Hope Follows Rejection

  The day after I learned of yet another lost store manager position, while the sting of rejection was still fresh...I received an email.  The email was from Cabelas; a company high on my list of dream places to work.  The email asked for me to update my profile and resume on their employment website.  This was actually quite strange.  I had never received an email from Cabelas despite applying for numerous positions in the past.  A common activity I had practiced over the years was to apply to other companies at the same time I felt I was promote-able within Walmart.  My thinking, of course, was that you are always the most marketable when you are seeking a promotion.  I love to hunt and fish and I felt that if I was going to work in retail why not sell the stuff I love?  Instead of selling toothpaste and toilet paper I'd dream of selling over/under shotguns and camouflage.  So...I tested the waters when I could.  Through these previous attempts, I received zero interest from other companies.   

  Ironically, while I was pursuing store manager positions with Walmart it did not occur to me to apply for positions with other companies.  I guess I had just written the other companies off and realized my path with Walmart.  

  God has a great sense of humor when he wants your attention, or so it seems, and as I said before--I received this email from Cabelas the day after another Walmart rejection.  I followed the link to update my resume with Cableas and completed updating my profile.  The next day my phone rang and an HR representative from the greatest hunting and fishing retailer asked if I would be available for a phone interview the following week for a position in Omaha, Nebraska. Despite wanting to schedule the interview smack dab in the middle of my annual dove hunting trip, I excitedly accepted the appointment.  

  The interview conveniently fell between the morning hunt and the afternoon hunt.  It apparently went well because they asked me to drive to Omaha for another interview.  I now had three days  to seek God's will and I spent that time praying like I had never prayed before.  The move would sever ties with a great company and rip my family, yet again, out of a life they had grown to love.  It was a big decision and I wanted God's input.  After three days of praying, God responded:

"It matters little to Me where you work...as long as it draws you closer to Me" 

 In God's perfect wisdom, the only way I could survive the next 8 months was to draw closer to God than ever before.  I drove to Cabelas with images of whitetails and turkeys around every corner and the possibility of a dream come true.  They offered me a job on the spot, making more money in an environment that appealed to the core of my inner redneck.  I asked for the weekend to make my decision and committed to God that no matter what happened, I would draw closer to Him.  On Monday I accepted the position and two weeks later I was nestled in an Omaha hotel excited for my first day of work to begin.