Blessings Galore!



Saving up for Kellen's headstone took us much longer than we thought it would. A few weeks ago, thanks to the donation from so many of you, and from our families, we finally had what we needed to order his headstone and get them to begin making it for Kellen. We have  no idea why it took so long to get the funds saved up.

Well, Lucas happily  made the appointment with the lady we have been working with at Chapel Hill Cemetery, for a Saturday. The night before our appointment, we made plans for the morning and getting everything settled. However, in the morning we woke up and went about our day as if it was a  usual weekend.

We BOTH completely forgot about our appointment! This is so unlike us. ESPECIALLY when getting Kellen's headstone is such a big deal to us, and we were so excited about finally getting it made for him. It wasn't until the evening when, like we were hit by a truck, we realized we had missed our appointment. I dont think we have forgotten a single appointment for anything since we've been married. We arent even usually late for things, but to completely forget is just bonkers.

We reset the appointment for the following Saturday, and you better believe we were there! When we sat down with, Kay, our service rep, we immediately apologized to her for missing our appointment. She turned to us and said, "Oh! It was so much better that way! We were so busy and we are understaffed so I wouldn't have had time anyway!" We were relieved to hear it, but the word I had really heard in her explanation was...understaffed. She then explained to us that they got a new manager and she had only been there a week and they were transitioning.

I nudged Lucas and then we explained that if there is an open position there, Lucas would be more than happy to apply. Kay got really excited and explained to us that the open position was as a family service Counselor, which is what she does. She explained quickly about the great benifits and then ran off to get her manager so she could meet Lucas. After we had Kellens headstone ordered (YAY!!!!) Lucas then met with the manager and gave her his business card and they discussed him coming to work for them.

We left with Lucas giving them his information and taking an application. We went home and he sent them a resume and an email thanking them for their time. This was so unexpected!

After getting Lucas' application the manager called him and they set up an in-depth interview for the Tuesday two weeks later. After what felt like the longest wait ever, he went to the interview, was gone for hours, and came back saying it went really well and he really really wanted the job. He was excited about it and said they had set up a second interview/test thing for the end of the week, last friday. He had to memorize a script and present it to the manager as if he were assisting a family. He nailed it, of course, and when he came home to me pacing the floor, he handed me a letter and said, "now they want me to memorize and present this" I started reading the letter, a little disappointed how long the hiring process was, when I realized that the letter was actually  OFFERING the position to him! Tricky husband!

I was SOOOO happy! Lucas was grinning ear to ear and you could tell he felt so good about it.

This position is perfect for him. He wants to do something that will mean something to people. He wants to be able to provide for our family while making a difference. Well, in this position he will work with families to make sure that when they lose a loved one, that they are eased through the process of making final arrangements and helping them through showing compassion and making their services meaningful and beautiful. He will be able to talk to people from a place of honest understanding, having had first hand experience not only with a very serious loss, but with that cemetery, and with the processes there!

He said to me, "You know, when you are in that position, and mourning, the last thing you want to think about is all the details and about arranging this stuff. Remember, Amber? You just dont feel capable of making decisions. We just wanted people to help us and make decision for us and get things done because you just cant care. Well now I can help people because I understand exactly."

He's so great. One of the things I am most excited about is that he will start there as soon as they get his background check in, he will easily be able to provide for us, so we can move to our own place, get our homestudy quickly done, and move towards growing our family through adoption! SO EXCITED! Plus, he will be making enough that when we do adopt, it will be no problem for me to be able to stay home and raise our children. We are very blessed.

Its funny, had we remembered about our first appointment, the conversation never would have led to us learning about the open position. We would have walked out of there and missed the opportunity completely. Plus, with the new manager being there, even if it HAd come up, she was brand new and was not ready to begin interviewing and hiring to fill the open spot. It was as if something KEPT us from remembering our first appointment, and then this perfect job fell into our lap, or should I say, was dropped into our lap by someone who has more of a hand in our lives than we may sometimes think.

~Happy~ Happy~ Happy ~Happy ~Happy~