New Job

Today was Ben's first day at his new job!  It is something that has been in the works for a few months and now it's finally a reality.  He is working at the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN).  The job is very closely related to the one he had before working at SEFL.  It's a really cool story of how he got the job and how we saw God's provision through it all.

About four months ago, Ben got a text from his old boss at Rich/Lex (the place he worked before SEFL).  She asked him if he would be interested in coming to work for her again, but this time at DDSN.  This was totally out of the blue!  Even though Ben wasn't looking to change jobs, this seemed like a great opportunity and one he decided to pursue to see where it would lead.  The job was definitely up his alley in terms of the description.  He would be working with the same material he worked with at Rich/Lex and also working with the same boss.

There were so many "coincidences" surrounding this job.  First, it came out of left field, at the same time that I decided to quit my job and stay home full time.  Second, the jump in salary is almost the same amount that I was going to me making had I gone back to SEFL working part time.  Third, Ben began to realize that he might want more from his job at SEFL than he was getting.  He still loved it there, but the thought of doing the same thing for the next 30 years didn't thrill him.  There were more "coincidences," but those are the major ones. I put the word coincidences in quotes because, while most people would see them that way, I don't see them as that.  I believe they were signs from God pointing us in a certain direction.  He was leading us down a new path.  We started praying that God would make his will clear to us.  Ben started praying that God would clearly show him whether or not he was supposed to take the job by making the salary offer a specific amount.  It took a few months for them to make a decision, but finally they offered the job to Ben and at the salary he was praying for.  We knew this was confirmation that God wanted him to take the job. 

There are a lot of pros to this job, the main one being Ben has more time off during the year.  Since he works for the state, he gets more state holidays than he did at SEFL.  He also has more vacation time and more sick time.  The state only requires you to work 37.5 hours a week so he'll be working less and will be able to be home more (and hopefully he'll get to work 7:30-4:00!).  Another pro is he'll be working with Lori, a boss he really liked and respected.  He'll also get to have more interaction with people, something he wanted more of at SEFL.  However, there is one big con to taking this job and it is that he'll have to leave SEFL, a great company to work for.  They take care of their employees in so many ways.  He'll be leaving a company that hasn't laid off an associate in it's entire history, and working for a place that, well, has laid off lots of people recently due to the economy!  We know though, that this is Gods path for us and we are confident that it was the right decision. 

We are both really excited about this new opportunity!