New Beginnings

I have an announcement!

*Drum Roll Please*

Chris started a new job! Hooray!!! 👏👏👏

After Chris resigned from his job back in December, we took a few weeks to just breathe. He needed some time to decide how to move forward and what direction he wanted to go in. We knew that the vast majority of places he was interested in would not be interviewing or hiring during December, and I thought that enjoying the holidays without the stress of job hunting would be best for everyone. 

The thing was - as stressful as not having a job or primary income should have been, it just wasn't. My mom even said to Chris one afternoon, "You don't seem stressed like I thought you might." And he wasn't. When not having a job is far less stressful than the job he had, I think that speaks volumes about how it was truly time for a change. While there were certainly moments of stress or worry, we felt overwhelmingly peaceful. We were able to soak up time as a family, and the kids loved having Daddy home. We did our best to make the most of the situation, and it ended up being exactly what we needed.  

However, once January came, we knew Chris needed to get serious about job hunting. While we were okay financially for a while, we couldn't sustain having no income for too long. On Monday, January 3rd, Chris hit the ground running with submitting applications, making connections, reaching out to people he knows, and taking an online training for a specialized certification. We knew this could potentially be a long process, and we didn't want to waste any time. That first week he was able to have several promising conversations, a "virtual" coffee, and set up two interviews. I'd call that a success!

As a *sort of* side-note, I want to say that I was very grateful he was able to take an online training during this time. It was a time intensive training, and we treated it like it was his job until he completed it. He worked on it during business hours, and it was super helpful for everyone that he had something to occupy his time, attention, and focus. I think things would have been much harder with too much extra time on his hands. He also helped me run the kid taxi with school drop-off, pick-up, basketball practice, co-op, etc. That was a really nice break for me, too!

All the interviews Chris had during this time were "virtual" interviews, conducted through Google Meets or something similar. That was certainly different than what we had experienced before, and presented a bit of a challenge when interview times fell at a time that we were all home. His first virtual interview was scheduled for 4:00-5:00pm one afternoon. I made sure we all had things to quietly occupy our time while he interviewed, and it ended up lasting until almost 6:00pm! However, that interview did lead to the job he started earlier this week, so it was worth it!

In addition to virtual interviews, several of the good leads Chris had for jobs were ones that would require him to work from home at least part of the time. We both feel like this is the new world we live in, so we determined that we would do our best to embrace it. It was good that we had several weeks to wrap our minds around him working from home because the job he ultimately took is one where he works from home full time.

About the third week of January - and after several virtual interviews with different companies - he was called for a follow-up interview with the company that he was most excited and hopeful about. That phone call lasted well over an hour, and at the end of the call the interviewer told Chris they would try to put an offer together for him within about a week. That felt very promising, and we were cautiously excited.

Chris received a text about a week later stating that they were still working on an offer and to please be patient with them. A few days later, an offer came through. Chris negotiated a few points of the offer and signed a revised offer letter the next day. We were so very grateful and relieved!

From the time Chris signed the offer letter, it took about two weeks to get all the paperwork and equipment ready for him to begin working. The company shipped him a computer, monitors, and docking station to set up his home office. We ordered a desk and purchased an office chair. We had several discussions about the best place for his home office to be, and we ultimately decided that the corner of our master bedroom would be best for now.   

We feel like we have several good options for a more permanent office solution, but we need to make sure this is going to be a long-term situation before we move on creating him a better office space. For now, we are going to make this work!

At the beginning of this process, we recognized there was a solid possibility that our situation might take months to resolve. We didn't know if Chris would find a job easily or quickly, and that certainly felt scary at times. We tried to keep our focus on God and faith in His true hope and security, but it wasn't always easy.  

We are SO very grateful that things moved quickly for us, and that Chris is working again. We are hopeful and excited about his new job, and pray that this will be a place where Chris can thrive and grow as a person and professional. We thank God daily that things turned out the way they did for now. I truly believe that sometimes the hardest things and the right things are the same!