I have told many people that I would write and tell about the details of these past few months. It has been a crazy ride for our family and one that I won't soon forget. So here it is...
So, I have a friend who has never steered me wrong. He is always honest and loving. He has never let me down and is just amazing. It was last year sometime when my friend told me that we needed to be ready to leave Nebraska at a moments notice. He said that we needed to downsize, prepare, and then wait. So we started working...selling furniture, giving stuff to the Goodwill, and organizing. We got a sleep number bed that comes completely apart and folds up, we got stackable shelves with plastic bins for drawers, sold our couch and bedroom furniture, etc. We didn't know what for, but knew that this friend would never lead us astray.
In early December, Robert and I took our annual certification and didn't end up passing, so they rescheduled us to retake it in three months.
A couple who used to be our neighbors at Boys Town and whom we have remained very good friends with had started working at a Christian organization with teen moms and expecting teens. At Christmas time, Robert and I traveled through Tulsa, OK where my friends are working/living. We immediately loved it there. It just felt like home. As we continued on to my brother's house, we talked about the possibility of someday working there. While in Ft. Worth, we talked about maybe applying. Our friends who worked at the Owasso location texted us and told us about an opening in Oklahoma City and so we decided to check it out on our way back. So when we left Texas, we called ahead to see if we could take the time to stop by and meet with the director of the place that had an opening.
It was kind of funny because on the way I was talking to Robert about wanting to stop at Chick Filet because they don't have any in Omaha. So we drove on for a while and didn't see one. So, he jokingly said, "well, if there is one by the time we exit we'll know this whole thing is a God thing." We laughed it off and continued on. There was nothing for the rest of the way, but when we got to the actual exit we needed to take, there was a lone Chick Filet sign signaling three miles to the left. We both cracked up laughing! It was really funny. Even funnier was that when we got to it, there were several restaurants around it, but nothing else was on the sign.
Anyway, we interviewed there and walked around. We both didn't feel super good about the interview, but were still really interested in the Owasso campus. When we got back to our friends house, she set up an interview with her boss and we met with her and talked for a while. It was amazing. She prayed during the interview and was very nice. We both loved that if we worked there, we could pray with the kids, lead them to Christ, and go to church with the girls off campus at a local church. She told us that she enjoyed talking with us, but that there were no openings at the time. So, we just left it at that.
Back home, my friend again told me that we would be done by May and to keep preparing. He didn't tell me what was coming or how it all was going to be going down, only to be ready.
In February, the friend who worked in Oklahoma called and invited us to come to Winter Jam in Tulsa on the 19th. We had that weekend off already, so just needed to take an extra day in order to make it. While there, my friend told me, "you are going to be here in May" and I just blurted it out to Robert and my Oklahoma friends. Robert just looked at me funny and my OK friend said, "you said it, we'll see you in May then."
When I got home, we had a month to prepare for our certification retake. We had been really trying to get everything ready and be good stewards of the job that we were doing. We changed a lot of things around, started doing a morning bible study, and worked on trying to fix some things up around the house. We really tried to do the best that we could. Before the review our boss heard about our bible study and told us that we couldn't do it because it could be seen as proselytizing and we weren't allowed to do that. We had a very difficult time with that as some of our boys were really enjoying it and learning a lot. It was frustrating to feel like we couldn't help them when they wanted help. In early March, they came in to do the review and we thought everything went well.
On the other side, I kept watching for an opening at the place in Tulsa, but there weren't any. So after a while I just disregarded what my friend told me. I started thinking that maybe it was just Oklahoma that we were supposed to go to. Then one day Robert said in passing that it might be kind of cool to go back to school full time. When he said it, it felt like a dream come true as I have always wanted to live on a college campus and go to school full time. It was so exciting thinking about doing that, so I started looking up all of the school options that were available. Both Robert and I felt like we were supposed to be in Oklahoma so I narrowed it down to schools there. We found Oklahoma Baptist University to have the programs we were interested in and decided to apply just to see what happened. Within days everything seemed to be coming together and it really looked like that was what we were going to end up doing.
During Spring Break, we decided to clean out our storage shed just to be proactive and get some stuff ready for a garage sale. The next day, our boss came to the house and told us that we did not pass our certification retake, but that he would talk to us more about it later. I had a funny feeling about how he said it and wondered if we would be let go.
Because I felt that way, we ended up talking to the boys to let them know that we did not pass our cert and that we may or may not be let go because of it. We told all of them that we loved them, would always be available and how to get a hold of us after they were done with BT. On Sunday evening I talked to my boss again to tell him something that was going on inside the house and he seemed very apprehensive to talk to me. I ended up staying up late with the boys that night to shoot the breeze and reminisce. Monday morning we gave them all a hug and said we'd miss them if we were not there. Our meeting was scheduled for 1:30 that day and the mail came at 1:00. In it was my acceptance letter from OBU! I was very excited and felt like it was a sign as to where we needed to head if we were let go. We went into the meeting and our boss, his boss, and the HR lady were all there. We were let go. During the meeting, they said that we were always good family teachers and they would not put us down as not rehire-able. We would be allowed to go and say goodbye to the boys one last time in a week or so and we would get a good severance package. We had two days to get all of our stuff out of the apartment while the boys were out of school. That ended up being very hectic, but with the help of several great friends at BT we were able to get it all done. It was amazing to watch how everything my friend had told me was happening. It made me really trust him and feel blessed to have a friend like him!
So to make a long story short...We moved all of our stuff to Oklahoma to prepare to go to school, then went on vacation to see family and friends in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. While in Arizona, we got a call from our friends who work at the children's home in Oklahoma saying there was an opening and that we should contact her boss to let her know we were still interested. I immediately said, "no, we already know what God wants us to do" without thinking. Then I told Robert what happened and he said to me, "well, we really should pray about it." As soon as the words came out of his mouth I knew that we were not going to be going to school in Shawnee after all and that what my friend had told me back in December was actually what was going to happen. So, we prayed about it, had our interview, and were asked to start work on May 1st.
So, we made the long drive back and have been working here with teenagers who are mothers or expecting since then. The funny thing is that everything that we were frustrated about with working at BT is different at this place. There aren't the same politics. We are actually free to talk to the kids and be who we really are. Since I have been here, I have seen two girls in my house come to Christ. We have time off to get refreshed and ready to come back to work. We get to go to church and worship God. Our kids are also free to do this. They can go to church camp, youth group, and do mission work. We love it! It was a long windy journey here, but through it all I have found that my friend is honest and faithful to what he tells me. I have a friend who will never leave me or forsake me. My prayer is that I always trust in him and spread the message to those who don't know him.
John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
