This page was contributed by Jeff, Phil’s good friend and CHRP brother.

They Say…

They say “keep your nose to the grindstone and be on time you will have a job for life”.

That’s just what I did. I started my career, worked hard at it, and started moving up ladder.

In the first couple of years I got married to my beautiful wife Keri. Eight years later we had our first child and two years after that we had our second child. Life was good.

Around the birth of our second child I started my new job for better pay, better benefits, and better work environment. We had it all, the house in the nice neighborhood, the good job with benefits, and a wonderful family with the dog and cat.

I was at the second job for almost ten years when I received a call. It was my boss. He told me that it was not personal, it’s just business. I told him that he was making a mistake, I was one of his best workers, and I did nothing wrong. He told me that his hands were tied and he needed to let me go.

I called my wife Keri and told her what has happened. I told her not to worry that I will be able to find a new job within a weekend. It’s been almost a year now and I still have not found a job.

Over the course of this last year I have had experienced every emotion sometimes two or three at a time. I went from being confused to being angry to being sad all at the same time. Most of the time it seemed to take a lot of effort just to get going.

Throughout the year even my relationship with God was challenged. In the beginning I would pray and ask Him to please help me find a job quickly. Then months later my praying was more demanding telling Him O.K. now you will get me a job! People around me told me He works on his own schedule and I’m not in the driver’s seat. I was so frustrated that I didn’t see all of the blessings around me.

Being unemployed gave me a lot of home time. I now have a new role where I can help out around the house and taking care of my children was a big part of that. I now have a better relationship with my girls it’s not only a father daughter relationship but it’s also on a personal level. I also help out with a church group called Gleaners for the Lord, we go to farms and pick vegetables and bring them around to the food pantries and to shelters as needed. Helping with The Gleaners has impacted me somehow; my heart seems to want to burst when I help them.

I now have learned that I need to give my problems to Him, and to let go. He will be there with me and to walk with me down that path. I’m still learning every day to be patient. I know with Him I can move mountains.

“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 17:20