Yesterday, I went out into the almost 100 degree heat, despite my asthma, to interview with a potential client. After my writing stint with Lockheed Martin ended, I'm finding it hard to consider going back to working a non-writing job. While some tell me to take whatever job I can find, as a Christian, I have faith that God will find me the kind of job I desire – because he did before. Lockheed Martin was just the beginning, like a trainer course. And I've decided that I'm just not going to settle anymore. I've done my time working menial jobs and I'm getting too old to do work that I'm not passionate about. I'm well aware of the economy, but I'm also well aware of God's power to bring me what my heart desires, as long as I focus on him. This is affirmed in Psalm 37:4 which states “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
So, I get to the site of the client - a restaurant in Georgetown, and the guy I'm supposed to interview with isn't there. The maitre de tells me he doesn't expect him in and I am thinking WTF? I was a bit perturbed, but instead of acting pissy, I ask the guy where the closest copy shop was, and decided that I would find the place, make copies of writing samples from my portfolio (my only copy), and call later to reschedule.
So, before I make the trek to the FedEx store to make copies, I get something to eat so I don't pass out on the way. While I'm chowing down I get a call from a 202 number I don't recognize. I expect the caller to be another online recruiter trying to get me to apply for an insurance sales position, but it turns out to be the man I was to meet with. He's apologetic and professional and asks if I am still in the area and able to come in to meet with him. I tell him yes, finish up my lunch and head over to the restaurant. After a 30 minute interview, he tells me he'd like for me to write a press release about a recent political issue he is having with the DC Historic Board, and if he likes it, he will bring me on. Sweet! The lesson: never make assumptions, because you truly can make an ass of yourself. I often hear people spout this wisdom, but rarely do I see people actually living by it.
In this particular case, the expression was head on. After getting home, I read the email my interviewer had sent me and discovered that I had read it wrong the first time. For some reason still unknown to me, I thought the email listed that interviews were being conducted between 1-3 pm. Turned out it interviews were being conducted at 3pm, as stated in the original email. Had I gotten pissy or even politely asked my interviewer why he hadn’t been there at 2:45 pm when I showed up, I would have looked like an ass.
The experience taught me another thing: don't rush, because it only leads to mistakes. I guess that is why God decrees it in Phillipians 4:6 that states "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." And the thing is, I normally live by this. I am a chronic rusher, and have learned to quote this scripture to myself when I find myself rushing. I obviously didn’t' this time because I apparently rushed through reading the original email. If I hadn't rushed through it, I would have known that the interviews began at 3pm, and simply waited the 15 minutes for my interviewer to show up. I would have also gotten the added delight of basking in the presence of the eye candy that was the maître de - and let me tell you, he was an Italian sight for sore eyes.
So, another day, another lesson - or two in this case. I don't know if it is my father's death or something else, but I've been freelancing for more than 8 years and I've never made the mistakes I've been making lately. It's frustrating, but I sincerely believe that it must be God preparing me for something bigger and better. He's allowing me to make these mistakes now, so that when the time comes to bless me with my heart's desire - becoming a best-selling novelist and children's author, where there will be no room for mistakes - I will have my stuff together Then I will ride into the sunset basking in the wonderful joy of publishing success. Can I get an amen?
