Out of a job... (Originally posted November 2, 2008)

Where to begin?

At the beginning, I suppose. I have worked in child care for eight years, and have worked with kids for almost ten. At times, it has been an extremely rewarding experience. Other times, of course, it has been trying to say the least. My most recent position was as lead school age teacher and night manager at Little Learners Child Development Center. Except for my first trip into the world of childcare, this had been the best. Then, things started to change. I could go, piece by piece, into the things that were wrong about that place; the people, the issues, the ideals...but all that would lead to are things said that don't need to be aired out on a blogspace. But it all leads up to the simple fact that my character was called into question when there was no reason for it to be.

I consider myself to have pretty thick skin. In fact, if I didn't, I wouldn't have lasted nearly as long as I did at Little Learners. But finally, the master of pushing until she finally gets pushed back pushed one too many of my buttons. She had won; I didn't want to work for her anymore. So after talking it over with my wonderful bride-to-be, I made up my mind and gave notice.

Now here's the thing. In today's day and age, EVERYONE is replaceable. There isn't a single job that is out there that you do that someone else can't come in and do too. As soon as you recognize that you are replaceable, then I think you honestly do your job better or just give up. In this case, I gave up. I didn't want to because never in my life have I met an employer who didn't deserve to "win" the game like this one didn't. Is she a horrible person? No. No one, at their core is a horrible person. Is she a horrible manager of people? Well, yeah. Pretty horrible. But that doesn't matter. You have to realize that in this world, there are employers and employees. And employees, especially in the child care field are not exactly in short supply. One person leaves, another can step in and take their place. Is it a hassle to have to continually hire and fire? Yes, I think it is. But then again, in the long run, the employer wins out. They always will. So you have to get past that point.

So in the end, I made a decision which in the long run, will make me happier, will make my wife happier and make all those who come in to contact with me happier because for the time being, I don't have to work at a job that doesn't want me there.

It's funny, because in that line of work, it is relatively easy to come down hard on the person running the show. With information you have, with things that you've seen, taken part of, or at the very least know to have happened, it would be so easy to be vindictive and take a parting shot at those who took shots at you every chance they had. Then the Big Man steps in. I was seething from the moment I decided to turn in my notice until the day I did. Then, on the drive to work that day, one of my favorite praise songs came on and I was compelled to turn up the volume, so I could actually LISTEN to the words; so that I could follow the logic behind the song. By the time I had gotten to work that day, every ounce of anger had completely melted away. I had taken the time to put myself into the shoes of EVERYONE else and reminded myself that everyone makes mistakes and everyone has issues that I don't know about...or in some cases, have a peripheral view of and know enough that something isn't completely right. And I can't do anything about some of those things except continue to pray and take it out of my hands and put it into God's. I've done that and I couldn't be happier. I don't want the responsibility of making bad decisions when I can just listen to Him and do what He wants me to do. And He didn't want me there anymore, currying favor from demons instead of praising His name and asking for His help.

I know to some of you this probably sounds like a load of bull, and I'm willing to hear you say that. But I stand by all of it. I haven't fallen into those around me who judged me unfairly by judging them or sending others their way to judge their sins and mistakes. That is on them to fix, and I pray that they find the strength to admit their faults and take His guidance to find a way to fix them.

In closing, "Ten Years of Service" doesn't translate to "Ten Years of Excellent Service" and Ten Years of doing things one way doesn't mean the next ten should be done that way. It isn't always right, no matter if you think it does.