Did God send a message just for me?
Photo Credit: https://godinallthings.com/2015/02/20/hands-an-imaginative-meditation/
His hands are in my life!
After having many trials the years previous; there had come a day when I was called into the office at my job at the university hospital. I was being laid off because of budget cuts. I was angry and I was bitter. Of all the people to lay off they kept those that were there the longest but in that kept the ones with no work ethic and lazy. This was in July 2010. I was unemployed for near six months. In November I was called in for an interview for a Northrop and Grumman. This job was awesome and I was ever so excited. I would be a project manager who over saw the construction of the NSA spy station in Bluffdale, Utah. I was to fly to Virginia in order to get top secret clearance and the starting pay was $32/hr. I was told that I would be contacted with details and my flights set up in order to go there for training by the end of the month. In Dec I hadn't heard back from anyone. I called my contact and he apologized and said oh we have decided to hire someone else who already had the top secret clearance. I was devastated. I wanted that job so bad.
It was late in December on a Saturday I almost gave up on looking because it seemed so hopeless. When the thought came to my mind to search for entry level jobs. I told my wife Krissy," I'm going to apply for the first thing that comes up." The job at the top of the list was for Halliburton frac/acid. I applied and within two hours was given a call and asked to meet with one of their representatives the following Monday. After getting the details of the job I was nervous and skeptical. Starting wage was $14.25/hr and the schedule was 2 weeks on 1 week off. I did the math in my head and was certain there was no way I could afford to care for my family on such wages. The first week of January I embarked on a journey to Vernal Ut .I was skeptical and nervous. I figured well I' ll give it a try and see what happens. Upon arrival to my hotel , which the company paid for, I had my first day of three weeks of training. 10 hours a day and part of Saturday we got Sunday's off. So I was able to drive home for the weekends . It was a three hour drive but I didn't care I needed to see my little family.
After the three weeks of training we were in training at the facility waiting for our turn to go to a three week CDL course. I spent three months training getting 10 hours a day as well as doing CARRs. These were computer training programs and if you finished so much of the training programs they would give you a raise. After getting the CDL they also gave you a raise. I came to find out that when my rotation started that my week off was paid with a guarantee of 40 hours paid. Although not getting paid a lot per hour; the over time and paid time off I was making good money. I had received three raises with in the first year and had moved up rather quickly. I went from being the new guy to being an equipment operator.
Over the next three years I had made my way to a treater position. this meant I was a supervisor. Not necessarily the guy on top but on my way.
I look back at this experience and I realize that when we are at our lowest point we are not alone. I would pray but not consistently. It was the oil field that helped me on my journey to praying consistently. I was still trying to understand the gospel. Because of the dangerous nature of the job I worried about coming home to my wife and kids each night. So that's why I prayed each morning before going to work. From prayer came many other blessings. The oil field renewed my confidence. With in six months of working I was able to purchase my first home since the financial collapse of the nation. I purchased it for a great price and then after 9 months there was able to purchase another. We moved into the other home and used the first home as a rental property. This gave me a sense of pride but it allowed us to do many things.
I was one of the lucky ones. Our crew was based in Vernal and all of our work took place around Vernal so I was able to go home every night and be with the kids. But as the market slowed I eventually ended up out of town all the time. About a year before the market turned in Vernal because of the drop in oil prices, I was in North Dakota in my hotel room and a thought had crossed my mind. I had no intention of leaving the oil field or had any idea what was in store for the oil field. I called Krissy and asked why she was in Vernal. I had come under realization that I can work in North Dakota from Vernal or I could work there from Salt Lake. I said let's sell the rental and sell the house and then we would move back to Salt Lake and buy something there. We sold the rental rather quickly and considering we bought it low and sold it high. We made pretty good money on them. The house took a little longer to sell. It sold for enough that we didn't lose money. It was not long after that Saudi Arabia had decided to cut the prices to force America out of the oil business that prices fell and home sales in vernal stopped. We however had perfect timing. I can go on about how I ended up in Stansbury Park, but I will save that for another time.
Many things came from this experience. In that depressing December when I was without hope. God sent me a message. That message was to not give up hope but to try a different approach. He has his hands in my life and it's the reason I am here today in the position I am in today. Had I not heeded to the prompting that were given to me I would not be here today.
It all started with just a little prayer and being consistent with it to grow into something bigger. It allowed me to be a better listener. Listening allowed me to make all the right decisions.
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