somebody oughta testify!

okay, i will. :)

the year was 2007. 

the month was september.

the previous week, i had just come back from what was probably the best camping trip Ever! my friends take an annual camping trip on labor day weekend. this was the year that we drove to the Ozark mountains of Arkansas.

my mom and i were in the stressful beginning process of buying our first home. not fun but rather exciting.

oh, did i mention that i work for a financial institution? specifically, my department dealt with all the things that go into hiring loan officers and such like around the country. well, when the industry is falling apart, there isn't much need for loan officers or the people that handle their new hire paperwork.

you see where this is going. :)

soooo i was laid off on friday, september 14th along with most of my team that fateful day. ugh, it was so sad. i cried and stuff. but i was kinda glad to leave because i hated driving 45 minutes to work at this building when we had recently moved from a building that is 25 min from my house. oh, and i was seriously bored there too. i just wanted the ideal job that was closer to my home and could keep my interest {a feat that is amazingly hard to accomplish. hasn't happened yet, actually}.

and suffice it to say that the PAUSE button was pressed on that whole "let's buy a house" thing.

i got home and tried to win a radio contest. yes, i did. 

see, i had been trying to win tickets all of that week and the previous week to see steven curtis chapman perform at the Meyerson, the absolutely gorgeous facility where the Dallas Symphony Orchestra resides. 

and wouldn't you know that i finally won on the day that i lost my job?! you had to call in when you heard one of his songs come on. this was the song  --

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part 

of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

VERY APPROPRIATE, yes? i was also having some emotional stuff bothering me at the time besides the job and house stuff so i thought it was so fitting that this song come on and become My Song that day.

i was advised by the senior vp of my department to go to a job fair back at our previous building {the one that is 25 min from my home}. so i went and Guess What? i used to work with the recruiter! so she got me an interview for the position. 

later on, i went to the interview and Guess What?? i used to work with my 1st interviewer, too! she actually gave me pointers for my 2nd interview that day. so i went to the next interview and i had assumed that i had bombed it but Guess What? i didn't. :)

the same day {september 26th} of the concert, the recruiter called me to tell me that i got the job! and that night is in my top 5 best concert experiences, if i ever compiled a list. i have never cried and laughed so hard at a concert {obviously, not both at the same time, hee hee!}. it was amazing.

so to summarize:

i won tickets to the concert

i got the job 25 minutes from my home

AND we signed on the house on october 31st

 And the sky begins to thunder
And I’m filled with awe and wonder
‘Til the only burning question that remains
Is who am I?
 
Can I form a single mountain?
Take the stars in hand and count them?
Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me?
He is first and last before all that has been
Beyond all that will pass