Faith in Every Footstep

Well...

After a very, VERY hectic New Years and crazy Christmas, my husband and I were forced to make some slightly scary decisions for our little family.

We had a flood in our apartment...thankfully, we have renter's insurance that will cover most of the damages (the jury is still out on how much because we've been told 3 different things by 3 different agents. One said NOTHING would be covered, one said ALL would be covered, and one said that only the damage to the townhouse below us would be covered.... we are just going to let people make claims and let the chips fall where they may. So far, we know that the damages to the townhouse below us were covered.) and after the flood, came the flood...

Our neighborhood, while being a gated community, has progressively been getting a little scarier. Lots of youngsters have moved in (I sound so old right now...youngsters as in single people in their early 20s) and they drive through the neighborhoods of our little gated community like bats out of hell! Well, one of them finally did something REALLY stupid and they rammed their car into the building across the street from us. Looking at the skid marks, if they had turned the wheel the other way, it would have been us having to pack to leave our apartment at 4:30 in the morning because our building wasn't structurally safe to be in instead of our neighbors...after that, we made the tough decision to find a new apartment. We've had issues with the property management company since a few months since we moved in and have had issues getting maintenance done when we've needed it...so we decided it was time...

Well, once we put in our 30 day notice, on a whim, or maybe following some inspiration, Jeff started applying for jobs back "home".  Our Christmas visit had broken our hearts. Poor Faith, who RARELY does the stranger danger thing, was in tears every time an aunt, uncle, cousin, or grandparent tried to pick her up. Phillie, being smaller, wasn't as affected, but it definitely got us thinking about the fact that our girls are growing up and they don't know their family... as we drove home to try to fix what we could of the flood situation, we talked about our desire to move back (so maybe that is what drove Jeff to apply for other jobs...)

Well, Jeff found several jobs and applied for them. He's had interviews for two of those jobs that he has applied for so far. One in Logan, UT (close to where he grew up in Preston, ID) and one in Idaho Falls, ID (where I grew up...well, for the most part...we moved a lot.) The company in Logan immediately wanted him to come in for an in person interview, but it wasn't working to schedule it since it is a new year and Jeff doesn't have any time off built up...We were serious enough about him wanting the job, though, that we were willing for him to miss out on a day of pay to do the interview...however, I felt prompted to tell Jeff to ask if they would be willing to do a Skype interview instead...and lo and behold, they were willing to do so because he was so qualified for the position.

The phone interview with the company in Idaho Falls went so well that they told him point blank that he was the most qualified candidate they had interviewed and that they were willing to wait until we moved back at the end of the month for him to come in for an in person interview (in essence, they were saying it was his, but he needed to have the in person interview for personnel reasons).  After that interview, our decision was made...

We'd been going back and forth...should we just find a new apartment and keep waiting for Jeff to get his clearance...living in a city we hate (We love the people, we just don't like the "big city"...we miss our mountains, forests and "country areas" with vast acreages of farms), or should we bite the bullet and move back, job or no?

Hearing from two companies that he was highly qualified and desirable for the positions he was applying for kind of cinched it for us....Jeff immediately went to see how many more open positions there were for someone with his degree and training and there were several more that he hadn't applied for yet. We decided that, barring Jeff getting his clearance before he puts in his 2 week notice, which would mean he could actually WORK as opposed to sit in a warehouse all day doing nothing(which is highly unlikely since his case number isn't even up for review yet) we would have some faith and move back, because we know in the long run that this is what will be best for our family. We want to be close to our family, we want our girls to know the people that love them and we definitely don't want a repeat of this Christmas next year with Phillie (because everyone deserves the warmth that a Phillie smile brings into their lives...) We are going to have faith that Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and that he will help us find the right job and be able to provide for our family.

It may sound pretty dumb that we'd be willing to leave a job that pays $52,000 a year and has amazing benefits...but we've learned that you can't put a price on having family close by...

Since we've made that decision, things have seemed to start to fall into place to make the move easier.  Jeff's Skype interview yesterday went very, very well! It ended with them checking that Jeff was alright with the pay and benefits package they had to offer and today they emailed and asked for his references because in their own words they "feel very good" about yesterday's interview...So, hopefully, God is going to be good to us and we won't have to move back with no job in place.

To those of you that have been praying for my little family as we've been making this decision and as we've been struggling all I can do is say thank you. We have felt your prayers, and I know they have worked. I feel presumptuous to ask you to continue your prayers on our behalf, but we're not out of the woods yet...and we're still trying to figure out a budget that will work given what Jeff would be making at this new job, but we are going to have faith because we know this is what our little family needs.

Its a scary thing to let go and let God take care of things, but it is a beautiful experience to see his blessings in your life as you move forward...even when the decision you make is the scariest choice you could make...

Hugs and loves until next time darlings...