I realize that the story that follows may not be very interesting for most of anyone who reads this. I am recording it at length mostly for our family. This is the largest journey of faith that the three of us have been on together, and I want Leilani (and any future siblings) to have this testimony of God's faithfulness. I don't want them to have a vague "God is faithful and you can trust Him" to learn from as they grow up. I want them to have our stories of real struggle and real proof that God Is Good.
Ryan has worked at a government job that revolves around pharmacist certification for the past 7 years. He started as a temp, and moved up in the ranks to arrive at "Senior Registrar and Web Database Coordinator." He has always worked hard at his job. His diligence, honesty, initiative and quality work have been exemplary. He has tried to be "not slothful in business... serving the Lord" in all that he does.
Last fall, Ryan completed a Masters of Religion, and is only a few classes away from completing his Masters of Divinity. His heart has always been focused on serving the "upward call of Jesus Christ," and spending his life building something that will last for eternity. We have been praying for several years now that the Lord would lead Ryan to a position somewhere that will provide for our financial needs, while allowing him to devote 40 hours a week on something more eternally focused than pharmacist certification.
We feel strongly that the Lord has called our family to live on a single income and for me to stay home full time with Leilani. The Lord has allowed me to be able to stay home these past 18 months, but things could not continue as they had been. As things stood, expanding our family was not something we could consider, and I would not be able to stay home with Leilani beyond the end of the year, at most. Ryan was also gone about 12 hours a day with his 4 hour commute, and we were not together as a family as we need to be.
On top of it all, the situation at Ryan's job was very difficult. Things have been bad for years. Oh the drama I could relate! I shall attempt to poorly sum up a very long, agonizingly frustrating and ugly story. Some supervisors are far worse than others. Their level of "worse" is astonishing. And some coworkers are willing to let others pull their load for them while receiving all the perks and praise that they did not earn, and allowing the reprimand that they did earn, rest on someone else. I feel that words can not do justice to just how bad things really were, so I will leave it at that and trust you to understand that this was an oppressive situation. It required absolute humility, patience and endurance on a daily basis. "Character building" is putting it lightly.
All in all, something desperately needed to change. As I mentioned, we had prayed for a long time that the Lord would make His will unmistakably clear to us, and lead Ryan to another job. One interview in two years of applying for various and sundry jobs that "made sense" was discouraging. Things were getting worse and it felt like there was no way out in the foreseeable future.
In late June, Ryan was struck with an idea: We need to work for Compassion International. He started to research, and discovered that the cost of living in Colorado Springs, where Compassion is centrally located, is much lower than it is here. Theoretically, here was a place to grow and expand, and work for an organization that we loved and stood behind 100%. The first job to pop up on Compassion's listing, was a perfect fit, and he applied. A great area, a fantastic mission to be a part of, all of a sudden things seemed to make sense. God was going to give us a job at Compassion! Or was He?
Stay tuned.
Ryan has worked at a government job that revolves around pharmacist certification for the past 7 years. He started as a temp, and moved up in the ranks to arrive at "Senior Registrar and Web Database Coordinator." He has always worked hard at his job. His diligence, honesty, initiative and quality work have been exemplary. He has tried to be "not slothful in business... serving the Lord" in all that he does.
Last fall, Ryan completed a Masters of Religion, and is only a few classes away from completing his Masters of Divinity. His heart has always been focused on serving the "upward call of Jesus Christ," and spending his life building something that will last for eternity. We have been praying for several years now that the Lord would lead Ryan to a position somewhere that will provide for our financial needs, while allowing him to devote 40 hours a week on something more eternally focused than pharmacist certification.
We feel strongly that the Lord has called our family to live on a single income and for me to stay home full time with Leilani. The Lord has allowed me to be able to stay home these past 18 months, but things could not continue as they had been. As things stood, expanding our family was not something we could consider, and I would not be able to stay home with Leilani beyond the end of the year, at most. Ryan was also gone about 12 hours a day with his 4 hour commute, and we were not together as a family as we need to be.
On top of it all, the situation at Ryan's job was very difficult. Things have been bad for years. Oh the drama I could relate! I shall attempt to poorly sum up a very long, agonizingly frustrating and ugly story. Some supervisors are far worse than others. Their level of "worse" is astonishing. And some coworkers are willing to let others pull their load for them while receiving all the perks and praise that they did not earn, and allowing the reprimand that they did earn, rest on someone else. I feel that words can not do justice to just how bad things really were, so I will leave it at that and trust you to understand that this was an oppressive situation. It required absolute humility, patience and endurance on a daily basis. "Character building" is putting it lightly.
All in all, something desperately needed to change. As I mentioned, we had prayed for a long time that the Lord would make His will unmistakably clear to us, and lead Ryan to another job. One interview in two years of applying for various and sundry jobs that "made sense" was discouraging. Things were getting worse and it felt like there was no way out in the foreseeable future.
In late June, Ryan was struck with an idea: We need to work for Compassion International. He started to research, and discovered that the cost of living in Colorado Springs, where Compassion is centrally located, is much lower than it is here. Theoretically, here was a place to grow and expand, and work for an organization that we loved and stood behind 100%. The first job to pop up on Compassion's listing, was a perfect fit, and he applied. A great area, a fantastic mission to be a part of, all of a sudden things seemed to make sense. God was going to give us a job at Compassion! Or was He?
Stay tuned.
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