Miracle Monday: Ordained Employment

In December 1979 I was the proud, almost single, totally unemployed, mother of a 6-month-old baby boy. After complaining about the unwanted advances of a manager with 4 kids and a wife at home I was told that my services were no longer necessary. In those days there was no such thing as sexual harassment or wrongful termination lawsuit fear. If women complained, they were fired. And if they dared to raise a stink, they were blacklisted. Couple this experience with the devastation of my marital meltdown and any relationship with men was understandably not high on my Christmas wish list. Thankfully, I was living in my parent’s home and didn’t have to worry about how to care for my little Bug. After Christmas, I hit the bricks running, hoping to find a job that paid enough for me to be able to move us out on our own as soon as possible. In His infinite wisdom, however, God had already decided that I needed some more time there and arranged it so that I didn’t find another job until the perfect one that met His plan’s requirements presented itself.

I was so sick of going on interviews that I almost didn’t accept the one at the big steel fabrication company that was over 20 miles away from home. The employment agency lady (I wish I could remember her name!) was so sweet and had worked so hard for me, though, that I didn’t really have the heart to turn her down. Like her, they thought that I was perfect for their junior buyer position since I had both purchasing and previous steel fabrication shop experience. They hired me on the spot, pending the outcome of my background and employment history verifications which would take several days to complete. The next Monday, I was thrilled to be finally starting the new job.

Upon arriving I sat in the Personnel Department lobby talking to a woman who was also starting that day as the secretary for the engineering group. We were both glad to have met so that we’d have someone to grab lunch with on that always scary first day. I was thrilled to hear that she’d wanted to work at this company so badly that she turned down another very nice job in order to get into one more in line with her career plans. It lessened my fears that I’d made a mistake in going to work for yet another male dominated company.

After about an hour of us sitting there, the manager of the Personnel Department took me in his office and informed me that a woman who had been out on medical leave had returned. He had just learned that she wanted the position and, since they had a strong policy of promoting qualified staff from within, they were obligated to give her the job. He was so very sorry and embarrassed by the whole thing, but his hands were tied. I wanted to claw his eyes out, but instead I took a deep breath and let him off the hook. I knew that if I had been that woman, I’d have wanted the same fair treatment. All I needed to do was call my agent and tell her what had happened and let my new friend know that she’d need to find another lunch buddy.

After spending what seemed like an eternity on hold, I was finally put through. She answered in an excited, out of breath giggle. “I’m SO glad you called! I just hung up with the people who have YOUR job.” When I’d first signed up with her we talked at length about my strong interest in the emerging data processing field. There was just something about computers that made sense to me. I loved the new technology and my fondest wish was to find a way to get into that world.

“Are you dressed for an interview?” she asked. Well, yes, I had just been dumped at the employment altar, so I really was all dressed up with no place to go. “Great! I want you to go across the freeway and talk to the Director of Data Processing. They don’t know it yet, but their position has just been filled!” Her excitement was contagious and I found myself actually feeling really good about my job prospects for the first time in weeks. The woman knew her stuff. They hired me on the spot, accepting the agency’s background and employment history investigations. I started work immediately.

So where’s the miracle? It is in that fact that this past weekend I celebrated 27 years of mostly blissful marriage to one of the three men I went to work for at the company that God had prepared for my arrival. As it turned out, the woman who was supposed to be starting that day as their data processing secretary had called Friday afternoon to say she’d found a better job. At a steel fab company across the freeway.

More of today's Miracle Monday posts.

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