MIRACLES, PART II

Long ago and far away (more than 20 years ago now) Eternal Optimist was very unhappy. He worked for a very large business in a very big city and hardly ever saw his wife and 3 small children awake. He left in the morning when it was dark and came home in the evening when it was very dark. He kissed them all as they slept.

The business started having some financial problems. Instead of dealing with them honestly, the business started laying off newly hired people, telling them that they were inadequate and had to be let go. These folks thought their lives had ended, and came to talk with EO, oftentimes in tears.

EO, though safe from being let go, decided he'd had enough of the large business. Mrs. EO had taken him earlier that year to the Emergency Room with symptoms of a heart attack. Four hours later the doctors concluded EO had an ulcer that was duplicating heart attack symptoms. They gave him some ulcer medicine and it worked.

EO and Mrs. EO had been praying a lot. He and Mrs. EO had been having a difficult time, growing further and further apart. Both kept coming to the same conclusion: EO should just quit his job with the big firm. Quit, without a new job. Quit, and move to a lovely town in the South that had suddenly come to our attention for a variety of reasons, all of which boiled down to God's leading.

So EO obeyed God, not knowing where this was heading. A number of friends inquired about the medication he was taking, wondering if it should be changed, perhaps to something that would regulate his brain chemicals. Effective December 31, 20 + years ago, EO quit his well-paying job.

Not long after quitting his job, EO was forced by his financial circumstances to obtain peanut butter and government cheese from his church, an experience that made him soft-hearted toward unemployed people who need food. While EO was able to earn enough income, here and there, to pay the mortgage, food was tight.

Mr. and Mrs. EO put their house up for sale, on their own, in the worst housing slump in a generation, and sold it for their list price, in three weeks, to the first person who had looked at it. The buyer's appraisal came back $25,000 short. The buyer's mom put up the $25,000. The deal went through.

By March EO and Mrs. EO, with 3 children, had closed on the house and moved to the South. Still with no job. We paid off all our debts, paid 6 months advance rent to secure a 3 bedroom townhouse, and bought a used car for cash. We had no debt, no income, some clothes and a $5,000 Mitsubishi.

For 6 months EO and the fam lived off the money from the sale of the house. During that time EO became acquainted with his wife and children, an acquaintance he has kept up these last 20 years.

The week EO came to the last of his money, his present employer called and asked Mrs. EO if EO would like to start the coming Monday. Mrs. EO yelled "yes!!" and so EO got dressed in a suit and went to work that Monday. He is still happily employed at the same job, doing what he loves with wonderful people.

EO's present job is a much better fit than his last one, and EO learned something lasting about trusting God, even when He asks you to jump off a cliff. This made dealing with fear much easier as life came along.

Mrs. EO is still married to EO. Both of them have gotten much older, but are still very much in love.

There. That's at least 3 miracles: house sold, new job in the nick of time, and a long, happy marriage.

So if you need a miracle, just pray for one. No matter how scary it all seems, God makes it turn out right in the end.