Out of the blue.

Or, when good things happen to people at their wits' end.

Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash

Every once and a while I’ll get wonderful news out of the blue that renews my faith in God’s loving providence. This month I’ve experienced several of these unexpected moments of grace; “God incidents” that have reminded me that Jesus is not some distant, unapproachable, impersonal force. The Lord is named Emmanuel, “The God who is with us.” (cf. Matthew 1:23) He is intensely interested in each one of us, in every single little detail of our lives.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7)

But, honestly, when it came to my work situation, I was feeling at my wits’ end. I began to doubt if I would ever discover God’s plan for my life. I love freelance writing, but I still haven’t found a way to make ends meet from my creative work. Ever since my previous day job in the Biological Anthropology Lab at the American Museum of Natural History came to an abrupt end at the beginning of the Covid lockdowns, I’ve struggled to find new opportunities in the museum field.

I am a museum nerd, through and through. Whether it’s working with artifacts in the collections, cleaning and preparing specimens in the lab, or engaging with visitors as part of public outreach, I love everything about the museum life. But after four years of sending out resumes with no luck, I’d begun to think that my time as a museum professional was behind me.

Then, the unexpected happened.

Earlier this month I received an email out of the blue from the Raynham Hall Museum, a historic house and Revolutionary War museum in my hometown of Oyster Bay, New York. They wanted to interview me for a job!

I was stunned. I must have applied for a position at Raynham Hall nearly two years ago. Apparently they had held on to my resume all this time! Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity and about a week after my interview, I received the news that I got the job!

Photo by Jingda Chen on Unsplash

Next week I start training for my new role as an educator and tour guide. It’s a part time position and I’ll mostly be working on the weekends, leaving me plenty of time to pursue my writing endeavors.

My new supervisors and coworkers have already been so kind and welcoming. It feels great to be back among fellow museum people! They understand exactly where I’m coming from and are completely supportive of my career goals and of my desire to return to school at some point to pursue graduate studies. (More on that in a future post.) I believe this is only the beginning of an exciting new phase in my career.

I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to all the new subscribers. Thank you so much for supporting me and my creative work. I’ll be sure to keep you updated about all my future adventures in writing, podcasting, and museum work.

Until next time, God bless, and keep reading!

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!