Continuing my life journey and how I was led, this section describes our jobs, lessons learned, and our own home as Alex and I continued our life in the US. It is another part of an upcoming book or website section entitled Divinely Led.
Part 3: Life and Work in the USA
Jobs, Lessons, and Our Own Home
Alex’s first job with the church as a faculty assistant was to be for just one year but it lasted for three and half years. At that time, in 1979, a job offer unexpectedly came from another department to assist in the development of youth materials. This seemed like a nice growth opportunity, so after prayer and careful consideration, he accepted.
There was a lot of work and long hours, but it was creative and enjoyable to produce materials that could help the young people in the church. I was able to assist on an on-call basis, but it was more like a full-time job with overtime. We worked together for about a year on an ambitious pilot program to integrate pre-teen youth into the church by providing study materials, as well as a program for involvement in local church congregations.
However, when the program was submitted for top-level approval, a part of it was rejected, and a part was approved, but transferred to the Publishing Department. So our jobs came to a rather abrupt end. In the short time that we were praying about and contemplating what to do next, the idea of going to Switzerland came up. Alex was born there and could get a Swiss passport. Yet, this was not meant to be. We were both offered jobs in the Mail Processing Center and thus felt guided to stay longer. This was in 1980, and we worked for the same department till 1993, when we clearly felt led to leave. Our jobs were running out and new doors began to open.
Those thirteen years were productive, but not always easy. As is normal in life, there were both joys and trials, but God was always there. We were helped through the challenges and learned important lessons as we went along. These included learning to accept people with all their foibles and hypocrisies and looking to and trusting God.
Being at the church headquarters somehow brought the initial expectation that everyone was nearly perfect and this place was as close to the Kingdom of God as we would get on the earth. But alas, human nature and egos were still alive and well, and people would still at times act thoughtlessly and hurt one another. In addition, perceived truth and the intellectual pursuit thereof would often supersede love. As a result, some people became disillusioned and left, rather than realizing that their expectations were unrealistic and accepting reality instead.
I also learned to discern truth from error, no matter who the author or speaker was. Much of what was taught resonated with me at the time, but some things did not. Some charismatic speakers would wax eloquent, but promote their own ideas – some plausible, some less so. We all see truth through our own perspective, background, culture and education, as well as individual inspiration. The Bible exhorts to prove all things and to cling to what is good. Yet, some in the church, once becoming personally convinced that what was taught was the truth, assumed that they could then just simply trust all that was said or written – and in a certain way, that’s what they were expected to do. Those who became too vocal about their disagreements would soon find themselves on the outside.
During my part-time studies at the college for a Diploma of Biblical Studies, I learned that the Bible was not simply God-breathed and infallible, as we were taught in the local church. While certainly inspired, it was also a human collection and compilation of various documents of different genres, many not to be applied literally, not strictly historical, and needing discernment as to their interpretation and real meaning. This discovery was disorienting and faith-testing, and it took time to work through the mental and spiritual dissonance. This is what many students found hard and some just gave up their faith.
After about eight years, we were blessed with our own home. It stretched us financially, but we were blessed to be able to later refinance at a lower interest rate. Over the years, the home significantly increased in value. It was indeed a gift and a miracle – and another example of guidance.
A couple roughly our age found the house, liked it, but had just learned that they were expecting a baby, so they were unable to financially commit to it. They were led to call Alex and ask if we might be interested. It was an unexpected opportunity and something we never thought would be possible. However, after seeing it, praying about it, and looking at our finances, as well as getting some counsel, it seemed like a wise move. All worked out well with getting a loan, and as soon as we had the keys – even before we moved it – I went to spend time in the private backyard while Alex attended a second church service that day.
We enjoyed this home for about eight years, bought some nice furniture and painted it inside during long weekends. We had a professional painter do the outside. It was well located not far from work, in a good neighborhood, had nice streets to take walks in, and was also close to the San Gabriel mountains for our monthly drives to get away for a break. Soon after moving in, we had the opportunity to buy a lovely Shetland sheep dog that we enjoyed. We had good neighbors, opportunities to buy healthy food at a nearby health food store and the farmers’ market, and other blessings. At work, we had opportunities for Bible research in between routine work of analyzing and writing reports about people’s mail responses to the activities of the church. Once a year, we had travel opportunities to convention sites, which sometimes included visiting parents or relatives.
Again, looking back, I am sure that our steps were guided in both minor and major decisions, as we continued to maintain our spiritual priorities on a daily basis. There were the inevitable ups and downs of life, but overall, we were very blessed.
For other information on divine leading, see Spirit Helpers and Guides
Here is a short reflection on being divinely led.