The Other Side of the Valley

Life has changed drastically for me and my family in the past ninety days. Back in April, God called me to resign from my previous job and start looking for a new one. As we got closer and closer to the end of my contract--June 29th--my faith was tested further and further. I knew in my heart that God wouldn’t give me anything I couldn’t bear, but my head was starting to panic.

I am happy to say that God has taken care of me. Around May 15th, God provided a job opportunity with a start date of August 9th. I was able to save enough vacation time from my previous job to make up the missed month of work. 

My new job is with a different school system that I have been trying to get into for years. However, it is a position that I would never have considered without God’s guidance. Had I waited until I found another job, I would have passed this one over. There were several aspects of the position that I wasn’t anticipating, but I am learning that God knew what He was doing. While these aspects haven’t disappeared after working in the position for the past six weeks, it is much closer to what I was looking for than I originally thought and provides more opportunities to move forward than I previously had.

In hindsight, I realized God answered my prayers in His way. Had I held out for the answer to prayer the way I expected it to work out, I would have missed what He had for me. 

My supervisor is a fellow believer that attends PC3, and the team I work with have welcomed me and helped me feel at home. My new position holds its own challenges each day, but I can’t explain how comforting it is to know that God has placed me here. I am relying on Him to use me in the way He sees fit. This entire experience has reminded me how important it is to lean on Him and trust His way. It might not always make sense to me, but I know beyond a doubt that He will take care of me.

I hope this is encouraging to someone. Having gone through the valley, I can't say that it was easy, but it was worth it to see what God was preparing me for.

Alan McNaughton

Alan is has served on the video team as a Director and Camera-op for several years. He serves along side of his daughter, Thia (we call her Ali), on Sundays. Alan brings a fun energy to our team. He models a healthy balance of humility and confidence in the way he leads, not only within our team, but with his family and in his career in school administration as well. This post is an update from Alan’s previous post, which can be found here. – The Learning Together Team