When The Other Shoe Drops

We were told we were approved for the house loan, then the day before Thanksgiving, the Other Shoe dropped. Now the underwriters want a guarantee from my employer ( a temp agency), that I should I be laid off from my current position, which I have held with the same company for over two years, that I will be placed immediately in another position.

My blood pressure soared. No employer can give a guarantee that an employee will never be laid off or fired. And, how can a temp agency guarantee an employee will be placed in another position immediately? Impossible.

Bill and I were agony. One week away from closing the loan and everything else approved and then have the dream of owning a home again snatched away at the last second. I called my employer (the temp agency) and told them what the underwriters were asking for.



In one of those odd coincidences, the Accounts Manager was the one who answered the phone.

"No problem. We do this all the time."

"Really? Oh wow." At this point my heart restarted and the blood pressure dropped a few points.

"Oh yes. What we say is that, although you have been in your current position for over two years, if you should be laid off, we will begin looking for a new position for you within 48 hours. Now, since we are a large company, most understand we have vast resources to pull from. That, and after two years, your position is not considered temporary."

The gracious man had the letter faxed to our bank within a couple of hours.

A few days later, I went to my annual doctor's appointment. My blood pressure was elevated to dangerous levels. More medication was prescribed. After reading the warnings I wanted to part of it and decided I needed to take control of my response to stress, or it would literally kill me.

I dug out my relaxation CDs, and my devotions. It is time to give it all to God and leave it there for real this time, not just during my morning prayer. What will be will be.

Interestingly, my small devotional booklet, Living Faith, listed readings from the Book of Daniel all that week. I've posted before about the symbolism of this scripture in  my life: Lions and Other Things (Why I write). Troubles are an opportunity to trust God, and Daniel's faith saved him from the lions, not to mention the faith of the three young men thrown into the fire, another symbol God has used in my life: The Divine Embrace.

The title for the meditation for Thanksgiving was, The Leap of Faith. I remember another time I was asked to take a leap of faith. In this dream I stood at the end of a long, dark hallway. All the doors were locked, forcing me forward until I came to a heart dropping ledge. Nothing but open space stretched below my feet, literally space, as in an eternity of stars and galaxies stretching as far as I could see in every direction. Stepping out would indeed be a leap of faith. Would I fall for eternity, or would I instead step out onto a solid surface, hidden from my sight?

Without any other recourse, I leapt.

I didn't fall, nor did I find solid ground. I flew. I soared. I was lifted up on angel's wings and carried. In other words, my faith held me up, just like it did when I faced all my other cliffs, lions, and infernos. And, it will sustain me now, whatever happens in every area of my life.

God has always provided what I needed, and I must remember, what I want is not always what I need. However, other signs have indicated, God does indeed intend to plant us rather than uproot us. Nevertheless, I choose to soar rather than flail. He will hold me up and I give Him praise for all He has done, and will do. Amen.