Everything Fits...

There has been a lot of things unfolding in the Petroff Household. Josh has been unemployed since early December and Gavin joined our family just five days after that. While being without a job has proven stressful on Josh, I can actually say that I've liked it. I am the one in our family who does our budget (Josh makes the money, I spend it), and I made absolutely sure to never stretch to every dollar we make. After Josh got laid off (Lack of Work with his company), I was worried for about a day. I ran numbers, messed around with bill due dates, and stressed on what to do for about a second. Then, after I played around with our finances, I realized that his Job loss was actually a hidden blessing. I know, How? Right? Unemployment benefits are more than enough to live off of for us. Nothing has gone past due and no payment has been missed. Gavin was born December 15th, and there was no worry about Gabriel being overshadowed because I was feeding or tending to a newborn. Daddy was home. So when I had Gavin, Josh had Gabe and vice versa. It's been that way for almost two months now. And it's about to come to a close.

Josh has received three different job offers that are all solid enough for a move. One company wants him in Sunnyside, another in the Tri Cities area, and the third would actually be Boise. While the idea of a complete relocation is scary to me, I can't help but see the hands of God in these decisions that are before us. Follow me for a second here before you go all, "sure.. whatever". First, Josh was laid off late August from Teknon with no job prospects or leads. Second, through networking, he received a temporary job offer through December that earned him over 15K in four short months (with bonuses). Third, he was home for the birth of our third son and able to help out with our first. Fourth, through the mandatory applications he had to do in order to claim unemployment, Josh applied for a company called Century Link without even giving it a second thought. This company didn't even exist before July of last year. Century Tel and Embarq merged and formed Century Link. As such, job openings became available late last year and early this year. Josh received a phone call for an interview for this company about a month ago. Having been one of 23 or 25 people to apply, 9 of which were given interviews, Josh was awarded their recommendation for this position. The company is so large that he has had to have a background check, drivers abstract, approval from supervisors, regional managers, VP of the whole company, and now the actual President of the company. Hearing of this offer, another company decided they wanted Josh if the position fell through. And the temporary employer from last year wants him to come back for a permanent position.

I know that we have a lot on our plates, but all the circumstances that were given to us, we received for a reason. The first job wouldn't have been available if the company hadn't merged and created the position just 6 months previously. And the other two were a result of this job and the loss of his first, through networking of friends and family.

We were blessed to have two months of a vacation, without any financial worries. Yes, I am calling it a blessing because Josh's unemployment was and is just that. He's been able to get done with things he's put off because he was too tired or there was no time. As I type this, he is actually at a Doctor's appointment that is two years overdue for a sleep study he had to have again because of this time lapse.

And while we wait, impatiently at times, to hear about the President of Century Link's decision and an approval letter in the mail, I am still amazed to see how perfect God's plan for us has unfolded. Yes, it's been long for us, at times tedious and exhausting. But if Josh hadn't been laid off, he would still be commuting for over two hours a day, to a job that he has worked at for over three years with no raise whatsoever. He'd be coming home to a tired wife of two boys under two because I would be here alone with out his support during the not so easy sleepless months following a new addition to our family. And financially we would be good, but emotionally we'd probably be drained. Everything has fallen into place and we are still gathering those little pieces and putting it all together.

These past two weeks we've been somewhat homebound because of a cold that has grabbed hold of Gabe and slowly ravaged our entire family unit. If Josh didn't have to wait for the job process to go through (Century Link is a long application and approval process, but worth it when the job is more secure than contract work), he'd already be over there working and having a hard time fighting his head cold. I would be home frantically trying to get my two little guys over this sickly hurdle and pack and clean and move... See my point?

Everything fits. Everything has happened for a reason, and something that seems like a notch against us is actually a hand guiding us somewhere else. Somewhere better. And while we are still waiting to see what tomorrow is going to hold for this family of four, I rest easy and am reassured at the thought that God's plans are so much bigger than our own.