Lady Luck?

I've got a job!

A paid one at that, doing work! Woo-hoo! Not going to say who with, just because the last place hassled me for using their name in a public blog - the important bit is that it's exciting because it's a job I wanted to get and with a firm where the culture and ethos are excellent!

I'm going to be a Senior Education Consultant, serving the EMEA region primarily (with some possibility of working further afield as and when), and I start next Monday in San Mateo with a few weeks' product training, i.e. getting familiar with the software product and doing their certification so that I can move onto being able to train others in it.

This is not the first role where I've gotten to the final stage, or the only one where I've had the joy of the face-to-face grilling. Well over a month ago I had a final with a charity, for a senior developer role. More recently I had one for a European Support Consultant position, which I really thought I'd enjoy and it also seemed that they were pretty keen on my fit. But both these opportunities faded away, frustratingly at the time, before the Education one came along.

I realise that one gets generally more proficient at interviews the more experience of them you get, and getting a job you're qualified for should only be a matter of time, but - speaking personally - I would say that in this case there's a bit more to it. I believe that God had His hand on this area of my life: He's let me explore myself and experience some rejection, whilst knowing that this new opportunity awaits and that it will fit me better than the others and allow me to give more of myself. Clearly, there's a lot to be said for faith - without faith in myself, never mind God, I would have been badly affected by the pain and anguish of rejection, from the interviews that went nowhere, to the ceaseless drone of looking over job ads as they trickle into my inbox.

Important to reiterate something that I keep realising, over and over again, which is, God is faithful and good - not just some of the time, as we kid ourselves we are, but ALL of the time. If God decides in His faithfulness that He is going to bring about a change, rest assured that change will take place - not always according to our timescales, I grant you, but then our perspective is so very small in comparison, who are we to question His timing. The big issue here is, that even though we are not consistently faithful, God is: He does not get this wrong, He doesn't change his mind because of bad weather, mood or what have you.

None of this means that I know what's going to happen - I thought I had messed up the face to face last week, and yet they made me an offer. Amusingly however, I had seen a number in my mind while trying to sleep a couple of nights before, and that was the salary figure quoted within the overall offer.

Go figure. :-)

Incomparable

Being of limited memory function (never mind limited intelligence!) I can't say whether or not I may have actually posted on this before, so forgive me please if I have and you find yourself thinking "dozy git's already told me about this!".

Its a book I'm re-reading, called "Incomparable" by Andrew Wilson, here's a link, about 'some' of the qualities of God - I place the word 'some' in quotes because one of the points made by the author is how we cannot ever fully understand God, the subject is too great, incomparable even :-)

Importantly I'm learning a lesson at this time, namely that if you abandon God then you need to make an effort to come back to Him: He won't (nor should He) necessarily hang around when you don't want Him around. Makes sense really - if you distance yourself from someone, then they're further away again, and its down to you to draw nearer again.

Anyway, the book is one I originally found a bit lacking in substance, but now I think that assertion may have been a bit short-sighted. The guy's making a good fist of the most fundamentally huge and complex subject there is, so good on him for having a go!

And its helping me draw closer again, and that alone is invaluable, and mildly incomparable I'd say.

36!

Stone the crows, I'm 36!

Ask me if I hate birthdays!? Go on, I dare you!

A couple of years ago I'd have probably said 'no, why?', whereas now I think I'd struggle to admit I like the fact that I'm a year older. Funny thing, age, innit. You spend most of your childhood looking up to older kids, thinking of all the things you'll be able to do when you get to their age, then in your 20s you continue to assume you won't age (like every one else since time began), and now the wrong side of my mid-30s I have a much greater appreciation for the fine art of 'getting old'... even though - depending on your perspective - I'm hardly exactly an old codger!



In a sense I'm not at all bothered though, since salvation means I'm not going to spend eternity cut off from God, but instead will be counted amongst God's great family, so death isn't a worry for me. Not to say it won't be scary, cos I'm sure it will be, though the wonderful thing is that of course we don't know how it will happen, which I'm sure you would agree is a GOOD thing.