Proverbs 3 verses five and six

My husband has a new job. His dream job.

The short version of this story?

God.

G-O-D

Period.

Long version?

Before I go any further I want to thank all of you and I do mean ALL OF YOU for your love, prayers, emails, phone calls and encouraging words over the last year.

This truck life has been tough. Real tough. Honestly, it's been much harder than we anticipated. Mostly because we never realized how much we liked being at home til we were never here. We never realized just how loudly Spice cried until we were stuck in a truck with her.

I'd like to say the weeks that the girls and I were with Josh weren't that bad. But I can't. They were bad. Of course there was fun mixed in and a lot of adventures we'd never have been on if we hadn't gone. But all in all, those were hard weeks. Then when fall and winter rolled around and the weather and roads were awful, we stayed home while Josh went out alone.

These last few months have not been easy on us. I started resenting my husband. I couldn't go out in the truck with him because the roads were bad and we agreed it wouldn't be wise to have all of us in the truck. And he couldn't be home in the evenings to help me with the girls.

We all missed him being home. He missed being home.

Then he was offered the opportunity to buy the truck and trailers.

And I about had a heart attack on the spot.

Every awful feeling possible came. While the offer was good in some ways, ie...no interest, no bank involvement, etc. I just couldn't shake the panicky feeling I had.

So I emailed my friend Laura in TN and she promptly emailed back saying that for my husband to make an informed decision I had to let him know how I felt. And if he still chose to buy the truck, well, that's when being a submissive wife really comes in to play.

Later that night I talked to Josh. Told him how I felt.

AND THE MAN UNDERSTOOD.

AND AGREED.

No, Hell has not frozen over. I checked.

I felt so bad asking him to give up his dream job again (he quit driving truck when Sugar was born.) I hated thinking he'd be stuck with a job he hated.

But he knew that things at home weren't going well and that we needed him here. I needed him here. He decided he'd try to get a job in the welding supply business again. This is what he's done since high school graduation, it's what he knows, it's what he's good at. It's also the place he quit before going OTR. So, instead of trying to get his job back, he decided he'd call the competition. He didn't want to. Didn't feel right about it but decided to go for it anyway.

Then he remembered he'd signed a "no-compete" clause. Since I'd thrown it away he didn't know exactly what it said but we were pretty sure it stated he had to wait at least two years before he could work for a welding supply company again. But to know for sure what it said, he'd have to get a copy of it.

Sooo...he had to call the HR department (HR dept is located at the main office, three hours from where we live) and request a copy. The lady told him she wasn't trying to give him a run around but that the safe where they're kept was broken and it'd be a few days before she could fax it. Josh agreed, what else could he do?

Within minutes - literally- he received a call from his previous manager asking if he was looking for a job. At this time Chad and Nancy (Josh's current employers) weren't aware he was job searching so Josh was a little nervous to tell the guy that he was indeed looking for a job. First he wanted to know how Shane knew. HR lady called the VP of the company informing him of Josh's request, VP then called Shane - Josh's previous manager.

The next day Josh talked to the VP. btw...VP's name is Mike. Mike told Josh that he was in the middle of setting up a big account but they'd taken it slow because they didn't have the right driver.

Til now.

The job would be driving a semi (YAY!) hauling chlorine. He'll make occasional trips over to Tacoma to load the chlorine then drive back over and deliver it locally. And a trip every few weeks or so that would be over night. But 90% of the time he'll be home EVERY NIGHT!

He told Josh he'd have all his same pay and benefits but they didn't know a start date.

During this whole time Josh is feeling bad about telling Chad and Nancy he's going to quit.

Little did we know, they were ready to sell the trucks and be done with the business!

Is God's timing not the greatest?

Josh has been back and forth with Mike about a start date. Mike couldn't ever give him one and we were starting to get pretty nervous. Especially when Chad told Josh that they weren't wanting his truck on the road after the end of March, meaning we had a month to get all the details worked out with the new job.

Then, outta no where Josh gets a call from a guy in town that he doesn't know offering him a job. The benefits and pay are way less but he could have started right then and there. The guy (Danny, I think) had heard Josh's current boss was getting out and that Josh was going to need a job. He started making calls around town asking about Josh. He told Josh that he'd heard nothing but people singing his praises. ☺ So, they offered him a job.

The only incentive was that he knew for sure he'd have a job.

But we both felt like the Lord just wanted us to wait it out. So, he didn't take the job.

Finally, after nearly two months of planning, preparation, etc. Mike called Josh, told him that he didn't have everything completely ready but that he knew Josh needed to start the hiring process. Then, the phone rang after that and his current boss told him he had one week (this week) left, then they'd pay him for a week of vacation and then he was done.

So, the way it's worked out is that he's driving this week, has a week of vacation (his first vacation in over 3.5 years) and then starts his new job on the 29th.

HOW COOL IS THAT?!

They also offered him more money than we thought they would and told him that in six months they'd review it and if all was going well, they'd give him a raise.

I love that my husband is going to be home at night.

I love that he still gets to drive a big truck.

And mostly I love how Jesus worked it all out.