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Losing My Job, Finding Myself (Becoming Free and Humble)

Losing my Job, Finding Myself

The News

Monday, August 30, 2021, a date I won't soon forget. 

Due to the pandemic, I had just started back to work less than a month earlier, and I was just getting back into the swing of things. That morning I had a meeting with my director and a couple area business partners. After our meeting, my director asked if I had a minute to talk. What she said next rocked my world. Some of the key phrases were...

"They've decided to mandate the vaccine in our division."

"You have until September 15 to get the first shot or you will be placed on unpaid leave."

"You have seven days to file an exemption if you believe you qualify."

"If you are not fully vaccinated by September 30, you will be terminated."

Terminated.

Not a word I ever expected to hear my director (my mentor, my friend) say to me. 

She couldn’t look at me as she said that word.

She noted that the words were hard for her to utter without her chin quivering. 

The Thoughts

Although the news seemed sudden and it was much earlier than I had anticipated, I was afraid that this day would come. In fact, I had been praying about it and asking God for guidance for weeks leading up to it. 

You know, one of those moments when you just pray, open your Bible, see where it falls, and begin reading and looking for whatever message God wants you to receive. I had a lot of those moments. And in those moments, God brought me back to the words faith and righteousness over and over again. 

So, I was supposed to have faith, but what exactly did that mean?

The internal battle that commenced was fierce and painful. The first three days I cried. I mean, I cried A LOT. Everything would push me to tears. The thoughts raced...

I've put my heart and soul into this place...

I love my job...

I don't deserve this...

I'll miss my co-workers...

I won't get a proper goodbye...

What will we do without my income...

How could they do this to me...

I was supposed to retire from this place!

So many thoughts consumed me, but I continually turned to God and His word. 

The Decision

It was the day before my deadline to file an exemption. Should I try for one? I still wasn't sure. I didn't even know how my job would change if they approved an exemption and I was able to stay.

While I was on my way home from work I was praying and talking to God about my situation. Tomorrow was the day. I had to make a decision. Then it hit me... righteousness. Righteousness seems like such a big word to live up to, so why did it keep coming back to me? I think I finally understood. If God wants me to live more righteously, could that be done at my current place of employment? Or am I spending the majority of my life working for the world and not the Lord? I spend many hours at my job each day and if my job is not aligned with God, I'm not working towards eternity, I'm just working towards a paycheck. More and more my place of employment was not aligning with my personal beliefs. It was finally clear to me that God wanted me to live more righteously, do more work for Him, and step out in faith. 

Faith + Righteousness = Starting over and living my live with more purpose for the Lord. 

Peace

When you finally feel that you've absorbed what God has been trying to tell you, it is so incredibly calming. 

Oh, trust me, I'm scared and I have no idea what I'm going to do next, but I have faith that everything will be just fine. This blog will document my journey and hopefully inspire others to step out in faith and live a more righteous life. This is allowing me to become Free and Humble, and I pray you’re able to do the same.

Losing my job, finding myself

 

What would you do next? If you were given the chance to start over, what would you do? Would you find another job in the same industry? Would you try a new industry? Start your own business? Chase your dreams? 

I would love to hear your thoughts! Please share them with me. Maybe we can encourage one another.

God bless!

Looking for inspiration or just want to follow along with my journey? Subscribe to my email list and see the posts first. Prefer to wait until others are talking about it? Follow my pages on social media and join the conversation. 

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