I'm feeling very blessed these days. I know that we don't know what tomorrow brings but what I have learned over the years is that God is good and His mercies endure forever.
I've already shared almost dying and almost losing Sam (in utero). But as I hear about friends left and right losing their jobs, I hope to encourage people with our story...
Both Chang and I experienced job losses. For me, I was working at a dot bomb--high flying Commerce One. The company literally imploded and I was the first to be cut on my team. My boss' reasoning was LIFO (last in, first out). I accepted my fate and severance package, but thought the timing kind of sucked. Chang and I just got engaged six weeks before so I needed to find a job quickly in order to help pay for the wedding.
However, I finally had the time to think about the wedding and my female ego got the best of me. I learned calligraphy and hand addressed our invitations and place cards. I handmade a lot of stuff for the gift table, place settings, and bridal party gifts. I created tons of spreadsheets (always fun for me!). It was a blessing in disguise because by the time our wedding rolled around, I felt very prepared and was able to just enjoy the day (despite running out of gas on the way to the salon--but that is a story for another day).
And just as my severance ran dry, I got a new job. I feel that God provided for me a once in a lifetime chance to enjoy a once in a lifetime event. I had so much fun prepping for my wedding that I helped coordinate a couple friends' weddings afterwards and even considered going into it professionally.
I've already shared almost dying and almost losing Sam (in utero). But as I hear about friends left and right losing their jobs, I hope to encourage people with our story...
Both Chang and I experienced job losses. For me, I was working at a dot bomb--high flying Commerce One. The company literally imploded and I was the first to be cut on my team. My boss' reasoning was LIFO (last in, first out). I accepted my fate and severance package, but thought the timing kind of sucked. Chang and I just got engaged six weeks before so I needed to find a job quickly in order to help pay for the wedding.
However, I finally had the time to think about the wedding and my female ego got the best of me. I learned calligraphy and hand addressed our invitations and place cards. I handmade a lot of stuff for the gift table, place settings, and bridal party gifts. I created tons of spreadsheets (always fun for me!). It was a blessing in disguise because by the time our wedding rolled around, I felt very prepared and was able to just enjoy the day (despite running out of gas on the way to the salon--but that is a story for another day).
And just as my severance ran dry, I got a new job. I feel that God provided for me a once in a lifetime chance to enjoy a once in a lifetime event. I had so much fun prepping for my wedding that I helped coordinate a couple friends' weddings afterwards and even considered going into it professionally.
Chang was miserable at his old firm up in the bay area. Almost daily he had run-ins with the head of his department. At first, I didn't understand how dire the situation was. But then the boss sent Chang a nasty email the day we left on our honeymoon about how disappointed he was in Chang. It made me disgusted. Fed up, Chang quietly interviewed at a firm in LA but turned down the offer because neither of us really wanted to move down to LA at that point. He decided to keep working at his firm and tried to change his attitude.
Then at his year end review in 2003, the firm decided to let him go. I was so upset because I was 36 weeks pregnant with Joey at the time! How could they do that to us, I thought! Well, it turned out to be a blessing. Chang and I were able to enjoy the first four months of our first baby's life together at home. We had so much fun and just soaked in the wonder and awe of having a baby. Then Chang got in touch with the LA firm again and they offered him the job again. So within 6 weeks time, we sold our condo and moved down to LA. And every day, Chang comes home so happy with his "new" firm and his co-workers. He no longer comes home grumpy and griping.
So both experiences didn't make sense at the time, but as we went through the days of being laid-off, it turned out to be a wonderful time to enjoy what was going on in our lives.
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