Working with a God of miracles, part 2

NOTE: After writing that last post, I wanted to clarify that I know our situation is not unique. I know dozens of people who are or have been in similar situations with school and work and kids, and I don't want to make it sound like I think our situation is more dire than anyone else's. And we know that there isn't a fast pass - we just have to buckle down and take it a semester at a time and make it work, because that's what you do. But at least while we were in the planning stage, the "making it work" part was very stressfully up in the air, and we felt like it would be foolhardy and reckless to go ahead without being able to support ourselves and just hope for the best. 

So, picking up where I left off - Tim gave me the priesthood blessing on a Friday. That very next Tuesday, I got a phone call from an unknown number. I let it go to voice mail as I was about to put the girls down for naps. When I checked my messages later, I listened to a message from someone from an art company who said they were looking for some writing and editing help. He explained a little about who they were and what they needed, but as I listened, all I could think was, "Wait, what?" The company name wasn't familiar and I was racking my memory to see if this was one of the random Craigslist jobs I'd applied for recently. I had no idea who this was or how he had my information until at the end of message, he said, "I got your contact information from a Craigslist ad from a few years ago." Then it hit me. This was a job I vaguely remembered applying for four years ago, the last time I was job hunting. FOUR YEARS. I couldn't believe it. Four years ago, I applied for a job, never heard back, and then at the precise moment I needed it, they just called me up out of the blue to basically offer me a job. What the what???

I called him back. He asked if I was interested in some work. I tried to express my enthusiasm and availability without gushing. He cautioned that it wasn't on location, it would be part-time and all from home. I tried not to laugh or cry when I told him that was EXACTLY what I was looking for. He said he had a project that needed some immediate attention. I said I can start tomorrow. We set up a time for me to go into the office for an official "interview" (basically just to talk terms - he asked me what my rates were and I tried hard not to say "A million hundred dollars!") and the next day I started clocking work hours. Can you say miracle? I couldn't believe it. I still can't. It was just...wow. WOW. Wow. Talk about "knock and it shall be opened unto you." It felt like the door had opened before I'd even finished knocking!

Right around that same time, I got in touch with a friend that I go way back with but hadn't talked to since graduating from BYU. In addition to general catching up, she mentioned that she worked for a company that used freelance writers to produce educational materials and would I be interested? I said yes! It took a few weeks to get through the editing tests and sample assignments but as of now, I've already been paid for my first few assignments and have more coming. Can you say miracle? I couldn't believe the amazing timing - what a gift.

Sometime during all those weeks, I'd randomly seen an ad for an online proofreading/editing service site - Scribendi.com. I decided to see if they used contracted (freelance) editors and decided to apply, what the heck. Again, it took weeks (and a BEASTLY editing test) to hear back and I'd almost given up on them twice when I got the email: I was hired. I am still in the process of figuring out how to make this one work with my schedule and and I am still pretty intimidated by this job - it's a professional service so the standards are high and the requirements are many - but still. A third job. One that will provide me with a pretty steady stream of work when the other jobs are slow. Can you say miracle? Oh, and one of the best parts? The night before I got the "you're hired" email, I had finished all of the freelance work I'd been assigned so far and I told Tim, "We need to start praying that some more work comes up by next week." Or, you know, the next morning. MIRACLE.

My three jobs are just a few of all the blessings we've already seen on this journey. We still don't quite know how this is all going to work, especially as we get deeper into the semester and especially since we keep running into snags with Tim's schedule, but we know we are being taken care of. And in the meantime, I have work to do. Finding a way to fit it into my schedule on a regular basis is going to take some time and patience (and require a regular nap schedule *coughRosiecough*), but I am oh so very grateful for this opportunity. And I am incredibly humbled to see the hand of the Lord in my life, answering my prayers and giving me exactly what I need exactly when I need it.

We are working with a God of miracles. I don't know why this particular challenge is being filled with miracles while other challenges haven't (at least not in the same way). I don't know why we're seeing the Lord's hand so clearly and directly while other people in similar situations are not. I worry on an every-other-week basis that something harder is just around the corner and these blessings are the Lord's way of preparing us for it. And I am sure that at some point, the miracles are going to be less dramatic, more subtle, and only obvious over long periods of time. But maybe that's one of the miracles, too: right now, we get to see and appreciate the blessings as they come. Maybe this is preparing us for the future by giving us a sure footing on which to start the journey, so that when we're tired of worrying and our faith that things will work out has started to wear thin, we'll have something to fall back on. So in advance of those times, and for anyone else to needs to hear it:

We are working with a God of miracles.