God's Provision

A few months ago, Erin and were jumping with joy at this news, the chance for Erin to do a jobshare at her school. What we didn't know at the time was that I was about 3 months away from taking a 45% paycut in my pastoral salary. So what went from being a family income that would be just what we needed, we suddenly had a pretty big crises in the family budget. So to make up the difference, I took a position as a part-time package handler at FedEx in Lenexa, my former place of employment from 2000-2005.

A few months after starting this unfortunate job of being a package handler, I've now been moved onroad, as I've blogged about earlier. My job is easier (at least, physically) but I'm working a total of 4 hours a day.

Because I'm a nerd like that, I recently ran the numbers for our monthly budget. When you combine the hourly salary I'm making at FedEx (working 4 hours a day), the money we're saving by being on the FedEx insurance plan rather than the Olathe School District plan and the salary I am getting from the church, I'm making the same amount of money I was making before the paycut. Almost exactly to the dollar.

What I'm losing, of course, is time. But Sara Armstrong is graciously watching Dawson some half-days at her home daycare for way less than we should be paying her, so I earn back some time there. I've also gained the opportunity to renew old friendships, hang out with people who don't know the love of Jesus and even get to talk about that love every once in awhile. And being part-time has allowed me to relax, let some stuff go and enjoy pastoring without the self-inflicted pressure to produce. It's a great place to be.

And one more example of God's provision that is too specific to be just a coincidence. When I was in the process of being hired, FedEx was having some issues with the lab where I had done my DOT required drug test. No, it wasn't because there were drugs found in my system, but because some paperwork got messed up. I kept showing up at the FedEx station only to be sent home again and told to come back the next day, when "the paperwork should be finished." I even worked one day before being told I shouldn't be there.

So my hire date got pushed back three weeks longer than it should've been. With FedEx's policy of not being eligible for benefits until 90 days after the initial hire date, it looked like we were going to 1) be without health insurance for a little while or 2) pay an exorbitant amount of money to COBRA Erin's insurance for a short while. I actually pushed the issue with the manager who hired me, trying to get her to post-date my hiring date, since the paperwork had been messed up.

Well, turns out the 31 days in both July and August and the Olathe School District's agreement to let Erin stay on one her insurance plan an extra month was some more divine provision. We recently received a letter from Blue Cross / Blue Shield saying our insurance plan expired on September 1st. That letter was followed by a letter from Cigna saying our FedEx insurance plan was beginning on September 2nd.

Sometimes I wonder whether my worries make God chuckle, similar to how I laugh when Dawson gets frustrated with something that requires little effort from his dad.