Family Matters — My Job Train Would Not Just Make a Pit Stop

Seldom do I willingly venture out of my comfort zone.
I am convinced that is why, every so often, God pushes me out. I used to wonder why I had so many jobs end abruptly after eight-to-10 years. My job train would not just make a pit stop, but would simply come to the end of the tracks. And there I would be left with suitcase in hand headed back home.
In my younger days, while being a stay-at-home mother, I began freelance writing. It opened up all kinds of opportunities, but then the busyness of family life halted that train ride. I then hopped aboard as an athletic director at a Christian school for grades K-to-8 to pay for my children’s tuition; high school ended that stint.
My most fulfilling jobs were two that I juggled simultaneously: editor for a parenting magazine and abstinence educator. Life was good. I enjoyed the flexibility and commonalities of both jobs. I would have happily retired doing either of them, but those doors closed unexpectedly when the financing dried up.
Thankfully, I never felt forced to have to work outside the home, so I would only consider jobs for which I had a passion. I did not dwell on the past—I would just press onward, viewing every change as a new season. My attitude was a certainty borne of faith that God must have something else for me. At whatever station I was in life, my prayer was for God to help me “see with his eyes, hear with his ears, and feel with his heart.”
It took these past few years to give authenticity to that well-meaning prayer. Having experienced a few train wrecks has had a way of enabling me to see, hear, and feel with deeper insight. And, with a sense of amazement, I am finally seeing all of my disjointed travel destinations connecting in a specific place. I realize now that those temporary positions were preparing me for the job God has given me to do now.
Since the initiation of my son’s web page, , and the debut of my radio show, That Guy’s Mom (which can be found at freshstartbroadcasting.com), I have come to understand many things that previously were only a vague awareness. First, there is a world of people who have pain, and sorrow, and who may be drowning in despair. Second, there is always someone else who is bearing a much heavier burden.
We have received hundreds of letters from readers of Matt’s blog or listeners to the show. They have written about their own lives and told us their stories. One woman writes: “I am the mother of ‘that guy’ also, and my family is living with the same tragedy. The stories are similar, but the outcome is different due to the fact that the person whose life was lost in this drunk-driving accident was another son/brother.”
A desperate mom writes: “I don’t understand why God would give me a child (which was a miracle for us) and then take him away only 17 years later.” (This young man died on the athletic field at high school.)
I received a phone call from a professional woman in New York. She was emotionally drained and depleted as she shared her battle with cancer, her husband’s recent passing, her daughter’s upcoming surgery, and the recent incarceration of her son, which totally blindsided her.
I know I can never figure out God’s ways or his plan here on earth. One thing is certain: All of the preparatory jobs he provided for me through the years, accompanied by the suffering and shame he allowed into my life, are being used to point others to him. My passion for writing and speaking, imbued with my own grief, is delivering words of encouragement in ways that truly matter. I am able to help hold others up until they have the strength to look up.
This is the most important task I have ever undertaken, and I have a feeling it will keep me on track to places and events and people I never would have met outside the destination of desolation.