Winds of Change

With a grateful heart I sit at my laptop this morning, amazed at what one single day can do for my heart.  I slept amazingly well, because my soul was finally at rest.  My God, He is so good to me, in ways that I don't even deserve, and I praise His Heavenly Name and thank Him for all He does in my life.

I had a job interview yesterday at 9am.  We are in the outskirts of Tropical Storm Hermine right now, so it was a nasty day.  Missy came with me so she could use my car to run errands during my interview.  I insisted on leaving early, which means that I got to my interview 45 minutes early.  I followed the directions in the email, and the HR director met me promptly at 9am.  My interview with her was only 10 minutes long, which surprised me.  She asked me about the four jobs I have listed on my resume, and then smiled and teased me when she saw that for the goals section at the bottom of my resume I wrote, "I love coding!"  Then she asked me if I would like to meet the coding manager and director.  Like I'm going to say no?

We walked downstairs together, and I met these two lovely ladies.  One of them already knew me from the AAPC ("You are so funny at those meetings, you crack me up!") and if one can believe this, the director had family with the same last name as mine, and it's possible that we're distantly related to each other through marriage.  We chatted for an hour.  They told me about the position, I told them about what I did, and about 20 minutes before the end of our session, they asked me if I had any questions.  I pulled out my notebook filled with four pages of questions (they had already answered most of them, but there were a few we hadn't touched base on) and they were both smiling and giggling at me with my crazy questions.  This is what I asked:

Am I allowed to use two screens?  Are my coding books supplied or do I need to buy them?  What are your audit measures? What are your production standards?  Do you have a flexible schedule?  Can I still be an officer for the AAPC because I'd have to leave early one day per month.  Do you have drawers and shelves (seriously, I don't have that right now.)  What is the dress code?  May I wear headphones while I work?  How cold is it in here?  Do you have cubicles, and how big are they?

By the time I was done, the coding manager said, "I don't normally do this, but would you like to see where all the coders sit?  I can see that your working environment is very important to you."  Of course I said yes!  So we walked down to the coding area, I waved to a few coders who of course were curious about this strange person walking around their office.  I was pleased with the environment of the office, since I work in a place now where I have basically a card table, one flimsy shelf and I'm not allowed to close the door, hence allowing a ton of noise and distractions to come my way while I'm trying to read all day.  It was quiet, there were no patients in the halls, and the lights were bright enough to read, but low enough so your eyes wouldn't ache at the end of the day.  Finally, the interview was over at 10:15, and I walked outside to where my daughter was patiently waiting on me.  We shook hands and she said, "It has been such a pleasure meeting with you today."  I said, "Likewise!  I hope to hear from you soon!"  Then I jumped in the car and told my daughter to start driving to DeLand because I was supposed to be there in 40 minutes.  I made her stop at BK just to get me a burger and so I could change into my uniform (yes, I have a uniform.  Ugliest polyester nightmare I have ever worn, and I've worked at both Hardees and Publix.)  After I got into my uniform, we got back into the car and my phone rang.  I have bluetooth in my car so I answered the phone while my daughter drove.

"Hello, this is Sarah, how can I help you?"
"Hello Sarah!  This is XXXXXXXXXXXXXX from Human Resources!  How was your interview with the director and manager?"
"It was great!  They were so nice to me and answered all of my questions.  I had a wonderful time."
"Good, I'm so glad to hear that.  Since you had such a great time, we'd like to know if you would like to join our team.  We would be delighted to have you!"
At this time, both Missy and I squealed.  This poor HR lady. I can imagine we sounded like stuck pigs.
Me:  "Yes, I would love to join your team!  I'm so excited to be a part of XXXXXXXXXXXXXX."
"Fantastic!  I will email you a lab slip to take a drug test.  This must be done a week before you start.  I know you need to give your current job two weeks notice.  Can you start September 19th?"
"Yes, ma'am.  I can start September 19th."

That is the FASTEST turn around I have ever had on a job interview.  It was less than 30 minutes after I walked out of the building, and they called me with the offer.  I ended up being 15 minutes late to work, but oh well.  I worked the rest of the day and emailed my supervisor with my resignation letter at the end of the day.  I know that as I go into work today, I will probably get a phone call about why I'm leaving.  I don't know if they will be upset, or angry, or tell me not to bother with the two weeks and to get out.  No idea.  But I know that I have a new job that pays significantly more, in a more relaxing environment.  Unfortunately, I have a commute.  But you know...that's life.  I will live with that.

Oh, I'm not done.

I allowed Missy to use my car yesterday evening.  I got a text from her saying she cleaned my car for me.  I made a joke about how that car was dirty, it needed Jesus.  She texted back saying "Not only the car."
My heart stopped.
I texted back, "Are you trying to say something?"
She immediately texted back, "I'm tired.  I'm tired of fighting and I want peace."
Oh my darling daughter.  Oh how I've prayed for you to come back to Jesus.  My eyes filled with tears.  We went back and forth on salvation.  I think she's ready.  All those years of praying, protecting her from her own self, being "mean" to her about not allowing certain things, finally seems to have done it.  I think I have my baby girl back.

Thank you, Lord, for the glorious day of August 31, 2016, where both my family and my job situation has moved in your direction.  I am so grateful.