Faith is an interesting word. To some it is deeply rooted in religion, for others is the foundation for relationships and some still find it means nothing at all. At various points in my life, it has meant all three. Recounted in this tale are quite a number of events which I have concluded are either direct or indirect actions of God in my life. I am not afraid to admit that when I need Him, He is there - sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, but always there. In the fall of 2009, I found yet another definition of faith as I struggled to find a way to close the distance separating me from my family.
I was leading the advanced learning strategy on a program to train air traffic controllers for the FAA. No longer centric to the Troy area, I was now traveling to facilities all across the USA. I found myself at locations from San Diego, California to Washington, DC and everywhere in between. Given the Raleigh/Durham International Airport was just a short drive from my house, I made the decision to try and work from there for a while.
My wife had been asking me for months to "just close up the apartment in Troy and work from home." I was reluctant to break the lease and pay the fees, so I waited until it was due to be renewed at the end of October. It was there that I took a leap of faith. Without confirming my desired working conditions with my boss, I turned in the papers so that the termination of the lease would coincide with the Friday before Thanksgiving week, trusting that everything would work out, or else I would be looking for a new place to spend my nights in Michigan.
Call it divine intervention or coincidence, but during the next two months, we had an explosion of work requiring the addition of thirty plus new employees. The wave of new bodies set the office building to a critical mass, ready to burst out the doors. There was not an empty “cube” to be found anywhere, and my office mate and I were being squeezed out to allow for more desks. I saw this as a sign and approached my boss with a solution. Trying to hide a smile, I said to him, “I am willing to take one for the team and give up my office and work from home.” He responded, “Okay!” And that was that. On the 20th of November, I packed my entire apartment into my car and headed back to North Carolina.
The months of November and December went as planned. What with vacations at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and trips for the FAA, I would have never been in the Troy office anyway. Two months of lease payments would have been for nothing. Instead, I got to work from my home office and spend desperately needed time with my family.
As with other times in my life, faith also has its little surprises. Driving home from Thanksgiving, I received a call from a recruiter who had seen my profile on LinkedIn and was interested in interviewing me for a new job opportunity. Trudie was sitting next to me in the car and I could tell she was ready to burst as I completed the call. I told her the news, but since I did not have many details, we were excited, but had to wait.
The interview the following week went well. The job was perfect, and come to find out; it was in a town just 2 hours and 44 minutes from Raleigh. I had another interview a week later and then, due to the holidays, had to wait until the first of the year for the next step. Fortunately, due to my travel schedule for the FAA, I had quite a bit of vacation time backed up (faith or coincidence?) and the first week of January 2010 found me at an all day interview. Interestingly enough, I also discovered that projects I had reluctantly managed the previous three years were strongly relevant during these interviews, and I thanked God for the opportunities I had been reticent to show my appreciation for in the past. Several days later, I was rewarded with a call from the new company that they wanted me to join their team.
During another moment in time when everything stops for an instant, I realized that had I not had faith that God would find a way for me to be home with my family in October, much of what transpired might not have been possible. If I had not listened to God speaking through Trudie, two months of precious time with my children would have been lost. As it was, we found ourselves prepared for the transition, and for the first time we could see a light at the end of a ten-year tunnel.
The economy is changing once again. I do not expect all will be cured overnight. It has taken four long years to return to North Carolina, and may take another decade to repair the damage done to other parts of the country. For now I am simply thankful to God and my family and friends for being there when we needed you most. I will still be traveling between two cities. Fortunately, the distance is drastically reduced, and my family will get to see me each weekend. The drive is even short enough to allow for unexpected events during the week, and the knowledge that I can be home in case of emergencies is a wonderful gift indeed.
The journey has been long, both in miles and hours. I am grateful to God that he has provided for us along the way. We have never gone for want of food or shelter. Against all odds, He enabled us to keep our children's community and education constant. And through it all, our faith in each other and in God has remained strong.
We are going to take the year to allow the kids to finish up with school and then relocate in 2011. And, as the second decade of the 21st Century begins we will have a new home and a new journey. This one we will travel together.
- Ken
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