Somebody Up There Cares

 

 

 

 

Last year I was still living in South Texas (San Marcos). I had just received word that the place where I worked was going to be closing up operations at it's San Marcos facility.  

I am, by nature, a believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason. In a recovery program that I  am involved with, this can be encapsulated by a quote from one of the stories by a fellow adherent to the program:

"And acceptance is the answer to all my problems. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation - some fact of my life - unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake. Unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy." 

 

The ultimate result was that I realized there was a reason for this upcoming layoff, at least as far as it concerned me. You see: I lived in San Marcos for over 35 years. I had originally moved there to go to the local university and ended up getting jobs in the community over that period of time. The final job, the one in which I was due to be laid off, had been my sole purpose for staying in the area. In December of 2024, I had 30 years at this job.

During that period I had lost most of my family. My maternal grandfather had passed away in 1979, when I was still a child, but both my parents and my maternal grandmother were still alive before I moved to San Marcos. My maternal grandmother had passed in 2006. When my mother passed away in 2011, and my sister and father were still alive, I considered packing up and moving back home to help. But I didn't. I had a job. Really, that was the main motivation. 

After my father passed in 2019, and it was just me and my sister left in the family, it again occurred to me that I ought to move, because it was a 300 mile distance between the two of us, and we both approaching our 60's. But once again, that old "I have a job" argument kept me from doing so. 

So, when in August of 2024, when the company informed us that the San Marcos location was going to be closed, I had a decision to make. The company offered each and every employee the opportunity to relocate to one of the other facilities. One of them was in Auburn, Al and one was in Florence, KY. 

But I had lived almost all of my life in Texas. I had no desire to relocate to either place, primarily because I had grown entrenched in my native Texas. Auburn would have increased the separation from my sister by 500 more miles, and Florence would have increased it by about 800 more miles. I almost immediately decided this was what I would call a "God moment".

I reasoned that God was basically saying "So you won't move because you have a job? Fine. Now you have no job. Move". I called my sister, with whom I had been in touch with more or less on a frequent basis, and asked her if I could move in with her. She expressed a happiness that I was going to be, now, only a few feet from her, as opposed to that 300 miles.

Now, I don't believe that God closed that plant just so I would move. But I do believe, wholeheartedly, that God used that situation for the ultimate purpose it served for me (and also for my sister), to wit, our being near each other instead of that long distance separation. In our 20's our relationship was sometimes a little contentious, but 40 years had mellowed us both. And now, it seems that maybe God knew a little bit more about what was good for me than I did.  

Sometimes inspiration comes from avenues that you least expect. I moved in February of 2025. It has been good to have someone nearby that I can confide in whenever the need strikes, rather than wait until it is convenient for both of us to call by telephone, which is at the very least, a little impersonal.  While having a spiritual advisor, whom I choose to call God, can be helpful, I find that keeping close to the ones you love on the terrestrial plane to be a far better situation than long distance phone calls. 

This journey that I am beginning will be far better with having a companion I can communicate with, than it would be if I were entirely relying on just a rapport with that spiritual advisor, who, although some may say actually "talks" to them, is not so nearly as comforting as hearing a real voice. I will still put a lot of emphasis on maintaining that spiritual relationship, however.

May your spiritual journey be fruitful.

Quiggy