I was reading my previous post about trusting God with Nat’s job search. I look back and realize that God has helped me let go of my desires. There is a faint ache from not getting what I wanted, but for the most part, I’m at a place where I just want Nat to get a job and be happy.
I was encouraged earlier this week by a friend when he e-mailed me the following in response to my numerous prayer requests about the job search at church:
Let me first say that Nat’s perseverance is to be commended. A certain level of discouragement is quite normal for both of you because we all go into things like this with expectations and I have always believed that when our expectations are not met, the Lord is really at work. So, as strange as it may sound, I see this as very exciting as it is an evidence that the Lord has something very specific for both of you and His timing is going to rule the day.
One thing is for sure: your appreciation for the job the Lord eventually provides for Nat will be so much more intense due to your having to wait and go through rejection along the way. Had Nat gotten tons of offers or found his dream job in the first interview, I’m guessing that what God is doing in you and through you may not have been accomplished the way it is now. Abraham and Sarah had to wait beyond what any of us would consider reasonable. Joseph too had to wait years for his dreams to become a reality. Many times, the Lord brings the most growth in us when we are waiting. Be encouraged in His promises.
This e-mail was just a reminder for us to trust in the Lord completely and that it is He that will provide the job for us, and not by our own hands. Yes, God has blessed Nat with success in his education, and yes, God has blessed Nat with intelligence, but ultimately, it is God who will open the doors to the place He would like us to go. He will let Nat’s resume get to the right hands, peak interest in the managers, and give favor with his interviewers. He will use the knowledge that He has given Nat at the interviews to help Him succeed. We will just have to wait. Hopefully, not as long as Abraham and Sarah for a son, or like Joseph to be reunited with his family. 
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On a slightly different tangent, Nat’s traveling has taken a toll on Sean. When Nat was getting ready this morning, Sean kept saying over and over again, “Daddy no go to work! Daddy no go to work!”. Then, when Nat called from O’Hare, Sean said to him, “Daddy all done California? Daddy all down interview?” Soon, Sean, very soon!
As a side note, Sean says that Nat is going to “California” for all of his trips. We think it’s because the first trip that was taken was to California, so all trips are California. Speaking of all of Nat’s trips, I thought it would be fun to list all of Nat’s trips since March: San Diego, Albuquerque, Boston (twice), Seattle (three times), Dallas, Hartford, Baltimore, and San Jose. Eleven trips in four months.
We’ll all be happy when Nat’s done with all of his traveling.
We had to give him some hints, but he got a lot of the eggs by himself. When he collected all the eggs, he sat down and opened them. The smaller eggs had fruit snacks, and the bigger eggs had Matchbox cars (courtesy of grandma and grandpa).