Yank, Thud and Shake

The economy hit our family this week.
I got a call from Galen yesterday afternoon.
"They cut five of us, hon."
"Us?" I think. "You mean to say, 'They cut five of THEM', right?"
"Me, and four others. We've been let go."

[Yank.]

Galen continues later that day, "I have two options. Severance package, or a 'redeployment' position in the Sales office." Further details are ellucidated.
Sales? But you were promoted from Sales three years ago. Really? Sales? As in, back on the road, twelve hour days, meeting quotas... that Sales?
"I'm thirty four years old, and I'm back where I started. Where am I going? What am I doing? It's like two steps forward, and three steps back, you know?"

[Thud.]

"It's more than what most people have. It's a scary time to be out of work. If the economy were better, I'd take the severance package and go somewhere else."
If the economy were better, you wouldn't have been let go.
"We have debt, four kids, and a need for continued benefits. It's a steady paycheck. That's more than what most people have right now, hon. Somebody fought to give me this opportunity to stay with this institution. They could have just as easily fired me outright, with no options at all."
True... We still have reasons to praise. It's something. It's something to hang on to while we try to find the ground underneath us again.
I look at Galen's crestfallen face.
I just want you to be happy. I don't want you to be hurting like this. I want you to LOVE going to work. And you LOVE your job where you are. Where you were.
"God has taken care of us through much worse," I say. "We can all make this work. We'll all do what we need to do, and we'll be fine. The same Hand that is sovereign over this is the same Hand that is going to carry us through it."
Maybe we were getting too comfortable in our lives, and God decided it was time to shake things up a bit.

[Shake.]

Shake off your pride, the Lord says. Shake off your self-imposed sense of security. I am the only security you'll ever need. Shake off your ideas of your plans, your successes, your future. I know the plans I have for you. Nothing you have has ever been yours. It's Mine. You have no right to temper tantrums over what I've ordained for you. My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways are not your ways. I have brought you out of bondage. My grace is sufficient for you. Turn to Me, and let Me shake the fruit out of the tree of your lives, and let's see what's really being produced.

Here I am, Lord. Here we are.