I Want to Thank You Lord
The prayer in my daily devotional today read as follows:
Dear God, You are there in the silence, in the pain, in the uncertainty. You are waiting for just the right time to move in mighty action. Give me the patience to be still and know that You are God. In Jesus Name. Amen.
This was an appropriate prayer for all three of the people traveling in our car today!
I’ve mentioned my nephew quite a lot in recent months, and the struggles in his life. He has been working hard toward some goals and is right at the crossroads where some of them should be meeting up! Since he’s been with us, he’s been living on unemployment, and he desperately needed it to roll over one more time. He had to go in to the unemployment office in a town in Arkansas, so Doris and I took him over there today. On the way, he received a phone call from a place he was really hoping to go to work, but received the news that he was not hired. Deep disappointment, especially with not knowing for sure that his unemployment insurance would continue after today.
Since we were going to be in that part of the country, anyway, he wanted to look at some cars he’d seen on the internet that were cheaper than what he could find in Memphis. I like to think of myself as a glass-half-full kind of gal, but I just didn’t believe he’d find anything in his price range that he wasn’t going to have to turn around and put a few hundred dollars into. But we went looking anyway.
I had shared the prayer with him and Doris before he received the phone call about the job. When I found out they weren’t hiring him, I prayed even more fervently about the unemployment compensation.
When he came out of the unemployment office, I tried to read his face and couldn’t. He had to stop at the car to light a cigarette outside (I know——–but baby steps, baby steps). He leaned over and opened the door and stuck his head in and uttered two words, “Good news!” What a relief and what a great big thanks to God! He will receive this for another four months, in which time other things will come together, and he’ll be able to find a job.
After a hamburger, we started looking at cars. This wound us from Walnut Ridge back to Beech Grove back to Paragould and down Kingshighway stopping at several used car lots. Every stop just reinforced my frame of mind that he wasn’t gonna be able to accomplish what he wanted with the amount of money he wanted to spend. We probably had stopped at 5 or 6 places when, all of a sudden, he said, “Wait. Turn around!” I complied. He had seen the exact car he’d noticed on the internet that he was interested in but had not written down the name of the establishment! A 1998 Taurus. Clean inside and out. $1700 on the window. Fairly good-looking tires. Didn’t look like a wreck. He drove it, and when he pulled back in the parking lot, I knew that car would go home with us if at all possible. While he was gone to test-drive it, he’d tossed me his wallet and asked me to count every dime he had. Total came to $1524. Remember the window price was $1700. After several minutes of conference, he came out and did a thumbs-up. They took $1500 for it!
He’s one class away (taking place on Friday) from getting his driver’s license reinstated, so I drove the car home. It has a few little things that he can take care of himself. There’s not a tear on the inside anywhere. Everything works. It’s solid, and it purrs. Handles as well as our 07 Cobalt, if not better. Just from my decidedly unprofessional judgment, it seems he aced one! (He just had to prove me wrong!)
Now he knows he has income for four more months, and he has a car in the driveway that will provide transportation for job hunting and getting to and from work when he finds a job. This is something this man has not had in a very long time. He’s beginning to feel he can look the world in the face. And I am so thankful.
And he is, too. I just passed his bedroom door a few minutes ago, and he was on his knees beside his bed with his head bowed in prayer————-a prayer of incredible and humble thanks, I know. Other issues have not yet been worked out, but who can doubt that God’s hand will move, just as it did today, for the good of this child of His.
TODAY’S SMILES:
- A beautiful moon outside.
- My friend, Coleen.
- The young lady who was our waitress at Moni’s Grill who served our hamburgers. She’s with child and knows she’ll deliver at least by Saturday because that’s when the full moon is!
- Beautiful day for a road trip.
- Coming home.
See you tomorrow evening. And may God bless.
Judy Poyner
January 27th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Judy, Did I miss the conclusion of what happened with your job interview? I’ve been watching, but haven’t seen anything since you said you had one.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:22 am
Good for Phil!
What John asked ….???
January 28th, 2010 at 9:07 am
When I interviewed, they told me they hoped to make a selection that week. I didn’t hear from them so I called the next week. I was told a selection had not been made and if I was hired, they’d notify me by phone. Otherwise, just keep checking the website, and the posting would say “position filled.” It still says “in progress,” so I’m assuming they’re just not in any hurry. My application posted in September, so it’s a slow process. In the meantime, I’ve submitted an application for yet another position there, an office associate. Just waiting. Thanks for asking!
January 28th, 2010 at 11:23 am
What a wonderful day of answered prayer. I believe all prayers were answered, it’s just that the answer was ‘no’ on the one about the job. We don’t know why, but perhaps this job would have put him around people who would not be good for him to be around in some of the things he is working on changing.
You tell him I am really praying for him and cheering him on. God always knows what is best for us and I always try and remember that the most when the answer has been “no”.