It's (semi) Official

Last night, not long after I got to work, my boss called me into his office to tell me that due to budget cuts, I will most likely be losing my job on July 1st. This was no surprise to me, as he had already put out several memos warning that this may happen and I am the least senior dispatcher in our center (at 2 years 4 months); the memos most definitely stated that there is a hiring/firing schedule in place in our contract, meaning that if a position has to be cut, the least senior dispatcher will be let go. He said the only thing that he could really see saving my job is if someone more senior leaves before July 1st, for whatever reason they may have to leave. And in this economic climate, I don't see that happening.

Thanks to the previously mentioned memos, however, I'm not too stressed out. I read those memos and thought, "Well, crap. That's me." And immediately started browsing/applying for other jobs. The three potential positions: a lateral (2 years experience minimum) position with Clackamas County Dispatch (C-COM), a lateral position with Eugene Dispatch, and a Young Life Area Director Position in Snohomish Washington (about 45 miles north of Seattle). As they stand right now, I had a sit-in in C-COM on Saturday while we were in Portland - which was a ton of fun, I think I'd really like it there - and am hopefully going to hear back from them soon on an interview. I received an email from Eugene saying that I'm scheduled to take the first round of pre-interview tests on April 9th; unfortunately, I work that day, so I'm waiting to hear back about rescheduling. I have a phone meeting with the Regional Director for the Snohomish area on the 7th, at which time I'll find out if I'm even what they're looking for and what kind of salary we're looking at.

In other words, between me losing my job and Nathan's job not bringing in nearly enough to live on, we will most likely be leaving Baker. Sad day, but despite that I'm pretty excited about the new adventure our family is going to experience. I have my fingers really crossed on the Clackamas position as we have several family members in that area (the dispatch center is only 15 minutes away from Nathan's Dad's house), as well as several friends on that side of the state. We'll miss it here, but us being in Baker was always suppose to be a temporary thing, a move we made in order to be with Marla during her last months yet turned out to be longer when she left us the house. At that point we stopped planning and decided to let God direct our path, and now, quite obviously, he's directing it somewhere other than Baker.

So we're asking for your prayers. I fully believe in the power of prayer and its ability to change lives and work miracles. So please pray that I will find another job before my time is up at this one, that we'll find an affordable place to live in a safe neighborhood and will be able to save up enough money for moving expenses when that time does come. And pray that we'll hear back from these positions and have an answer sooner than later, so this whole process will go as smoothly as possible.

Oh man, it's nice to finally be able to write about this on here.