also knew that if Anthony had gotten the job right away, we might have chalked it up to his degree, or skill, or experience, or something we had done to help him get the job.

This was all a practice in trusting God. Did we fail the first couple times? Yes, but our gracious God gave us several opportunities to trust Him with Anthony's job search.

If you are going through a trial right now, just remember that God is providing you with the opportunity to trust Him. How are you doing with that?

Back in the Saddle Again

The week back to school after a break is always a killer. Waking up early is not my fav, but fortunately I have a great group of students. Some of them I actually missed over the break. I have had these kiddos for a year and a half. In a few short months, they will no longer be mine. I want to make the best impression on them as possible. I want them to remember me as someone who inspired them to be something greater.

We got a new car this week. We are thankful that God has provided the means for us to get another mode of transportation, and we are praying that this car will last us a really long time. My old car has been kind of finicky about going in reverse, so we figured it was time.

Before we had completely decided to buy a new car, we took it to a friend of a friend at Christian Brother's Automotive in Corinth. We were discussing the financial situation and mechanical issues with Brandon. Buying a car is a big deal. Being good stewards of God's money is a big deal, too. So, obviously stress levels were a little higher than normal because we wanted to do the right thing for us. Brandon said something that really stuck out to me. He said, "Remember, it's just a car." It IS just a car. The kind of car you drive is no indication of the type of person you are, how much money you have, what kind of job you have, or how successful you are. You could have a really fancy, shmancy car and be up to your ears in debt. You could have a really old car and have financial peace about your retirement plans.

It is important for me to remember that we don't need two cars and having the additional car is just an added blessing for our convenience.

Anthony and I have really enjoyed the guidance of Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. If you are looking for a good way to get started with paying off debt, budgeting, and saving his book is definitely worth reading. (We listened to it on a car ride!)