Two weeks before Kamille was born, Devin's job at Waste Management as a flow tester began to go down. We were promised 80+ hours a week and then in one week we had zero hours. He wasn't on the schedule anymore. We didn't panic because we had some money saved up and we believed that he would be on the schedule next week. Well three weeks later and a baby in our arms, he was still not working. In those three weeks we filled out 20+ applications and didn't hear back from anyone. Finally we got somewhere. A company called Cameron Oil said they would give Devin a trial with a temp agency. After 3-6 months, if he was doing good, they would hire him on permanently. It was a breath of fresh air. We were going to be okay. Devin would come home for lunch and be covered in oil. He talked about how much he liked learning about the wellheads.
Then came the phone call. After 6 days, Devin's supervisor called him in and told him that he wasn't roughneck enough for the job. What does that even mean??? Because he doesn't swear or go drinking with the guys? He doesn't take a smoking break with them? He's too happy? As you can tell, I was not a happy camper about the situation. We fired up the resume and started filling out applications again.
After a few more weeks, we had hit rock bottom.
Devin worked at the temp agency doing roofing and construction. We saved all the money we could for bills and formula for Kamille. Our fridge was empty and our cupboards were bare. All we had was hamburger in the fridge that my mother-in-law brought up. I would just stare at the hamburger and try to be creative. One night we got a knock at the door. There stood an angel (a friend from church) holding a box of food. A small turkey, potatoes, stuffing, corn, pie, rolls and a few other items were in the box. I waited for our guest to leave before I just cried.
Throughout these past weeks I could see different steps in my mood towards the Lord. First hope. I was hopeful and even confident that Devin would get a job. Then it turned to desperation. After that (I hate to say it) anger. I was so angry. I didn't know why the Lord would allow this to happen to us. What had we done? Where was he? Did he even care? Then when you hit the bottom you feel nothing.
The day before Thanksgiving seemed like we could take one step up out of this hole we were in. Devin got a call from Hiland Crude for an interview. He did awesome. They pretty much offered him the job and are working on a background check. That should take 10 to 14 days. So now we are just waiting. As soon as he accepts the job, we have to move to either Stanley or Tioga. That's about an hour away from where we are now. I feel like I just unpacked the last box from moving last time, but I really don't care. As long as my husband is working and I can be with him, things are going to be great! We are coming up on our one year anniversary (the 20th) and this last year was a hard one. We are hoping that 2015 brings a little more consistency in our lives.
This Thanksgiving we had a lot to be thankful for. We were thankful that Devin's mother brought up boxes of food for us so we weren't stuck with just hamburger. We were thankful that Devin's family could come to us for Thanksgiving and spend time, laughing, watching movies, playing games and also be there for Kamille's baby blessing. We are thankful for our trials, because without them, we wouldn't know how strong we really are.