Phoenix Part 3: End of baseball, insurance for two days and a certain Bible Study leader

The 2005 baseball season ended in early September and we went on trying to get sponsors to renew as well as dealing with issues from the past season. In early November, they announced that the 2006 Surprise Fightin' Falcons season was being suspended. Everyone was let go immediately except for myself to pack everything up and ship it to Reno. The Mesa team was suspended too and I packed their stuff up as well. They asked me to move to a few other teams and I looked at one; however, there was a strong pull to stay in Surprise (I was not sure at the time why). I decided I needed to check out new avenues for a "career." I had no idea what I wanted to do but was completely burnt out on baseball!

I had a few interviews in a range of areas. It ranged from a car salesman to a parks and recreation assistant to a ticketing company. I turned down the Car Salesman job. That was not a rode I wanted to head down. Nothing was really working out and then a job with an insurance company was available. The position was to be trained for a Insurance salesmen. My grandfather held the position for many years after WWII and I thought it would be a nice change of pace for me.

I arrived for the interview and there was a typing test. At this point, I should have known something was up. Why on Earth would there care how fast I typed for selling insurance?? Anyway, I went through a few screens and they offered me the job. I accepted and started on Martin Luther King Day 2006. I started at 12:45pm on that Monday. That first day was a little confusing as I was understanding that on the following Wednesday I was to take a test that was needed for insurance sales. It made sense to learn the product you were selling so I started to look things over after work that night and the next morning. I started to question things on that second day there when I learned that I would be an insurance OPERATOR for at LEAST the first year. If you know me, I am NOT someone that sits still easy. I kept going back and forth the rest of the day and at the end of the day, I made my decision. That place was NOT for me. I told the leader of our insurance class and he recommended me to sleep on it. I told him I would but my decision would more than likely not be changing. I drove him and kept going back and forth on if I was doing the decision. It felt as though that God was telling me that I needed to wait and not rush for a job. That seemed a little tougher as money was definitely needed at the time. I will admit I rushed into that job and who knows what would have happened if I would have stayed on there.

In the meantime, I had started to get back involved in a Bible Study at the church I had tried to attend. The leader of the group and I talked on the phone several times about things that had been going on in the group as well as what had been going on with my job situation. I started to attend and thought it was time to really get involved in the group a little more. I started talking to a few people there but never really talked to many people or plan to hang out with any of them. I talked to a guy named Erik and thought he was a good guy to meet up with and chat about life and God and watch plenty of sports. I was randomly talking to the Bible Study leader and she encouraged me to keep coming back even though connections were not being made. I told her I would and went on through my birthday. Erik was also looking to leave the group and did a few weeks before I did. I still talked to the leader of the group after that. There were times Erik and his girlfriend (now wife) myself and the leader would head to dinner and just hang out. It was nice to hang out and relax with friends as the job situation was still in flux.

I emailed a sales director at a hotel we had worked with while at the baseball team. He said he was actually going to be putting in his notice and asked if I would be interested. I, of course, said yea. It seemed like a good fit, especially only looking at 45 hours a week and the pay was better than I ever had previously. I sat down for an interview on a few different days and got offered the job. I felt a HUGE WEIGHT lifted off the shoulders and started to understand what God was talking about with me being patient with His plan. There are so many times that we rush into a decision simply because we THINK it works out for us; however, He KNOWS what is right for us and is teaching us through the process as well.

Right after I started my job at the hotel, I left the bible study I was attending for a few months. I let the leader know and she was not too thrilled with me. I was not growing with the group and was looking for a few different opportunities to get involved with other groups at church. We would stay in contact at church and hang out in groups we were sure.

We were right, in a way...............

Phoenix Part 4: When a phone call from Seattle and a friend's wedding combine to lead to a future.