The Call We Have Been Waiting For

I posted a while back about our strong desire to fly south for the winter (the winter being the rest of our natural lives.) We love North Carolina and have felt the beckoning call of the south and a better quality of life for some time now. In the past Kevin and I have been guilty of making impulsive decisions and regretting them. We have made bad money choices and paid the consequences and we don't want to be in either of those places. Ever. Again.

We first began praying about a move to North Carolina about three years ago after our first vacation there. That first year it was, "Wow, wouldn't it be great to live here." Nothing really concrete, just kicking ideas around. After last years vacation and getting stuck down there (the van saga) we really began to think we could live happily in N.C.

We began to pray in earnest for God to open a door and Kevin began the leg work of finding a job. He is a lineman for a utility here in NJ and because of his qualifications, he can go pretty much anywhere and work for a decent wage. The problem: getting an interview. It really is a who you know situation. He got an interview and his current job because of the recommendation of a close family friend. I just want to say about my husband that he is a hard worker and a stellar employee. He has a strong work ethic and he takes his job very seriously. I say all of that lest you think he is a hop* who was given his job solely because of nepotism.

He had been submitting his resume to the utilities in the Wilmington area for quite some time, with no response. (They have a strict, don't call us policy) This had become frustrating for him and he finally printed a hard copy of his resume and faxed it over. A few days later, he received a phone call about getting scheduled for a skills test. The person who called him got the cart before the horse and that whole lead fizzled out. (Due to their mistake, not Kevin's pursuit.) As we were preparing for vacation he told me he was planning on bringing copies of his resume and going to the utilities in person. That did not work because the headquarters are in Raleigh. It was bothersome to Kevin but he was not daunted in his goal. We went to the Calvary Chapel in Wilmington (the church we attend when on vacation) and he talked to some of the men there. One of them knows a lineman and promised to have the guy call Kevin. Well the guy never called, instead the utility did!

This past week a girl called and wanted to schedule Kevin for the CAST test, basically an entrance exam. He has been communicating with this wonderful gal and really plodding ahead. They wanted him to come down tomorrow and take the test. He was all ready to go when the gal called back. The point of her call was to find out how serious and motivated we were to make such a big move. He told her we were very serious and they chatted a little further. She is rescheduling his test for next week so they can interview him as well. This is a very good sign!

So now we are in a holding pattern. We have been praying for God to do the work so we would not move ahead of Him, something we have done in the past and like I said, don't want to do again. We don't know what will happen but God does. It is not a matter of us running away from something but rather running to something.

So for now, we will have to wait and see. But here's to hoping!!

Hop: this is my father's word. A loose definition is a load or a stinker. You would have to be a) a member of our family or b) from NJ to truly understand the meaning of that word. Sorry, we're weird! But in a funny way!