Three weeks prior, the boys started a new school. The following week, don-E and I went to Maryland for his 25th high school reunion. The next week, we returned on a Tuesday and tried to get back on track.
Finally, we were going to have a week where we just had our usual jobs and chores and activities. After school clubs were starting and the gym was re-opening. I was looking forward to getting into a routine of drop off and pick up, homework and activities, down time and chores. As I made plans, I think I heard God chuckle.
After I dropped off the boys, I was going to do some chores until my dental appointment to get a temporary crown. don-E IM'd me on Facebook and said he had some bad news, did I want it on IM or a phone call. Usually his version of bad news is that he got a flat tire or broke something on his guitar. Not this time. He typed me that he and Steven got laid off. I believe my response was "for reals?" Of course, I called him right away and found out that he didn't know anything further. He was told by someone other than his boss who would call him soon.
Now rewind to earlier this summer and we had been talking about the possibility of don-E finding a new job. He had been increasingly dissatisfied with the work he is doing. He loves being a programmer / web developer, but the actual work he has been doing has not been creative. (This is a man who MUST create.) The powers that be had made it so difficult to make a simple change that it became more and more frustrating. We had already talked about how we could cut back on our expenses so he could take a lesser paying, but more fulfilling job. He felt he was on the edge of something great and his talents could be used possibly in a non-profit arena.
don-E had been working for Sun Healthcare for 10 years. The first 5 months, he was a contract worker. He had an apartment in Albuquerque and flew home each weekend. When they offered him a full time position, we agreed if he could telecommute from Tucson. Since then, he has had an office either in our house or, more recently, at his mom's house. It's been a good ride and I've taken full advantage of having him around the house and flexible, especially when the boys were younger.
As we waited to hear from his boss about the details, we discussed that maybe this is God's way of forcing him to do what is next. The sole supporter of a family of 4 doesn't easily let go of a good paycheck when the economic forecasts are still shaky. Maybe God is ready for him to do the next big thing and wants him to be prepared. When his boss did call, she was way more upset than we were. We felt like we needed to console her and tell her it will be alright. We were oddly excited about what's next for us. (We were still in a state of shock at this time.)
That evening we explained to the boys the difference between being laid off and being fired. We told them that, for now, they would still have their classes, but that we wouldn't be going out to eat or shopping for extras at Target. We gave them a chance to ask questions and tried to be honest and direct and age-appropriate. This is our grown up business to handle and not for them to worry. To wrap up, I asked if they knew how I know it is going to be ok. Thomas, my sweet six year old, said, "Because we're together." Indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment