Forever Faithful

This post actually has no pictures, but I promise to follow this wordy post with some cute faces shortly! Normally I blog about my kiddos, but it is called Schultheis Family News so I just wanted to take a minute and share a little tid bit of what has been going on in our house. It is probably going to be a little longer than needed, but that seems to be my style when sharing a story. I don't mean to, but it's just how it flows out of my head and really I have to start at the VERY beginning for the entire picture to be present. Okay so enough pre-rambling! :)

For a while now, Chris had been sharing some thoughts with me about job options within his current company. He likes his current company a lot. It is a large medical company with a good reputation. However, there had already been several people who had left his division for other divisions in the company that were better opportunities as far as less travel, but more money. Not that more money is everything, but less travel sure peaked my interest. However, being the great guy (and I'm not just saying that...my husband is one of those people that likes everyone, sees the positive in everything and really is just pleasant to be around) felt bad for looking since he had only been with the company a little less than a year and he knew HIS current division was suffering and it had been made clear that no other transfers to other divisions were being approved. So on he worked.

In the past year he had grown his territory to one of the only profitable territories in the region. Well in May a job posting came up for a local position within his company, but instead of applying himself he recommended two other friends who due to the economy had been let go from their medical sales jobs. They both interviewed back in May and hadn't heard anything. Well June rolls around and Chris finds out that they are having a reduction in force in his division and he was one of the many reps they let go. So for the past month we have been praying and believing that God had another plan. Was it stressful knowing our one income had been taken away? Sure. Was it scary in this economic crisis to think about being unemployed? Absolutely! However, we chose to stand on God's word and believe that HE is our provider. We continued to tithe and be faithful in our giving. Which I might add is difficult when you don't have your normal income coming in. There were times I let the thought of "we could be paying bills with this money" slip into my head. I then quickly had to replace that thought with " This money is God's anyway that he loaned to us. I will give back 10% knowing he would bless us more in return and make sure our bills are paid". Trust me it is definitely a CHOICE to believe and confess that during difficult times. We knew we had some savings, but unfortunately we have not "come" into any fortunes lately, so we just knew we had to continue giving, but also learn to cut back and be mindful of our expenses. It was definitely a test of faith! So this past month Chris has interviewed with a new company and also applied for the job he had seen posted back in May that he had recommended his friends for. After several interviews and field visits I am happy to say that he was offered the job with his current company today. This is exciting for many reasons. Obviously because he has a job, but here is what I find so amazing. The job isn't just any job. It is the leading territory in the division. The manager called it his "baby". It was his territory for the past 7 or so years until he was recently promoted. He had interviewed over 60 applicants and was searching for the perfect person to come in and take over (which also tells us why it was still open after 2 months of being posted.) I know my husband would be embarrassed for me to brag on him, but I am so proud of him. I know he will be wonderful, but I am even more grateful to God. I see his hand all over this. All along he was preparing the way for Chris. The manager has been looking for over 2 months for someone. Chris was never going to apply, but was going to continue working and gaining experience in his previous field. This is truly an example of where when God closes one door, it's because he has another one he wants to open. He is forever faithful to those that serve him and stand on His word.