another miracle

Today started off a little rough. I got the kids to preschool with the huge load of stuff I had to take with them (extra clothes, shoes, boots, snow pants, lunches, toothbrushes and toothpastes, plants and paperwork). The rough part came when I was showing the kids around their new school and things just didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. I am sure that the school doesn't get new people that often but I just wanted some more clear direction on what to do. Anyway, the uncertainty hit me hard. It also hit me how much I was now trusting Mr. Jason and Miss Katy to take care of my two precious gifts from God. Tears welled up in my eyes and I did everything to hold them back. I knew that I needed to be strong for the boys or they would freak out and cry or not want me to leave them. I am not sure how much they detected my concern but they did pretty well. I expected Clay to have a hard time parting with me and Jaden to just run off and play. Wrong expectation. Clay was fine and climbed on the step to wave goodbye out the window before I was even at the door. Jaden, on the other hand, wanted as many hugs as he could get out of me. I got out to the van as quickly as I could and drove off so I could let the tears out.

Was I doing the right thing? Will my kids be well-taken care of? Is this still what God wanted me to do?

I knew the answers to those questions but I still had them. I just kept repeating to myself that I know this is what God wants for me and them. I said it but didn't really believe it. God was about to make me believe it.

I got to work plenty early for the new hire orientation which would last all day. It was typical orientation stuff about security, proprietary information and information about the company, and ya know, the usual, be careful where you acknowledge that you work for Alliant Techsystems (ATK) or people might get mad at you. Ya know, stuff everyone encounters, ha ha. Stuff like, people picket the company weekly, usually peacefully but sometimes violently, ya know, regular stuff. Funny stories and a little disturbing. It will continue to make me evaluate the company that I work for. I think this is for the good.

So, here comes the miracle. At lunchtime, my boss takes me on the long route down the cafeteria for lunch and introduces me to the man I will be working closely with. As she introduces me to him, she says, "You will be working on the Ares program with him." It didn't quite hit me. I thought maybe she misspoke.

We walked on to another guy and she says, "You will be working on Ares with him."

We walked on some more and she says, "This is Raquel. She is working on the Ares program."

By this time, I was starting to get it, but I still wanted to ask my boss to make sure. We sat down to lunch and I said, "So, last time we talked I was going to work on an artillerary project. So, now I am going to be doing the Ares project?" Yep, sure enough. That was how my boss communicated it to me. I tried to keep my jaw from hitting the floor but I am not sure if she noticed how amazingly shocked I was. I am still giddy at the realization that I will be doing space work for NASA part-time in Minneapolis. How amazing is that!?!

This is such a miracle! It is an amazing answer to prayer considering I just wrote yesterday that I was praying for a miracle to be doing space work at ATK. This is also amazing confirmation to me that I am where God wants me to. My previous pastor, Mark Batterson, has said many times that frequently God asks us to take a step of faith where we think He is leading us and then God's confirmation will follow. I have never seen God so clearly let me know that I am doing what He wants me to be doing. As hard as this morning was to drop my kids off, God came through for me and reassured me.

Truly an amazing day for me! Lots and lots of thanks and praise going up to Jesus!