I met Victoria when she was in her early forties. We didn’t have to chat long before I realized that she was smart, very smart. So it didn’t surprise me when she told me that she was an executive in a financial firm. The more we talked it became obvious that her love for her job was matched only by her love for her family. With two kids, a traveling spouse, a big house, and an upper management job, she was busy lady.
Because of that, I didn’t see much of her but whenever I did, we were always delighted to pause a moment to visit and catch up.
Then several years after we got acquainted, I ran into her at a kid’s event. Through the course of the conversation, Victoria informed me that she had been laid off work. As we talked it became clear to me that she was handling this remarkably well. I had read studies of people in mid-life losing their middle management jobs and how hard it was for them to find another position, especially females. As a constant student of human behavior, I had to know how she was coping with this challenge so famously.
“I know so many people who would be circling the drain in your shoes, Girl. How are you handling this with such grace and calm? What is your secret?” I finally asked.
“Six years ago,” she responded, “I was let go when the company I worked for downsized. I was a wreck. I worried all night and cried all day. I was cranky, upset, hurt, and angry. I spent all day on line looking for work and fretting about not having any.”
“Then one day just as quickly as I lost my job, another one fell in my lap,” she continued. “It was a better position than I had before with more money and better benefits.”
“At the time, I had asked God to give me a job and He did. But instead of trusting Him, I wasted all that time—15 months total—fretting and fuming when I could have relaxed, enjoyed my family, and the time I had off.”
“I’m not making that same mistake this time,” she offered with conviction. “I’m enjoying my time and waiting on God to handle this for me.”
Sure enough, six months later another great job fell into this sharp lady’s lap. But she enjoyed her time to the fullest as long as it lasted.
We can learn a lot from this wise woman. Through no cause on our part, we have been given some mandatory time out. We can fret and worry our days away about what’s going to happen next or we can live in the moment and enjoy our time off. I’m choosing to do the latter. I hope you will too.
Philippians 4:11,”...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” It’s Easter Week! Be content in a Savior who love you enough to die for you and is powerful enough to cheat death. That means He’s powerful enough to handle anything you and I are facing...and I am eternally grateful. How about you?
If your plans and worries about the future keep you from embracing what you can have today, my co-author and twin want to share with you the best of what we have learned in six decades about how to know you are loved by God, how and why to connect with Him, and how to trust Him in every situation in Tech- Pecked or Tuned In: Finding God in a Digital World-- $2.99 Ebook and $11.71 until the end of the month. Click here for your copy:
https://amzn.to/2UINE35