The following is a story of how good God is to me. His wisdom and timing for everything was perfect for each step. As I was struggling at the time, it provided a much needed encouragement.
The Story
October 23rd
I've been living at home for a good three months now. My first year of my master's degree ended five months before that and I was supposed to have found a "field placement"/full-time job for my second year by now. Back in June to July, I was actively looking and applying for jobs, unfortunately, with little lead. Then in August, Discouraged, I left Baltimore and headed back home to Charlotte to stay with my parents. I helped out with my father's failing restaurant for a good month, leaving me drained physically, on top of my already depressed spirit. Fast forward to now, I'm barely applying for jobs anymore, discouraged, simply coasting day to day in hopes of a miracle to happen to re-energize me and make me whole again.
Just got another email, my friend just sent me another job position. The rest of my cohort have been really nice, sending different positions, since they already found their own positions. I don't quite want to apply, since it'll probably end up like the other dozens of jobs I applied to, with no response at all. I'll do it though, so at least they won't nag me about applying to this later.
Wednesday, November 13th
I just received an email for an invitation to a job interview! I'm not quite sure which of the job applications its for but this is better than nothing. But the interview options are either this Friday or next Monday in Baltimore, which poses a major dilemma since I am currently residing in Charlotte. If only this interview was a week earlier since I was just there 7 days ago... I drove last time, so probably the best bet would be to take a flight over. Nothing else I can do, Monday then!
Thursday, November 14th
So all of the Monday time slots are taken, but they're opening a time slot for Wednesday for me. I pretty much have to take a flight then, since I will be flying to Ann Arbor from Charlotte the very next day on Thursday, but it'll work out!
Monday, November 18th
Here I am back in Baltimore! Time to say hello to Linda's roommate again, since I was just here ... 2 weeks ago. Elevation Church finally responded to my prayer request from a month ago. I had asked for prayer about finding the job that God wants me to find, so maybe this is it this time. This Medicaid position is definitely much closer to what I want to do, especially since I'll be working at improving health at a government position and at the state level. A federal position is pretty much out of the question, due to sequestration and the federal debt debacle. State level positions also have the benefit of having more flexibility in what can be time for programs, which could actually lead to something productive instead of the usual stalemates at the Federal level. Just two more days!
Wednesday, November 20th
3:00 PM
The interview went well. It was a fairly short 45 minute interview. There may be a second round possibly next week, but I will have to arrange that later. For now, I need to get home back to Charlotte to catch my flight tomorrow to Detroit and Ann Arbor. ... Really? There isn't any more overhead space? I am literally one person away from not having to check in my bag. Time to get situated in my seat and do some last minute Redditing.
A new email? Probably just some spam emails from hopkins about events that I can't attend.
... It's from maryland.gov... They want me to come in for a second round... tomorrow. ... ... WHAT SHOULD I DO? Got to tell Gabby. Should I get off? Is that even a possibility? I guess I could and rebook later. Gabby just messaged with "GET OFF THE PLANE NOW". CRAP, I NEED TO GET OFF THEN. What do I say to the flight attendant? At least I'm in fully dressed in a suit so it'll seem important. What do you mean I can't get back my bag? That means... I won't have any of my clothes at all, besides this suit I'm wearing right now. I'll have to just tell my mom to drive to the airport in Charlotte to pick it up, but for now time to get off the plane.
I did it. I got off the plane, without my suitcase. I just called my mom telling her I won't be coming home tonight and that she shouldn't worry because its for a job interview and I don't have time to talk about it now. I need to rebook a flight for tomorrow so I can catch my next flight. It's going to be expensive, but that's all I can do for now. I just emailed them back that I can come in tomorrow for the second round. ... The interview has a 3 - 4 hour writing test? If the interview starts at 8:30 AM, then I won't be done until 1:30 PM. My flight is leaving at 5:00 PM from Charlotte. I'm still in Baltimore at 1:30 PM... is it even possible to get back in time? Maybe I can just change my flight from Baltimore to Detroit directly. It's going to be expensive...
Oh my tablet? The flight attendant just returned my tablet that I almost left on the plane... Wait, even more people are getting off now? I guess I started a trend. Hold on... I think everyone is getting off now. The plane was delayed because the door malfunctioned? Praise the Lord! Maybe I can get back my bag and have clothes tonight!
4:00 PM
I have now been waiting for my bag for over an hour at the baggage claim. I have been on hold with delta, trying to rebook my flight. I am definitely not suited for multi tasking. I'm having a hard time with trying to watch out for my bag, squishing a phone between my neck and head waiting for delta, checking for plane tickets on my tablet, and trying to update Gabby on the current situation.
At last, my bag is here! I will now have clothes! I'll have to call delta again later, since the phone went dead. This person seems much nicer this time! Since my flight was "delayed" even though I wasn't planning on getting on it, maybe I can use this as leverage. Okay... they'll waive the $200 change fee, but the new ticket is $300 more than before, on top of having to book another flight. I'll just try again later when I'm more situated and not standing in the middle of the airport.
8:00 PM
Alright! Now I'm home, well at least at my friend's apartment. I have all of my belonging and at least my bag so I have clothes to wear for tomorrow! Now, for one more attempt for re-booking the flight and for the third time I have to retell my story and provide my confirmation number. I'm being transferred to refund? That's not quite what I had in mind, but let's see what happens. The flight was delayed by three hours and was a connection, which I would have missed, so I definitely have ammunition for asking for a better flight.
... You can provide a full refund for both of my tickets, the Baltimore to Charlotte, and Charlotte to Detroit? That means I can rebook direct flight from Baltimore to Detroit, since it was going to be impossible to fly back to Charlotte in time. Let's see... Southwest has decent pricing for one way tickets. Let's do some calculations. It's actually $47 less than my original two tickets! So I save money and now able to catch both my second interview and fly to ann arbor on time? I might as well stay in Ann Arbor for an extra day then!
Update
This entire ordeal was crazy. On top of everything mentioned, I had an amazing time in Ann Arbor. Since I was able to rebook and stay for another day, I got a chance to have a really good conversation and receive advice from my mentor. This entire thing was an amazing demonstration of God's perfect timing. There's still many things to think through about what has been happening, but at least for now, I wanted to memorialize this story so that I will never forget how faithful God is in everything.
And how better to conclude this story with the best possible conclusion? I got the job and found out yesterday (Friday, November 29th).
