Career, Family And Living For The Lord
-
A Twenty-Five Year History

Once I had started consulting, I continued working in that capacity at Planning Research Corporation until April 1989. I would occasionally see a friend of mine from the Navy Yard, and he would almost always remind me that I had worked the same job as a consultant for a very long time. Normally, a consultant works themselves out of a job after a short while, but in my case, it was not until 1989 that Planning Research finally started needing me less.

I enjoyed working as a consultant from the perspectives of both money and freedom. I was making what for me were big bucks, and I could basically come and go as I pleased. For those six years, I had very few real hassles. However, by 1988, I was starting to grow weary of the work. I was making a lot of money, yet I was completely bored and frustrated by what I was doing. About March or April 1988, I started praying and asking the Lord to take charge of my life and lead me in the way that He would have me go. I have always tried to be faithful in my daily Christian walk, so those new prayers were in relation to my employment situation, not to any of the other aspects of my life. I did not enjoy my job, but I thought that I was making too much money to just quit. So, I asked the Lord to do something special for me so that I could transition my life to something which might be more satisfying. I think that I had bought into the common argument that I could do a lot of good with the money which the Lord was letting me make, and of course, that was certainly true. Nevertheless, I was still unhappy, and in early 1988, I had started asking the Lord to do something.

As a Christian, I have often heard that we need to be very careful how we pray because sometimes we get that for which we have prayed. On April 23, 1989, the Program Manager at Planning Research Corporation asked me into his office. He told me that the contract had run low on funds and that he had to let me go. When I inquired, he told me that my final day would be that Friday, which was April 27th. The Lord had answered my prayer, but I remember thinking that He could have done something that would have made me fall in love with my job rather than take it away. But as always, Linda and I yielded ourselves to His will for our lives and continued our walk in faith. As it turned out, she and I were scheduled to go on vacation to Hilton Head the following week anyway. So, we decided to go, have a good time, and worry about our prospects for unemployment when we returned.

Three things should be pointed out about this time in our life. The first is that the Lord had spoken to my heart a few years earlier, in March 1985, about some of my reckless spending habits. Up until that time, I had never been very smart or at least very careful with money. Therefore, at age thirty-six, I had practically no savings. Along with this feeling from the Lord to save and be smarter with money, I was also getting a very similar message from the results of my retirement equations. Consequently, by 1985, the message that I had been receiving from both of these sources was very loud and clear. I needed to be saving a lot more money, and I needed to be doing it right away. Once I sensed that important need, I jumped in with both feet and started saving like crazy. The result of that massive savings campaign for those four years leading up to my job loss was that I had already accumulated a fair amount of money. Therefore, even though I was out of work, Linda and I had still set aside some funds to help us weather the storm.

The second point occurred in early April, just about three weeks before I was laid off. At that time, Linda and I had been talking to my parents about moving to our property in Fredericksburg. We had already built a cabin on our land, and on the First of April, we were considering the prospects of expanding that small building into an actual dwelling place. We concluded our conversation by deciding to move to Fredericksburg when our last daughter, Crystal, graduated from high school. That would have been in June 1991. We also added the possibility that we would probably move to our property anyway if I, for some reason, were to lose my job. How ironic it was that the Lord had had us thinking about moving just about one month before the prospects of actually having to do so had become a reality. How ironic it was that a few years earlier, the Lord had spoken to me about my personal need to be saving some money. I suppose that the real lesson of these two events is that He knew long before April 23rd, in 1989, that there would be an April 23rd in my life. Not only that, but He had also been speaking to both Linda and me in ways which were preparing us for what was about to happen. The third point in this experience was that even during the ordeal of unemployment, the Lord was very good to us.

While in Hilton Head, Linda and I decided that we would do exactly what we had decided in early April. We would "try" to sell our house in Dale City and then move to Fredericksburg. I emphasize that we would be trying to sell our home because the economy, and especially the real estate market, were already showing signs of weakening. I was not completely sure that we would be able to sell, and I was not sure that we would be able to get all our equity out of our house if we did sell. As it turned out, selling our home went fairly well. We found a very competent agent, and she worked hard to move our property. By the middle of June, we had a good contract, and our closing date was set for the last day in July. As it also turned out, we were able to show a very nice profit from our twelve years of ownership in Dale City.

Suddenly, though, we had a new problem. I still was not working, and soon, we would not have a place to live. Linda and I had decided not to expand our cabin, so we began taking trips to Fredericksburg so that we could look for other alternatives. We did not have much time to shop around, but we were able to find a nice modular home which had a floor plan very similar to what we had drawn up for our cabin in early April. We made arrangements with the dealer to purchase the home, gave her a five hundred dollar check as a deposit, and she started getting everything in order.

Very soon into the process, Linda and I were required to meet with the financial people about trying to qualify for a mortgage loan. Because I had been self-employed for the past six years, I knew that the financial office would not be able to verify my employment or prove my lack of employment. Because they also knew that, I was required to bring my past two tax returns to our meeting so that they could use those numbers for my qualifying. At that point, I realized that I had reached what would have to be described as an ethical crossroads in my life. Should I play out the fraud about my employment and try to live off my savings until work showed up, or should I come clean and admit that I did not have a job?

On the Monday morning that we were scheduled to meet, Linda and I started our drive to Fredericksburg. Neither of us were talking about the meeting or even about the excitement of moving. We just drove and quietly sat. Finally, about half-way there, I took the Stafford exit off the Interstate and turned around to head back home. I immediately said to Linda that I could not be deceitful about my finances. I felt better coming to that decision, and I think that she was relieved, too. When I returned home, I called the office where we had been scheduled to meet and told them that we had changed our mind and would not be buying their home. To my surprise, the woman who had taken my deposit a few days earlier told me that she would return our check. We spoke on Monday, and I had the check in my hand on Wednesday. However, this story is not over yet.

The following night, on Tuesday, I got a call at home from my long time friend at Planning Research Corporation. Bruce told me that their funds had been restored and that they needed me back. He was calling to find out if I were interested in returning to my consulting position, and if so, how soon I could return. That was Tuesday, and I told him that I could report back on Monday. With that call, I was employed again, so you guessed it! I called the woman back on Wednesday about the home and told her that we had changed our mind once again and that we were now ready to proceed with the sale. I sometimes laugh about how these types of events make me appear. The Lord has let me look very foolish on many occasions, and in a way, He did so through this ordeal, too. That woman did not know what had been happening in our hearts and life. But the Lord knew what was going on, and now you do, too.

With my unexpected return to work in June, I felt that the Lord was speaking a very clear message to Linda and me. First, I believe that He was showing both of us that we could still have confidence in Him. Years ago, she and I had turned our lives over to Him, and now, when we really needed Him, He was there for us. Second, I believe that the Lord was showing us in a very clear way that He wanted us in Fredericksburg. We had already signed a contract to sell our Dale City property, and there was no turning back on that decision. With the call from Bruce and PRC, our only option seemed to be going forward and having a home put on our property in Fredericksburg.

At the end of July, we went to closing, and an era of our life together was coming to an end. Linda and I had spent fifteen years in Dale City, and we were both able to remember back to our first drive to Northern Virginia looking for a home and seeing the Interstate exit for "Dale" City. Our life in that city had been marked by some good events and also by some bad. My career had gone very well and been highlighted by a six years stint as a consultant. In my mind, she and I had done a lot. We had gotten our children raised and seen some of our grandchildren born. But it was time to move on, and we were ready.

The good thing about our story is that Linda and I had already lived a very full life, yet we were both still in our forties. The most difficult challenges of our life, that of raising our children, were behind, and we were basically free to enjoy whatever lay ahead. We had sold our house and made a very nice profit. I even had my consulting job back. So, on July 31, 1989, life was looking pretty good.

For the next few months, we enjoyed the work and fun of trying to set up our new home. About six years earlier, Linda and I had built a cabin on the same property where we were now living. I had drawn up the plans, gotten the necessary permits, and then, we had built the structure with our own two hands. Now that we were actually living on our property, the next logical thing to do was to build a shed. I drew up the plans for a twelve-foot-by-sixteen-foot shed and designed it with a gable roof. Because I had struggled so much with how to build a roof for the cabin, I was especially pleased by my ability to be able to design and construct a different style roof for our shed. During October and November, I worked almost every afternoon until the construction was complete.

When November rolled around, everything was going great! In fact, I suppose that someone would have looked at our situation and said that everything was going too well. As is usually the case in this life, though, it did not last! On my birthday, I went to work at PRC just like always. On that particular day, I was not feeling very well. I had a cold, my throat was sore, and I could hardly talk. About noon, the Program Manager asked me to stop by and see him. In my pathetic, sick condition, he told me that the contract had once again run out of money. He told me that he needed me to take off the whole month of December and to be ready to return back to work in January. In fact, his parting words were that he had brought me back once and that I could trust him to do so again. The date was November 28th, and my last day in the office was to be two days later on the Thirtieth.

We had not even been in our new home long enough to make the first payment, and I was out of work again. However, Linda and I viewed the month off as an unplanned vacation. I figured that we had saved enough money to ride out a month, so we both decided to just make the best of our unscheduled extra time together. I even prayed and asked the Lord to give us all our allotment of snow for the year during the month of December so that I could be home to enjoy it. I love the snow, and I was making that very special prayer request to give the Lord a unique way to show me that He was still in the midst of everyting. I am happy to say that He was faithful concerning that prayer. In December 1989, we had three major snow storms. Our total snowfall for the month was about two feet, and we did not get anymore snow for the rest of the winter. Snow always causes some inconvenience, and it did for us, too. For one thing, my parents were snowed in with us for about two weeks, and my mother especially suffered from cabin fever. During a few instances, she was so uneasy that she just about drove all of us crazy. Nevertheless, Linda and I thanked the Lord each day for how He had given us such a unique and special sign.

When the end of December came, I called the Program Manager at PRC and learned that it was not yet a good time for me to come back to work. Therefore, since our annual Ocean City vacation was only a few weeks away, I decided to not look for more work until after we had returned from that. When we got back from our vacation, I called PRC again, and they still did not have any funds. I was beginning to think that I would not be called back to PRC on my second occasion of unemployment, but I still felt very fortunate and blessed. I had been out of work for almost two months before I had actually begun to feel like I was out of work.

It was not until the end of January that I finally started looking for a job. The first job which I saw advertised in our local newspaper was for Atlantic Research Corporation (ARC) in downtown Fredericksburg. The job looked similar to what I had always done, and the location was also ideal. So, I sent them my resume. A few days later, they asked me in for an interview, and everything went very well. When I left their office, I was so confident about the job that I had already started to expect a call. However, after a week, no call had come!

Finally, in early February, I called the manager at ARC and asked about the status of my application. I was told that the company wanted to make me an offer but that they did not know if the money were in place for bringing me onboard. After that call, I started checking with other companies. Based on the advice of a friend from church, named Bill, I shortened my lengthy, detailed resume to two pages of brief notes. From him, I learned that the purpose of the resume is to get the interview and that the purpose of the interview is to get the job. Too many people write their resume with the idea that a lengthy, detailed resume will somehow do the trick and gain them employment, but this is not usually the case. I even delivered my resume in person and whenever possible spoke directly to the Personnel Officer of the perspective company. That strategy worked very well. Because of my aggressiveness, I had interviews with several companies and got some very favorable feedback.

By April, I was beginning to feel confident that something would soon turn up, but I did not know how soon. I told Linda that for me unemployment was almost like having a terminal illness. I had good days, and I had bad days. Our money still had not run out, but I was starting to become very anxious about the fact that it could. I had saved a lot of money during those four years after the Lord had impressed on me the importance of saving, but I was still not in a position to retire. I knew that I would have to find work somewhere, and having to be patient for so long was very difficult.

Toward the middle of April, I began contemplating our situation. Based on everything that had happened during the previous summer, I believed that the Lord wanted us in Fredericksburg. However, I also thought that He had, for some reason, seen fit to withhold His complete blessing. Had He brought us there so that we could go bankrupt for Him? I did not think that He had, but I considered that He might have. Had He kept me from employment as a way of showing that He now wanted us to move again and set up housekeeping in another location? I did not think that He had, but I considered that He might have. In December and January, I had been very spiritual about the whole unemployment ordeal. I had told family and friends that Linda and I sincerely wanted the Lord's will for our lives and that she and I were both in agreement about that. But was He now keeping me from work as a way to test our true devotion to Him. I did not think that that was the case, but I considered that it might be.

While thinking about everything, I arrived at a gigantic conclusion, and when I discussed it with Linda, she agreed. Linda has always been gracious enough to go along with my ideas, and sometimes, those ideas have not been so good. This time, I announced to her that I would not let us go bankrupt trying to stay in a place where the Lord did not want us to be. Linda and I had always taught our kids that where the Lord leads He provides. But now, they were having to look at us out of work, and maybe, they were questioning the validity of that truth. Since the Lord obviously had not provided me with a job, I told her that I would pay the May house payment, and if I still did not have a job, then I would recommend to her that we put the house up for sale and try to move on. She agreed.

Money still had not become a big problem. We could have gone another six to eight months before we would have actually started to run low of funds, but to me, it was the principle. She and I had faithfully served our Lord for over twenty years. We had tried to raise all our kids to worship and serve Him. And now, I was asking Him in a very determined and direct way to provide me with work. Give me a job and let us serve You in Fredericksburg, or let us sell our home and show the world that You cannot take care of us in Fredericksburg! People might be critical of this sort of defiant attitude, but I am very honest and open about how I felt. I remembered that Moses had used a very similar argument with God while he was leading the children of Israel in the Sinai Wilderness, and I thought that that kind of behavior might work again.

On April 13th, a Friday, Linda went out for the morning. When she came home in the early afternoon, something happened between us which had not happened during our whole time of unemployment. It was also something which had not happened very much during our whole marriage. We got into an argument! Many times during our years together, she could have taken a cheap shot at me, particularly when we were having so much trouble with the kids. BUT SHE NEVER DID!!! Instead of being drawn apart by our problems, we had always been brought closer together. On Friday, April 13, 1990, however, it was finally becoming clear that we were both getting very frustrated by our lengthy ordeal of unemployment. We had not run out of money, and we were not having difficulty meeting any of our needs or obligations. But being out of work for five months was a long time, and all the strain of everything during the previous year was beginning to show.

Because her being short with me was so unusual, I was very upset. I do not even know what we argued about, but I know that I was very sad that we had argued. When she went into the house, I remained outside at our picnic table and prayed. With tears in my eyes, I asked the Lord if He was going to now turn her against me, too. I was so disappointed and discouraged, and even though it might be a terrible thing to say, I was very disappointed with the Lord. And I told Him so! Fortunately, our ordeal had a happy ending. Later that afternoon, Linda and I made up. While we were both sitting at the picnic table talking about everything, the phone rang. It was the Human Resources Representative at ARC asking me if I was still looking for a job. When he learned that I was, he told me that I could even start on Monday if I so desired. I told him that that was fine, and I started my employment in downtown Fredericksburg on the Sixteenth of April.

Being out of work, losing my consulting business, and having to leave Dale City in such a rush when I first lost my job were the elements of a very stressful year, and I did not come out of that year feeling like a spiritual giant. I think that I felt and still feel very weak in the Lord, but I do not think that this is necessarily bad or wrong. I have failed Him many times and in many ways. Not only that, but I will probably fail Him many more times in the future. There have been a few times that I actually thought that He had failed me, but on each of those occasions, I eventually learned that this life is difficult and that we must maintain our faith at all times if we are to stay on top.