Thursday, February 7, 2013

Prayer Works. Miracles Happen.


Layoffs. Downsizing. Restructuring. February 2012 President Obama wasn't necessarily winning favor in the economy department. PEMCO Insurance didn't escape the trends.

My dad wasn't supposed to take that long walk down the hall to an empty chair and have his fate turned upside down. He's a survivor. An innovator. Best man in his division. Fifteen years of dedicated customer service and leadership.

Sure I'm his daughter which means my view is biased, right? Well I'm also a working professional and analytical thinker. I don't exaggerate. You don't layoff Mr. PEMCO.

Eight more days and it would have been exactly one year since Mr. PEMCO got the dreaded call. Enterprise Services was no longer unscathed. The victim: my dad.

For the past eight years my dad threw a paper route every morning to make ends meet. Forget the cute boy on the bike chucking papers onto porches. 3:00 am every morning. 200+ papers. Snow storm. Torrential downpour. Nothing stops the paper.

No man takes his role as a provider more seriously than my dad.

Hours of networking, resume tweaking, and phone interviews. No job prospects. My parents couldn't afford to stay in our home. The backup plan became reality.

They decided to move to Utah and live in my auntie's basement apartment. Start over. It was a hard decision but they knew it was right. Peace amidst uncertainty is possible.

December 18th my dad should have had an interview at CHG Healthcare, number three on Fortune's list of 100 best companies to work for. A Christmas miracle.

The day after my grandma died the interview was canceled. CHG had reached their hiring quota for the year. Call back after the first of the year.

January 2013 comes and Patty, the fantastic CHG recruiter my dad worked with, is no longer with the company. Multiple phone calls and mixed correspondence later, a new recruiter sends my dad a generic rejection email. He's crushed.

This morning Patty connected with my dad via LinkedIn. She called him five minutes later. Could he come in for an interview at 2pm? Yes. Less than five hours later my dad got the call we've waited almost a year for.

A simple text: "I got the job!". I burst into tears of joy. I forgot what it's like to have good things happen for my family. The last year has been rough.

Hope can be restored. It's true--Heavenly Father doesn't give us more than we can handle. Most of the time we just don't know our limits. I think that's part of the plan.

February 18th my dad will start his new job as an account manager at England Logistics.  

Prayer works. Miracles happen. Life really can change in just one day.

3 comments:

  1. Beautifully Written Clarissa <3 Our family has truly seen the hand of God many times. This is one of them. Thanks for capturing this experience. It will be cherished forever! I love you! xoxo Auntie

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  2. Clarissa, I'm so happy for him............could you e-mail me his telephone #.............Boyd and I want to take him and your Mom out to dinner, we talked about it at Christmans...........my e-mail is:
    funmimaw@gmail.com


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  3. This is awesome! My family is going through sort of the same thing right now, and it's hard to watch someone who you love and respect, floundering. You want to just scream at every company "Why don't you hire this guy??? HE IS BOSS." I'm so happy for your family, and that you can now move past this stressful point in your lives!

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