Shortly after arriving at home, I sent email messages to the few friends who would contact me occasionally via my work email address. There is little more affirming than getting a phone call from a friend who had to leave a meeting to make the call just moments after receiving my email on her blackberry. She’s a no-non-sense person who balances my flights of fancy and cuts straight to the chase: How much is your mortgage payment? Will Donna’s scholarship cover her winter tuition? “I’ll cover her books, then,” she announced. The message was clear. My home is safe and my daughter will not have her college education interrupted. The lay-off was reported on our local news broadcast, and every time the forty-five second report aired, my phone rang. Invitations to lunch and offers for assistance with resume and interview preparation poured in. There was no way that I could imagine that I was facing this situation alone. God sent me an army. It’s been impossible for me to forget that I am loved with my wonderful friends and church family to hold me up.
On the Friday following the red letter Tuesday, my mother bought me a silver bracelet. It is made up of three narrow sterling rectangles engraved with a delicate scripting the words of Hebrews 13:5 and two filigreed links on either end. Although my job was a huge stress in my life and caused me immeasurable turmoil because of the conflict it created between my job responsibilities and my values, there was the comfort of being able to pay my mortgage and feed my children. As a divorced mother of two teenagers, that is a considerable comfort. It is a given that I should have taken my comfort from God, and not from my paycheck. God is in the business of grace, though, and understands my human nature. The words “Never will I leave you or forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5) became a daily reminder that God was with me in this distressing situation no matter what. I belong to God, and He’s sticking.
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