My job of 25+ years ended this week. It’s bittersweet. I met my husband while working there. It saw us through the birth of our two children. I gave my notice thirteen years ago, so I could homeschool them. Instead, they counter-offered with a part-time work-from-home opportunity.
Our homeschool journey ended in 2023 when our last child graduated. Around that time, I learned our company was restructuring, and my position would be eliminated. There’s been many ups and downs over the years, but I always knew that God gave me this job. His timing is perfect!
The Early Years
Almost thirty years ago, I applied for a position that I was underqualified to do, but the woman who hired me was willing to take a risk. She mentored me and taught me so many things. She always believed in me and was confident I could achieve far more than I believed I was capable of. She grew my knowledge and skill set, and I excelled under her guidance.
I was the youngest in our office by at least twenty years. My co-workers watched a romance blossom when the phone man came to fix my supervisor’s phone. They attended our wedding and celebrated along with us.
Eventually, I quit that job when we decided to start our family. But five years later, they called me back to temporarily fill in while a co-worker went out on medical leave. Our oldest was getting ready to start preschool, and this temporary job would cover the tuition for his first year.
Temporary turned into part-time, and part-time developed into a full-time position, coinciding with our youngest starting preschool. The Lord had provided a way to cover their tuition at a local Christian school.
Time Passes as Life’s Pages Continue to Turn
Several years passed, and it became evident that I needed to homeschool our children. Life was marching on; our children were growing up, and the job had started to take over our lives. I would pick them up from school and take them back to the office, as I finished up work each day. It was an unhealthy balance that begin to wear on us all.
I gave my notice, not knowing how we would make ends meet, but knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is what God was leading our family to do. A week passed, and my manager called to offer a part time, 100% remote position. This was long before covid, and no one in our company worked from home. Recognizing that God was intervening, we said “yes”.
For eleven years, I homeschooled our children while working part-time at home. My income paid for their homeschool curriculum and the extracurricular things they were interested in doing.
Our son took up basketball and played competitively, dedicating himself to the sport. He continues to enjoy fitness and a healthy lifestyle because of the discipline he developed during those years. Our daughter discovered a love for piano as she excelled in her piano lessons. She’s now a piano teacher, teaching her passion for music to others. Our children had these opportunities to explore their interests because of the job God provided me during our homeschool years.
Over the years, there’s been many ups and downs. All of my original co-workers retired or moved on. Leadership and managers changed. I cycled through several supervisors with this arrangement, thinking each one would decide to end this unique situation, but everything continued without interruption.
2023 - The Year of Changes
The homeschool years ended when our youngest graduated. Several months prior to her graduation, I was informed of restructuring at the corporate level and all part-time, work-from-home positions would be eliminated. I was offered a full-time hybrid position, but I declined.
I requested that I maintain my part-time, work-from-home status until May. I agreed to stay on through the transition of the restructuring, until they found my replacement. That was two years ago.
Perfect Timing
I didn’t expect to continue to be working for two more years. But God did. I also didn’t expect the sense of loss that hit me after our daughter graduated, and the homeschool years came to a close. But God did. And then there was the overwhelming sadness that hit when our son got married and my nest got a little bit quieter. I didn’t expect that either, but God did. Through those big life changes, I still had my job to help keep me busy and give me a sense of purpose. Once again, God provided.
It was the steady thing in my life when everything else around me was changing. God knew I needed that extra time to adjust. His timing is always perfect.
Realizing that I needed something more meaningful to do, I decided to start this Substack publication last summer. I hadn’t written in years, so this was more of an experiment as well as an outlet for me. I started to write weekly articles, and the publication begin to grow. The creative juices started to flow and other ideas of ways I could spend my time began to flood my mind.
Meanwhile, our daughter got engaged, and I begin to mentally prepare for the truly empty nest. At the end of February, I was starting to feel stressed because of so many deadlines coming up with the wedding and trying to churn out weekly articles, while still working. It was all overwhelming.
I was thinking of taking some time off from writing and not post anything until June, once we get past the wedding. But I didn’t have peace about that. I decided to continue to post articles but reduce the frequency, if need be. All the while, God knew that my time was getting ready to be freed up.
Our Steps Are Ordered by the Lord
At the time, I was just taking the next step. But looking back, I can see how my steps were ordered by the Lord. There is no doubt that God gave me this job. He made things happen that shouldn’t have happened. I always knew that it would be clear when the time came for me to move on, because He would shut the door.
Even though this chapter has ended, God has something else in store for the next season of life. I’m looking forward to the next adventure that He has planned!
Life is a journey. We all have a unique story, with ebbs and flows. One chapter ends and another begins. For the believer, there’s an invisible hand writing on the pages of our life.
God doesn’t give us the whole picture. He simply leads us one step at a time. It’s not until we look back that we can see how He directed our steps. Amazing things happen when we allow God to write our story!
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:23-25, KJV)
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With tears I read this after having been on the front seat. Proverbs 31:28 What an Amazing Woman you’ve always been!