bragging rights

i'm not really one to boast & brag, but if you'll allow me a few minutes, i'd like to do just that.

today's subject: my hubby.

the summer leading up to eli's birth {2011} my hubby began a job search so that i would be able to quit my job to stay home. 

his job search concluded in august of this year when he landed a position as a sports reporter for our local paper. 

yes, that's 15 months of searching & praying for a full time job.

120 job applications (no exaggeration, he kept track).

tireless hours of writing resumes and combing indeed.com.

he literally applied for any position he was even remotely qualified for.

people, he applied to be a 911 operator!

if you know my husband, you know this would've been an epic fail!

the man has to leave the room at the mention of blood or guts. 

he gags when he hears the cat throwing up. 

he would need the paramedics to come to the 911 dispatch office if he received a call from someone in a real emergency because he'd be passed on the floor with the first "help me, i've been stabbed & there's blood gushing everywhere!"

there weren't too many jobs i would discourage him from being hopeful about.

this one, though, i suggested might be best on the decline list.

bless his heart, he was so willing to do anything so that i could live out my dream of being a stay at home mom.

during those 15 months, we had no idea what God had in store for us, but we knew to just trust Him. 

we knew His timing would be perfect.

 and right when we needed it, he opened the door for a job that mike would describe as one of his dream jobs. 

{first being full time children's ministry director, of course. still waiting on that prayer to be answered!}

here is someone who holds no degree in journalism, has never taken a journalism class, with limited journalism experience having been offered a job as a sports reporter.

recent graduates of major universities who have received rewards & literary honors, who are willing to move to remote parts of the country, cannot find jobs, and yet, my husband has been given the opportunity to do something that he loves.
hang out at sporting events & write about them. 

that, my friends, is an only God thing!

to hear him say that he loves his job, makes my heart smile.

to think that he might've had to actually take one of the hundred plus jobs he applied for, only to be miserable, would've broken my heart.

recently, he was given the opportunity to work on a feature story that ended up being published as a front page article.
he put so much time & heart into this article & tonight i finally got to read it.
the topic of this article was certainly not an easy one to write about. 
a local high school quarterback whose father committed suicide.
that's heavy stuff!
he did an amazing job!
{you'll have to read it for yourself to see!}
 the feedback he's gotten has been remarkable & i'm just so proud!
 i love his ability to connect with people on the most genuine level.
that he cares deeply & honestly.
that he is sensitive, & therefore, people's needs grip him at the heart.
God has gifted him in the area of relationships like no one else i know & He is allowing mike to use this gift as a sports reporter for the evening sun. 

i'm so beyond thankful that once again God has provided for us & provided beyond what we could have ever asked or imagined.