Loving in the Midst of Crummy Attitudes

One night was particularly stressful for me. I was feeling overwhelmed, overtired, and hungry, as I was dealing with upcoming events for my job and trying to figure out how to make time to study for an upcoming college trigonometry test with such a packed schedule. Hoping for an encouraging word or possibly a dinner date with my husband, I called the house on my drive home from work that night. To my dismay, Dave answered the phone with about the grumpiest "hello" possible. That was the last thing I needed at that moment, and it hit me the wrong way. A few tense words were spoken, and he seemed annoyed that I had bothered to call him at all. "Never mind," I said rudely, and I hung up on the verge of tears.  
Little did he know that at that moment, I could have used an encouraging word from the person I love the most, but little did I know that he was also feeling tired and stressed from his day, too. I had woken him up with a phone call when he was napping on the couch, and the fact that I was probably the third phone call that he had received that evening frustrated him. I fumed about our negative exchange for a minute, but I also prayed about it on the remainder of my drive home. I thanked God for our crummy attitudes and thanked God that he was going to help us to work out the situation. After all I didn't want to stay angry with my husband. We discussed the matter when I got home, but I have to admit that I was still feeling a bit hurt.
That night, after we resolved our earlier differences, I mentioned a troubling sound in my brake system. Over the next two days, he spent a considerable amount of time working on my car and making arrangements for professional assistance, too, when the problem was greater than he had originally anticipated. Not once did he complain about it, and it really blessed me that he went to a great deal of trouble to fix the problem and make sure I would be safe. That day, he became my hero again, and it caused me to doubly desire to strive to be the wife that God has called me to be. I want to be the blessing my husband needs on a daily basis, but it's not always easy to do. Our own wants, needs, and selfish desires get in the way.
We all have our moments when we are not our best selves, but I do thank God for a man who loves me in spite of my imperfections.


"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails... " (I Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV)

Rejection and Opportunity

Because my teaching hours are limited as an adjunct at a community college, I recently decided the time was right to seek another part-time job. It is challenging to find something part-time that works with my sometimes-crazy teaching schedule, so I applied for a customer service/cashier position that might be somewhat flexible. I knew that I could do the work, and although it didn't pay as well as some things, I would at least be up and moving around and less sedentary.

I attended an open interview that seemed to go well. All that was left was to receive an email in the next few days telling me my next steps. Eight days dragged by, and then the email came that told me that I was rejected. I was definitely offended that a job that I was qualified for didn't hire me. It irritated me for about a day, but then I realized that perhaps I didn't get the job because that's not where God wanted me to work. I shouldn't be upset at the people who didn't hire me, but I should, instead, ask God where he wanted me to work. I did, and when the mail came, so did a weekly local news flyer.

Now back in October 2007, I had applied for a job that I had found in that very same flyer, and I had hit it off with the woman interviewing me. When the call came that I didn't get the job, the woman on the phone added sympathetically, "But Linda really liked you. I mean she REALLY LIKED you." It had come down to the fact that Linda wasn't sure that I could juggle my responsibilities at the college with this part-time educational job in a corporate setting. At the time, I told the woman on the phone, "Thank you for telling me that.I have a good feeling that someday I will be working with your company." She replied, "I believe so, too."

The following month, my husband Dave was diagnosed with cancer. It would have been a terrible time to start that other job; however, in March of 2008, I felt prompted to give Linda a call to keep my name fresh in her mind. When I called her, Linda said, "I can't believe you are calling me today. The woman I gave the job to just resigned today because she found a full-time job." I end up starting the job in April 2008 and stayed there for 6 years.

When the flyer came last week, I dared to think that maybe, just maybe, there might be a help wanted ad that would be relevant to me. I told myself that wasn't likely because I had never seen another one over the years that was anything I wanted, but I looked anyhow. Lo and behold, there was an ad for a public speaker willing to do life skills workshops at area high schools. I knew this was right up my alley (and paid better than the customer service position that I had previously applied for), and I asked my husband to let me use the computer for a few minutes to quickly send off a resume.

Within ten minutes, I had a reply. TEN MINUTES! I had waited eight days for a rejection, and someone else was excited enough about me to respond in ten minutes. That was huge. Within 24 hours, I had interviewed and lined up a fun, new job that I could do part-time on the days I was not teaching at the college. I thanked God for this new opportunity and was grateful that the other place rejected me.