Two Weeks’ Notice: Take Two!

Written August 29, 2020

I posted a week ago about the waiting season almost being over on a big decision.  And WOAH.  This week resulted in a lot of doors opening and closing.  

First let me give you some back story.   In our last big waiting season a year ago, in 2019, we both were looking for jobs.   We had went back and forth for a while on whether we should move closer to my family, especially with Andy being gone quite a few weekends in the Summer for fishing tournaments.   We decided to apply to jobs near there and jobs near our current home in Columbus.   We heard back from a few places each, but all in Columbus.   We were kind of surprised because we applied to quite a few over there, but it must not have been the right timing.   We prayed about our open options and both landed new jobs in Columbus.   I came to terms that we would probably be at our house for a bit.  We painted a couple rooms and bought some more décor.   We talked to someone about refinancing.  And then a couple months later, God put it on my heart to get our house ready to move.   Since we had taken jobs around here, I assumed we should look at our choice location around here, Sunbury.   So we put our refinance thoughts on hold, talked to our real estate agent, and got our house ready to sell.  We even put some of our stuff in a storage unit.  

We looked at houses before and right at the beginning of covid.   None of them felt right.  I kept trying to find the right neighborhood, even looking at neighboring towns and it just wasn’t happening.   Then, we decided to refinance because it just wasn’t sitting right with us anymore and I thought I must have misunderstood about getting the house ready to sell. We got the stuff out of the storage unit and settled in. 

We always went back and forth about moving closer to my family and fishing season always reminds me of why it would be nicer to live closer to family.   But even then, I was always on the fence.   Andy started to apply to jobs again because his current one wasn’t a great fit and he applied over here and over there again.   We were a little more serious about over there this time, but he didn’t hear anything the first few weeks from over there and he was hearing from quite a few places in Columbus.  I even told my parents not to get their hopes up because it looked like maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

A week after breaking it to my parents that it wasn’t looking great, Andy had two phone interviews for two different jobs close to my hometown.  He went to in person interviews at both, that happened to work out on the same day.   In the middle of this, he had other interviews going over here, including one job offer he decided to turn down.   Then, he had a second in person interview for one near my hometown. We were all cautiously excited when the Friday after the second interview, a little over a week ago from when this is being written, Andy got an offer over here that would be hard to turn down if the other one wasn’t a sure offer. He bought some time with salary and work from home negotiations.  And I felt legit down in the dumps.  I had always been so on the fence about moving and now it felt like this is really what we were supposed to do.  So I was super confused on why the offer over here had to come.  I prayed a lot, found some peace that it would work out the way it was supposed to, then posted the “When the Waiting Season is Almost Over” blog last weekend.

Tuesday, the day he would have to decide on the offer in Columbus, Andy received the offer for the job near my hometown.   We had already talked about the option a lot in the past few weeks, but I asked him if he was for sure on board.  He had already told them yes and I was super excited followed by overwhelmed once my brain ran through a huge to-do list of moving an hour and a half away.  But I knew it would all be worth it for Hannah to be closer to a lot of her family.

In the midst of all the planning, I went into the office for my job on Thursday morning to let my manager know I would be moving an hour and a half away.   I thought maybe they would let me work from home, but I had been going back and forth on if that was what I even wanted.   I have not been working in a job that really suits my personality, but I figured if they would let me work from home, I would keep doing it for the money and schedule.   I prayed really hard the day before for God to either open or close this door based on what would be best for me and my family.   I felt a sense of relief when I talked to my manager’s manager (yes my manager happened to be off that day haha) and he said it wasn’t really a work from home job (I agree), but then went on to tell me how incredible of a job I had done and how everyone raved about me.  I have only been there a few short months, but the people were really great and they are planning to do something when I leave.   I can’t tell you how great it is to leave on that note instead of the previous job where I awkwardly turned in my badge to my manager in an almost empty office.

For the second time in a once in a lifetime pandemic, for the second time this year, 2020 of all years, I put in my two weeks’ notice.   The first time I went from full-time to part-time and now I am going from part-time to no job until we get settled in and I find something that works for us.   I can’t help but laugh that I chose Faith as my word for this year.   I also laugh when I think of how I thought I was wrong first about not working and then about moving.   Both times, I thought I had heard God wrong because it was not in my timing.   I figured once he would give me guidance, it would happen right then.  This year has taught me to trust that voice when I ask for answers.    This year has taught me to let go of control a little more and have more faith.   It is getting easier as I see things working out better when I loosen the reigns.   And I hope my story so far in this blog has taught you that God is still working in 2020.   There is a pandemic that has hurt the economy and Andy found a job near my hometown.   Last year, the economy was booming and he didn’t hear anything from around there.  When the timing is right and you have faith, things will work out for the best.