More Tender Mercies

This semester has already been crazy, and I feel like it has only just begun. However, we have had a HUGE blessing recently. I'm not sure what will come of it, but I feel a quiet calm about it all.

A week or so ago, Dave came home and told me that one of his classmates from last semester had called him up to tell him that his old boss asked if he knew of anyone looking for an internship. He said he thought so but had to check, and then he called Dave to see if he would be interested in an internship at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory. For those of you who are not familiar with this company, it's a really great company, and it's a really big deal to get an internship with them. Dave applied unsuccessfully for three last semester; and they had no problem not only turning him down but also informing him that he was not qualified and their search would remain open. What a slap in the face! But they have the reputation and organization that allows them to be that picky. Basically, if they hire Dave as an intern, he has a guaranteed job when he graduates. They'll even pay for his graduate degree when he goes back to get it.

So, he had a phone interview on Thursday morning. I laughed when he told me that the question that threw him for a loop was when they asked him what his GPA was and what that said about him. He said, "Um -- good." I said, "What? Did you really say, 'Good'?" He said, "Well, I didn't know what to say. I think I rambled on about how I try to be perfect but I don't always make it but still manage to do pretty well." I told him I think they were looking for his work ethic, and that would have been a good time to mention that he has a family, new twins, and still manages to pull a pretty fantastic GPA for the Engineering field. But he didn't mention any of that. What had us a little worried is that he really did not have all of the skills they were looking for, and that is what had thrown him over into the "reject" pile so many times in the past. Still, they called him on Friday afternoon and asked if he can come in on Tuesday for a second interview.

When he answered the phone, we had just been sitting on the sofa talking and were about to start dinner. I knew immediately from the tone of his voice and the conversation that they wanted him to come in. I didn't realize how tense I was feeling about it until I suddenly broke out in tears when I heard his conversation. Relief. That's all I can say to describe it. I've been wondering where he would find an internship, if it would mean me being alone with the babies all summer or us trying to move our family to who knows where. And I was really getting nervous about job opportunities in general, since more than one of our friends are looking for work right now. My tears were soon followed by some sincere prayers of thanks and hope. I know he doesn't have the job yet; but I feel very peaceful and hopeful that this is going exactly where we have hoped and prayed it would. And that feeling of peace alone is a tender mercy worthy of documentation right now. Sometimes, you have to take what you can get. And more often than not, it's the tender mercies along the way that make up the journey, not the final destination.