Blessings Of Denial

I think some country singer once had a song about the blessing of unanswered prayers.  Maybe it was Garth Brooks, come to think of it.  Yesterday I had that same feeling--that I had prayed for something that in my mind's eye seemed like the perfect fit, but with added knowledge that I just received, I was grateful that I didn't get what I asked for.

I applied for two jobs at our local high school.  To me, I seemed like a PERFECT fit for either of them.  I loved being with the HS students, I had worked all year for their success, and I enjoyed the faculty and staff.  I wanted to continue working for these great kids and figured this was an easy decision.

Yesterday I found out that BOTH positions I had tried to get were about to be cut to 20 hours a week--in order to avoid having to get paid benefits, which the district can't afford to pay.  Thanks to Obamacare, workers who are at or close to the typical full time hours (40/week) will be eligible for medical benefits where employers have more than a certain number of employees.  Well, the district is HUGE and therefore, fits the template for these benefit requirements.  But the district is stretched so thin with the monies they currently have with just the students and faculties they currently service, there is no way they can afford to pay additional benefits for the secretaries and student advocates.  Their solution?  Cut those jobs in to 2 parts and make them 20 hours a piece, times two.

This is not a good thing for the kids who really come to rely on "their" advocate.  And it isn't do great for the offices who rely on their secretaries either!  Even our assistant front office secretary, who has been there for years and years, will be cut back to 20 hours a week.  Per new district policy.  No new contracted (read: benefit receiving) positions for classified (read: non-teaching) jobs.

With my new job, there is more than a chance that my hours will only increase, as I would like them to, once my PTA job(s) are finished with this school year.  And with that increase, there is also a chance that once my probationary period of "full-time" hours is over I could qualify for benefits.  [Note to self: I'm still not sure I WANT to work full time, but if I do, I will want to qualify for the benefits for our family.]

So, this delightful friend, who told me about this new change with the district and was really hoping I'd want to come interview again for the same job(s) I interviewed for previously, will be disappointed.  As I have started work elsewhere (she didn't know that) I have come to appreciate that my initial prayers weren't answered.  And that the Lord, in His all-knowing goodness, certainly saw this down the line and put me in a place that was a better fit for the circumstances I didn't even know about yet.

That is a real blessing!