Two years ago, Yane's husband, Beni, without warning, lost his job. It was doubly painful because it was a great job. For 6 years, Beni enjoyed working in a multinational distribution company for skincare products. But because of a reorganization that happened in the company (which is happening in many companies nowadays), he was "redundated" .
Yane decided to tell her two small children, Gabriel (then age 6), and Marga (then age 4) about the sad news, carefully choosing the words she'd use to put it to them. "Kids, we have to take better care of our things… and not waste our money because …Daddy doesn't have a job anymore."
Little Gabriel said, "You mean Daddy was fired?" Yane was surprised at the bluntness of his words. "Now where did you learn that word?!" Her son said matter-of-factly, "From Peter Parker - Spiderman."
But yes, redundated was just a fancy word for "Get out, we don't need you here anymore." Losing a job is always painful, even if it goes with a "separation pay" or a "redundancy package". While Yane was thankful for the windfall, part of her was anxious, wondering how long their family was going to have to live off the separation package.
The first few months were OK; Beni got an average of two invitations per week to come for interview. But as the months stretched to a year — and then more, the invitations got fewer and far between.
During the almost two years of her husband's joblessness, Yane was going through her own anxiety. As a mother to two growing schoolchildren, she saw their savings getting smaller. (As a contingency measure, she moved out of her 8-yr old job to accept a higher-paying one.)
But aside from the dwindling funds, she was also worried about Beni's self-esteem. It wasn't that he wasn't trying; it was apparent thatthere just weren't enough job opportunities for middle-aged men with his background and experience. There were actually two jobs that he accepted, but both were short-lived. Call it a conflict of personalities or a clash of styles, but he couldn't see himself working there long-term. Anguished, Beni would walk out the door again.
And their marriage started to suffer too, since she was the one who was now earning for the family. "Will my husband's ego take this for long?" she asked herself many, many times. As each month passed, she was getting more and more worried for Beni.
Yane began questioning God, "Lord, I don't understand what else you're trying to teach us! How else should we pray? What else should we pray for?"
That was when Yane realized that their prayer had to be more specific.
So she gathered her two kids around her and said, "Let's pray for Daddy, that he would find a good job with a good boss – someone like his first boss in his former company."
And so that became the family's specific prayer. "Lord, please help Daddy get a boss that is as good and kind as his first boss in his old company, in Jesus name."
One day, about a year ago from today, Yane came home from work and saw the kids and her husband in a huddle. "What's all this about?" she asked.
She heard her kids whisper excitedly, "Show it to her now!"
Beni handed her a brown envelop.
Yane thought it was something from the kids' school.
But no. As she slowly pulled out the paper from the envelope, she read the name of a company…then her husband's job title… then his salary… At these, she merely nodded in satisfaction.
But when she got to the bottom of the paper, she was shocked. For there was a signature. It was that of Beni's favourite boss!
To her kids' astonishment, Yane began to cry and laugh at the same time. She could hardly believe it! Like a child, she jumped up and down with joy, much to the kids' amusement who jumped and laughed along with her.
Gabriel asked his mother, "Mom, why are you crying and laughing at the same time?"
Yane saw a great opportunity to explain, "I'm crying because I'm so happy, son. Remember how you prayed for a good boss for Daddy? Look at this name," she pointed to the paper she was holding. "We were merely asking for a boss that would be like Daddy's old boss. But no, God gave your Daddy exactly the same boss! He answered our prayers!"
That was when Gabriel began to sob.
"Why are you crying?" Yane asked.
"Because I'm so happy too," the little boy said, as the entire family embraced each other.
When Yane shared me this story, I knew I had to share it with you.
Because all of us go through many hardships and losses.
We lose our jobs, we lose our loved ones, we lose our money, we lose our friends… And sometimes, we wait and wait for the pain to go away, for the loss to be recovered. Sometimes, we wait for a long time. (Yane and Beni had to wait for two long years.)
But in the end, I believe that God has prepared the very best blessing for you.
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