I grew up in Oregon, but after finding the love of my life, I married a Texan. After living in his hometown of Amarillo for nearly 20 years, my desire to move closer to my parents grew. My father was in poor health with congestive heart failure and I began praying for the opportunity to be nearer to him and spend some time with him before he died.
I was working for an HMO as a Provider Relations Manager and loved my job. My husband was under a lot of stress at work and not so happy with his job. We had lost our jewelry store 6 years before and I kept suggesting moving to Oregon but he wasn’t interested. He did say that maybe it would be a good place to retire. As my father’s health worsened, my prayer was to open my husband’s heart to the idea of a move, sooner…not later.
My one sister lived very near my parents and had been looking out for them and helping with their medical needs. That summer of 1993, my sister and brother-in-law were planning to visit us, but my brother-in-law was dragging his feet. I finally asked point blank if they were coming and my sister said my brother-in-law felt God was telling him not to take the trip. I thought, “Well, if they are not coming to me, I will go to them” and made my reservation. As I finished packing for the trip, something made me think I should take my resume along so I threw it in my suitcase. I had never taken one before. What made me take one this particular time???
Flying from Amarillo to Portland required a layover in Dallas and my flight was very early in the morning. As I wandered through the Dallas airport, waiting for the airline club to open at 7 am, I began to feel like people were looking at me rather strangely. Finally I discovered it was because I was wearing one red shoe and one brown shoe! (This is because I had found a pair of very cute and comfortable shoes. Since I hate to shop, I purchased them in red, brown, navy, black and tan. Yee-ha! I wouldn’t have to go shoe shopping for some time to come that way.) Once the airline club opened, I was at the sink in the restroom when a woman walked in and began primping at the mirror. She must have had a lot of Texas money because at 7am she was dripping in diamonds and looked like she had just exited the beauty shop with perfect hair and freshly polished nails. I looked down at my shoes and rather than hide said, “this is what happens when you get up in the middle of the night and get dressed in the dark.” She broke out laughing and I’m sure I improved her morning outlook! I made it to Portland and when unpacking found that I, thankfully, had a shoe to match one of the ones I had worn on the plane.
When visiting my parents, I always checked the Oregonian job postings for retail management positions for my husband. That Sunday was no exception, but as I looked at the paper another job listing caught me by surprise. It was a post, soliciting applications for a Provider Relations Representative, my exact job title and expertise, and frankly, a job that was rare at the time. The job opening was with an HMO in Longview, WA, which is about one hour north of the Portland area where my parents lived. At that moment I began to wonder if this could provide an opening for a move back to Oregon and I began to pray specifically about it. I set the thought aside however, assuming it would not be possible to convince my husband and doubting what God can do. God kept pushing me to follow up on it though and finally, the Thursday before I was scheduled to leave the next Monday, I called the HMO. They asked me to fax my resume, which I did. I got an immediate call back because they wanted to schedule an interview the next week. I told them I was going back to Texas on Monday, so they arranged for me to have an interview the next day and I interviewed on Friday wearing a pair of matching shoes. Before I returned to Texas, I had a job offer! That was great, but still I doubted my husband would agree to move, especially without a job secured for him.
I kept praying for that move. My family was praying for it and God was working to open my husband’s heart to the possibility. God led me in how to submissively present my job opportunity to my husband and he agreed to it. As I prayed through the details of selling our house and my piano and finding a job for my husband, God guided me and answered more prayers.
- Our real estate agent had recommended we list our house at a price which was lower than we had hoped for. We listed it for several thousand dollars more and it sold, and for only $500 less!
- My prayer about selling my beloved piano to someone to whom it would bring joy, was answered when God provided a fellow believer who was learning to play at the age of 35.
- My husband’s manager knew the manager of a reputable, well established jewelry store in Portland and he made a call to him recommending my husband. He never had to apply anywhere else. The manager told him that although he really didn’t have an opening, he didn’t want to pass up hiring my husband based on that recommendation. Job search over!
I was able to spend five years living near my father before he left this earth and to visit and help care for my mother over the 22 years that followed. This would simply not have happened had it not been for God’s OBVIOUS intervention:
- Losing our business was hard but it allowed us to move from the area.
- My brother-in-law listened to God’s leading so I would be in Oregon at the right time.
- I packed a resume and had it just when I needed it AND
- I wore a matching pair of shoes!
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