First I need to rewind and give some background details. I've been working at a printing press for close to a year now. I started there right after losing my old job. I took the opportunity of losing my old job to reevaluate where I was and where I want to be. I've had the goal of coaching volleyball at the collegiate level for some time now. I decided to put my energy into getting a college coaching job. I started to work at the printing press to pay the bills until I could get hired. I started applying at a few schools that I felt I might have a shot at, and that I could afford to work at. As it turned out the best I got was a very nice letter with some advice on how to get into coaching. Much more common was no response at all. So I decided to continue volunteering with the teams at BYU, and I'd stay at the printing press. Partway through the men's volleyball season, around March I believe, I got switched to the night shift on a temporary basis. This kept me from attending practices, so the best place for me to learn coaching was now gone.
The temporary nature of the switch to night shift seemed to take on permanent attributes, so I decided to start looking for a new job that would still pay the bills and allow me to go to practices. After some time, I started to feel the strain of looking for a new job. I was getting home at 2 AM, and waking up late. I wasn't really able to really look, and Mrs. Minivann has the car during the day to get to her job. I started to get frustrated. I have the place where I am (a jobI don't like), the place I would like to be (a job that I like, and allows me to get to practice), and this condition where getting from point A to point B is extremely unlikely.
I think that the frustration was starting to show, because my Bishop took some opportunities to talk to me about what was going on. I explained how I was trying to get the new job, but I wasn't really able to make a real effort to get the new job. I think that it must have weighed on his mind a bit. What happened next is where things get crazy.
I think there are truly few times in life when the Lord has something He wants you to do that just makes no sense. I'm sure Gideon and his men were aware of how crazy they were to do those strange things, but they defeated a vastly superior (in terms of numbers) army. I'm sure Nephi was aware that the Spirit telling him to kill Laban was crazy (at least as far as the Spirit commanding you to break a commandment). I would imagine that a Bishop will dispense a great deal of advice during time. I would imagine that in almost all cases the advice is logical and in some regards predictable. What followed was very unexpected. The Bishop pulled me aside and advised me to think about just quitting. He gave some reasons, and asked me to think about it. I think this is one of those times when the Lord asks me to do something crazy. Mention had been made of quitting in some of my conversations with Mrs. Minivann, but we never really considered it. I'm not the kind of guy that leaves one job without another one lined up. It's one of those odd times where the Bishop asked me to think about doing something that he will very likely never suggest to anyone else.
So when I got home from talking to the Bishop I told Mrs. Minivann about the conversation. She almost immediately said to do it. I took some time in the scriptures and on my knees. Not long after that I had my answer, and I put in my 2 weeks notice the next day. I can't say that I really was 100% aware of the stress I was working under for the past few months, but it lifted as soon as I put in my notice. I've actually had a pretty enjoyable time at work the last few days. Now I've got 3 more days, and I join the ranks of the unemployed. At least I'll be able to put in a good effort to finding a new job now. I don't think it will take long, but I've been wrong in the past.
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