You just may get it...Part II

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  Matthew 7:7 (NLT)

I'm not sure who was using the above-verse more, me or the people nagging me about this job.  I cannot recall exactly the timeline here, but soon thereafter, I received a mailing from the AOIC which is the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, Court Reporting Services, announcing job vacancies.  It was a mailing that I used to rip open in eager anticipation that my local job would finally be open.  I opened this one and there it was, the court reporting vacancy I had once dreamed of.  I laughed, crumpled it up and threw it away.  I was so not interested.

But all of these inquiries and nudges were becoming quite noticeable, I decided that maybe I should start praying harder about this.  And so I did.  I prayed that I would be lead where I needed to go and that if God wanted me to take this job, even though I was thoroughly content with the one I had, he needed to send me a sign, preferably a big one.  (And if you follow my posts, you know that sometimes I need several really big signs to grasp the picture!)

A few days later I was in the shower.  I didn't have to work, and Jay and I were going uptown to eat lunch.  (This was a great perk of my job...with Jay working shiftwork, I could spend lots of time with him on his days off because I wasn't working full-time.)  Anyway, he opens the door to the bathroom and says to me with the most serious face, "Tracy called and would like you to call back."  I said, "Traci?"  (Because I have a good friend named Traci and I was surprised she would be calling and not emailing.)  Again, with that ornery straight face, he says, "No, Tracy, the judge."  H-o-l-y-C-o-w.

I simply could not believe it.  The judge was now calling my house.  This was unbelievable to me.  This was a stupid sign...you know, the one I had asked for.  What in the world was I gonna do now?  I called him back and told him I would come in and talk to him, but I wasn't promising anything because, as you know, I was very happy doing what I was doing.
I knew enough about how things went around there that I was very skeptical of whether I would be happy, fit in, be miserable, regret terribly my decision, get grouchy, etc.  Without going into too many details, let's just say that I wasn't sure how well the Judge and I would click.  It was my number one concern...and supported by many who knew the situation.  I decided that what I needed to do was walk into the little chit-chat with a plan.  My plan was to make certain demands and make it very clear that if I didn't end up liking it, I was gone.  I was not going to come in begging for my dream job under any circumstances, which is what I likely would've done a few years earlier.

As I walked out the doors of his office and the courthouse, I was fairly certain I would take the job.  It was simply an offer I could not refuse.  We had agreed that I could leave at anytime if it wasn't working out.  He was going to allow me to run a little late every morning so I could continue to take my kiddos to school (which I really love doing).  The CRS office had decided to hire me back at the salary I left with, plus I would get to continue where I was on the vacation/sick time bank.  That was a biggie for me, I knew there was no way I could start over with vacation days...ugh.

Jay and I talked it over.  I had so many prayers going up.  I hated to give up my freedom, but something kept telling me I just had to give this a shot...and so I did.  I decided that God wanted me to take this job for a reason, and I continue to pray that I am fulfilling whatever purpose he has for me here.  One of the perks that I wasn't quite expecting was gaining a dear friend, we'll call her Kathy.  Sometimes it feels like we've known each other forever.  Sometimes, as we are instant messaging one another from across the courtroom, we are typing the very same thing.  I'm so thankful to have her to help me through the rough days and make light of frustrating situations. We are a good team. And we have some fun times too!!

So here I sit, 18 months later, and I love my job.  I even like my judge.  There have been some rocky moments, a couple rough patches where I thought I couldn't take it anymore, but mostly in the summer after I started and it was just hard to re-adjust to my family being at home having fun and me being at work.  I know and trust that God has a plan for me here and it may not even be the one I have in mind.  I am so very fortunate to have this job and working full-time hasn't killed me yet.  I think I'm gonna stick around a while.  The moral of my story is:  Be careful what you pray for, you just may get it.