Things have been moving along nicely. I have been working on my book with my past summer experience as my point of reference. Until recently. On December third, I found out my job was being done away with and I was going to be reassigned to a different position and I was welcome to search for one on my own while HR tried to find a match. I have been applying for jobs and networking and nothing was happening. A couple of days ago, I got my reassignment letter and it was the outcome I feared and dreaded the most. I had been assigned to a job I did 7 years ago (so taking big steps backwards in my career) and back into a high stress quota based environment (I purposely left because I hated what it did to me and my relationships - and now I have children!). After I stopped crying hysterically, I gratefully went to my preplanned therapy session and as time passed and I processed things, I started to be less gloom and doom.
So, what I had thought would be a painful look back into my past summer while writing my book looks like it's going to turn into a process where I will be writing this book and using my SBT (Scriptural Based Thinking) techniques at the same time. On the positive side, the experiences will be fresh and painful and I will totally be connected to my reader while writing. The down side, I had really hoped to have a greater break between trials.
I have heard this quoted by many: You are either going through a trial, just came out of one or are about to enter one. I guess mine has just started. I pray that the good Lord will see fit to give me a much longer break after this trial. At least I know that someday in the future I will be just coming out of this.
I am almost finished with Chapter 3 and will soon start Chapter 4. To celebrate my new season of tribulation I will show you an example of SBT.
Lie: I am doomed. I will completely fail in this job because I lack the skills and I won't be able to handle it.
SBT reframe: I have but to ask and reach out to God and he will help me. Ephesians 3:20 tells me, "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within ME, to accomplish infinitely more than I might ask or think." I believe that is what this is about - God's glory. While I am desperately leaning on him to get me through this trial, I can't take any glory for this book or the message of SBT that he gave me. If I did not have this difficulty at hand, I would surely be tempted to be proud of "my" book and what I was writing. Maybe even forget that it came from God in the first place. God, in his glorious and infinite wisdom, is protecting me and the book he is blessing me with the opportunity to write. If I humble myself under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift me up in honor (1 Peter 5:6). His awesome word goes on to say that, "after I have suffered for a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen me, and he will place me on a firm foundation." (1 Peter 5:10)
So, to close as Peter did in his first book, "my purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God's grace for you. STAND FIRM AND STAND IN THIS GRACE! (1 Peter 5:12, emphasis mine).
