Project "New Path"

It's no secret that the economy is not the best right now, which means that quitting your job is probably not the best thing to do right now, but that is precisely what I find myself doing!


Now, in the words of Thomas Magnum, P.I., "I know what you're thinking and you right". It's CRAZY! However, in the words of radio personality Paul Harvey, "And now, the rest of the story". (Seriously??? I need to start using my own words!)


Here's a question for you... What do you do when your manager calls you into his office and tells you flat out that he knows you cannot do your job by yourself, but he's taking away your assistant and you have to just deal with it? Seriously, he sat there and told me that I was going to have to do the work of at least two people and he offered me no compensation for it. "It's just the way it is", he said very matter-of-factly.


Now, I tried everything I could to save my assistant's job, I even offered to go part tyme so we could at least both have a small income while she tried to find something else. Every scenario I offered he quickly shot down, forcing me to leave his office and tell my assistant that she was out of a job. Oh, I guess I should say that he, this jaded, calloused man, did offer to tell her for me. What a guy!


Now, some of you might not see this as that awful, the laying off your assistant part anyway, but for me, it was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do, seeing as how my assistant is one of my dearest friends. It was awful. I offered her my job on the spot, but the good friend she is, she wouldn't even hear of such a thing. I'll never forget the feeling in that room as we sat there trying to comprehend what just happened. It was a combination of shock, fear and despair. I would be typing falsehoods if I said I kept a dry eye as we sat in that office.


This all happened on a Wednesday, in the morning nonetheless and we, being the good, loyal people we try to be, had to work the rest of the day, the rest of the week, knowing we would soon be parted and my friend, who has major student loans to pay, would, in two weeks, be without a job.

Let me just tell you that it isn't easy to give 110% under such circumstances, oh, let's get real, it isn't easy to give ANY percent under such circumstances!

As if this wasn't enough, we had started back to school that week, something neither of us had done in years and there we were, forced to focus on web design when all we really wanted to do was, well, to be honest, freak out!

I have to admit, I was mad. How dare he take away my excitement in going back to school by messing up my life, my friend's life that way. There had to be something he could do to help her, to help me! The nerve of him and that company! My friend and I worked so tirelessly and diligently for them, staying late, going in early, making something from nothing because they wanted it done, but didn't want to give us the tools with which to accomplish the tasks!

I cannot tell you how many tymes we did "the plane is coming" 'dance' and worked our tails off getting the store beyond perfect so the corporate goons would be happy and give the store manager a gold star! It vexed me to no end when I thought about how many tasks we did that were so far beyond our job description, but we did them because we tried to be team players and good people and help when and where we could. In truth, we put our lives on hold for that place, going out of town to help other stores in our region because that blasted plane was coming, carrying, yes, you guessed it, the corporate goons! Weeks spent out of town, working long hours and living out of a suitcase so a buch of people could try and fit their heads through the doors and criticize what we worked so hard to accomplish.

"Well, this does not look like it works here, but I think if you move it to this wall [that is literally six feet away] then the product will sell."

"I think you need to put the blue shirts on the left and the red shirts on the right and THAT will help you sell the 2% more product you need to beat the division for the month." [never mind the fact that the actual product is worthless and no one wants to buy it!!!]

But, I digress. The more I thought about the whole situation, the madder I got until something dawned on me and I felt really bad. I never once considered what the Lord was trying to tell me through it all. So, after a quick prayer of apology, I started to look at everything with a different perspective.

The truth was, I didn't like my job. I only stayed there because I enjoyed working with my friend and I settled for the fun we had together rather than look for a job I liked. So, what was God trying to tell me through it all? Was I doing His work by staying there? Had I been a good witness lately to those around me? Was I living for Him in my job or was it just a paycheck?

Honestly, when I asked myself those questions, it became really clear. God had stopped telling me and was now SHOWING me that it was tyme for me to move on. I was not doing His work in my job anymore. The politics and ill points of the job had jaded my heart and I was not able to be a good witness to those around me. In my mind, each day was a paycheck instead of a gift from God and that was a miserable realization.

I knew, deep down, that God blessed me with talents that I was not using and that the ones I was using, well, I wasn't using them to glorify Him; that had to change. So, after much prayer and discernment, I typed up my resignation that following Monday morning and told the store manager that I needed to talk to him. I cited the reasons behind my decision and he was forced to accept my letter of intent.

As it stands now, my two week notice ends on January, 29th. I will, along with my friend/assistant, be without a job in a terrible economy. I will have my faith and the sincere knowledge that God will take care of me. He will show me the way in which He wants me to go and I will do my best to follow! He will be my comfort and my strength and I will come out of this bleak situation better than I ever was in my settled for safety net.

So, I plan to write about my adventures in following the path that God puts before me and hope that you will read along and be inspired to seek the path that He has for you, so that He may one day tell us, 'Well done my good and faithful servant'!