Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
After 21 years, I started a new job last Wednesday. For about the past year, I’ve been praying for an opportunity to work with Dee again – and when one opened up in early March, I went for it.
The weeks following my resignation day were even more busy and emotional than expected. Having 21 years of emails to comb through is a lot, but it’s amazing how quickly you can delete thousands of emails regarding a product that you will never work with again. Personal emails, on the other hand, took the full month of March to get through. I read each one word for word – from all the wedding announcements, to birth announcements, to the supportive emails over the death of a loved one, to all the farewell emails on a colleague’s (friend’s) last day. The “FZ, I’m alive!” email from September 12, 2001 brought another tear as I forwarded it to my personal email address. I even uncovered the September 14, 1998 email on my first day from my manager at the time welcoming me (he even threw in a “Let’s Go Mets!” at the end).
I also got to thinking about how quickly I almost left. When I decided to make the jump into the technical world of software implementation consulting way back in 1998, I really had no idea what I was in for. A mere couple months after I started, I knew I was in way over my head and on the brink of departure. But instead of letting me sink, a colleague (who would later become my wife) decided to take the time to explain the world of database joins to me, and incredibly the light-bulb finally clicked on. I have thought about that moment often – how close I was to moving on so quickly…and all the wonderful people across the globe I never would have met. It makes me realize how much a life can be changed, simply by a person caring enough to take just a few minutes out of their day to help someone who is struggling.
And so a new chapter begins. As in all things, I pray for the Lord’s blessing over it, and look forward to the journey ahead. I’ll keep you posted. :)