Eight Months, Numerous Applications, Five Interviews, One Job, and an Amazing God

As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him

(Psalm 18:30).

As many, if not most, of you know by now, after eight months, dozens of applications, and five interviews, I was offered a full-time job last Friday.  That statement in and of itself, however, does a poor job of revealing the amazingness of God in all the details.

About three weeks ago, during a conversation with my pastor's wife, she suggested I check Arizona Baptist Children's Services.  She did not know whether or not they would have anything, but I added it to the list of places to look into.

A couple days later, I looked up their website and discovered that there was a Parent Aide position open.  I quickly scanned the job description down into the requirements, the first two of which read:  "Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science field or equivalent related experience" and "Preference given to persons with paid experience or supervised field placement in a mental health or counseling setting, with specialized experience in family service delivery and helping children manage their behaviors."

At this point I mentally checked myself off as unqualified, returned the notebook on which I had written the website to my purse, and added Arizona Baptist Children's Services to the lengthy list of places I had looked without success.

After that, I really didn't think much more of it.

That is until my mom called New Life Pregnancy Center, one of the ministries of Arizona Baptist Children's Services, a week later about a check my parents had placed in a bottle drive their church had done.  The check had not cleared the bank, and Mom wanted to make sure that it had not somehow been missed.  That situation was quickly resolved and, in response to the man asking if there was anything else he could help with, she commented, "Not unless you have a job for my daughter."

I returned home that day to this story and Mom informing me that he was interested and I was to call him back on Thursday.  I did so and was transferred to the necessary person to whom, after a conversation over the phone, I sent my resume.  Later that evening, I received a return call to set up an interview.

Putting the pieces together informed me that this was the same position I had deemed myself unqualified for.  I'll admit that I did not get my hopes too high.  At this point, I had already had four places interview me without any results; plus, my degree is in the Administrative Assistant field.

The interview, and the following observation I did, lifted my hopes.  The major duty of a Parent Aide is to supervise the visits between foster children and their birth parents.  My major was of no concern because all the paperwork involved with these visits, which may then be used by the case manager and court systems, involves a lot of administrative duties.

I sent in the required writing sample, outlining what I had observed during the visit I shadowed, the following morning.  Two days later, I was offered the job.

Eight months of job hunting came down to a position I was not even going to apply for.  And God knew.  He knew that I needed to be pushed to it by another method.  He prompted Mom to ask a question she would not normally have.  He caused that check to be delayed on its way to the bank.

"As for God, His ways are perfect."

After eight months of searching and praying, God directed me to Arizona Baptist Children's Services, not as an administrative assistant, but as a Parent Aide.

I start on April 14.

And I'm excited to see why God wanted me there.