Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I'm A Free Agent Again!

Friday was my last day at On-Hold Concepts (www.onholdconcepts.com). I campaigned hard for a much-deserved raise in my hourly wage, but it wasn't accepted, so I was laid off, but with three letters of recommendation and with my own kind words for the opportunity. It was painful to go, for sure, because I loved it there. I was pretty miserable all afternoon on Friday! But now that I've had time to go through the "grieving process" in my head (denial, fear, anger, bargaining, and acceptance) at warp six, it's on to the next opportunity, with no looking back except in gratitude for the friends I made, the lessons learned (which made me much better at what I do), and the freedom to choose again!

I applied for about sixteen positions Friday evening and Saturday and already have three responses, all of which pay better than I was getting, so God is up to something. I also have an idea for a new book, so I'm going to be working on that over the course of the next two weeks.

I am taking two weeks off -- except for a typing test mandated by one of the potential employers, and except for looking for more opportunities so I have as many options to choose from as possible -- because I've been working for a year without a break and need to "vacation" now if I'm going to have one this year. So now's the time...

Every word spoken to me since Friday afternoon has been divinely-inspired -- I have never gone four days without reading more appropriate-to-moment books (Re-Position Yourself by Bishop TD Jakes; Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee; and Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling, by Wayne Dyer), hearing a more spot-on Bible study and sermon (you can hear the sermon at http://www.churchforallnations.org/; click on Media and select the audio or video version), or receiving more unconditional love from family, friends and former co-workers. It has been one of the loveliest four day spans in my lifetime! And that, too, is a result of divine grace. The vibration of love is very strong...

In reading Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee I inoculated myself against the common tendency to allow the "negative" in this situation to make me fearful. I understand now, to the core of my being, how much God loves me (loves us all -- this isn't an arrogant statement) and how much he hungers for me just to trust Him and the process, even when it doesn't go according to my plan -- which was simply to have my true value to the company validated in dollars. (It has been said, "We make our plans, and God laughs." But God laughs at Satan's plans, too, when He knows we're firmly in the palm of His hand and cannot be influenced by the Father of Lies and his minions). I have always known -- have always been told -- how much God loves us, but until I read Demon: A Memoir, I don't think I had it spelled out for me quite literally enough (connecting the dots) that I could fully rely on the "hype" of being that precious to the Creator of the Universe. As David said in one of the Psalms (a paraphrase), "What is man, that you think so highly of us?" I finally understand what we are to God. It's just amazing what we are to God!

Then I read Re-Position Yourself by Bishop Jakes. Strange, how I ordered this book two weeks ago and it arrived on the exact day I most needed to read it! This book is a salve for the soul of any person with a dream for their life that has not yet been fully realized. Bishop Jakes is a masterful theologian and motivator. He basically reassures the reader that God doesn't give us any dreams that He doesn't want us to accomplish, and that the giftings we have are given by God so that our dreams will become goals -- and then accomplishments.

Wayne Dyer's book Inspiration echoes Bishop Jakes, but from a "vibrational" perspective. He talks about (among many other things) the higher, faster vibration of love and creativity as opposed to the lower, slower vibration of fear, jealousy, anger, and apathy and says that the higher energies are the ones to stay in vibrational harmony with. If we will do that, "nothing shall be impossible" (this is a biblical quote) because we will be in-Spirit with the living God, with the source of all that is good, all that is God (whatever you conceive God to be). Jesus reminded us that he is with us always, even to the end of the age. So the "message" to take from that is, "If God is for you, who can prevail against you?"

Again, Tosca Lee's Demon: A Memoir made it perfectly clear that the cards are stacked: God's plans to make us victorious as his image-bearers will prevail. I believe that in a way I'm not sure I ever have before... Although it's a work of fiction (demons do not write, or ask ghostwriters to write, their memoirs) it's biblically sound and utterly riveting. Lee uses similes and metaphors that carry you along, which makes it impossible to put the book down!

Anyway, I just got an email asking me to apply for a $48K/annually job... so guess I'd better sign off for now and answer at least this one before I take my vacation... wouldn't you agree this is wise?

Keep me in your heart and prayers -- and as you do, be sure to vibrate to the Faith Factor, not the Fear Factor!

Thank you!

HUGS!






1 comment:

Daniel said...

I loved Demon: A Memoir, too. It is a great book for a reader in tumult. The response to it has been overwhelmingly positive (I must have blogged about it half a dozen times I liked it so much) but the few negative reviews that I've seen have been from people looking for a book they can let go of when they are done.

Demon: A Memoir doesn't fit that bill! It sticks into you and hangs around for a long time. I read it in October and have probably thought about it at least once a day since!