Good Enough For God!!

After a stint in the US Army with 3 devastating knee injuries and 3 corresponding surgeries, in 1999 I left the US Army without a plan for life. My life's plan up to then, was being a lifer and military retirement. Unfortunately, God has a plan for all of us when we ask Him to take hold of our lives.

I found myself in Honolulu and ended up as a Dormitory Dean/Teacher at Hawaiian Mission Academy. I spent 10 years at the school and thought that was where I was going to spend the rest of my life. I was wrong. God had another plan, but this plan came with a very difficult road. Exiting the school was a wild experience. In the summer of 2009, I was involved in a physical altercation with someone on campus. I was let go from the school which was a new low for me. The person I was involved in the physical altercation also sued me in court. These were the dark times for me because everything kept crumbling. I remembered crying out to God and asking if He was there? I was embarrassed for being let go and MOST of all now I don't have a job to provide for my family!

I was jobless for 4 months, and what a humbling experience to go into the Unemployment Office on a weekly basis and looking through job announcements, applying for jobs, writing and re-writing curriculum vitae after another and feeling worthless on a daily basis? Suicide was an option but I kept clinging to a verse, Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your plans to the Lord and they will be established". I went through 3 years of court and ended up with a 1st Degree Felony Assault charge. Because there was a outside court settlement, meaning the other party wanted insurance money compensation, I was spared what could have been a prison sentence if we went to court and lost.(Whew!) What an embarrassment which added to the feeling of worthlessness? I never thought my darkness would ever be lifted.

After applying to literally about 500 jobs, I was a finalist for a University Recruiter job. I was glad when they called me in for a final interview and while signing the work contract, one of the panel members asked me one last question. Since they knew I have been applying to many government jobs, I was asked what if one of those jobs called to offer me a job? I blurted out, "I will take a government job." In a split second, I realized what I just said. The panel members looked at each other and they said sorry maybe this is not the job for you. In awe, I stood up and walked out of there with disgust of just throwing a job away that would have paid me very well. I went into my car and cried.(yes, grown men cry, a lot!) I asked God again, "Where are you?!?"

In trying to be positive after the Recruiter job debacle, I had reserved myself to the fact that a job will eventually come. Actually, a job did call and it was from the government. However, it was not the job or the salary that I wanted. The day before my interview I was so excited about the interview, I went into Kailua beach and put my fins and goggles on and went snorkeling. I woke up on the day of the interview to two swollen ankles. I was devastated and started thinking if GOD was messing with me! I put on dress pants a shirt and tie with basketball shoes tightly strapped to help me walk with store bought crutches that morning. I drove myself to the interview which I found myself clear across the end of the parking lot on a very hot summer day. I got to the interview with a sweat soaked shirt and tie but I got the job as a Patient Check-in Clerk at the Honolulu VA hospital. Yes, I almost cried tears of happiness and thankfulness to God.

Two months after I started, I applied for an internal vacancy. I went from a Clerk to being a Department Head in the Customer Service area with a great salary increase. My boss called me into his office and said, he could block me from getting the new position because I have not been in his department for over 3 months. I told him that my God was in charge and that if that job is for me, no one can stop it from happening. He looked at me and said, "Who is your God?" Lets just say, he knows just about everything on Seventh-Day Adventists.

The blessings kept coming. About 3 months into my new job, I was checking my online banking to see if I had money? Lo and behold! A bank deposit of $38k appears from the government. I called my wife immediately and told her not to touch it because the government may have made a mistake. I called the VA disability board and they said my knee injuries from the US Army, a disability rating mistake was made in 1999 and they just found it and this was a retroactive pay and they are sorry for the mistake. I dropped on my knees and cried to the Lord and told Him I was sorry for doubting His plan. 5 years later, I was called the day before Valentine's day 2013 to be a hospital administrator in Volunteer Service/Community Outreach Department. I went from a stressful job in customer service to a fun job. I plan and execute activities and events in the VA or out in the community for military veterans. My wife calls me a highly paid party planner...lol I don't care this is where God wants me to be. Last year, the VA granted me a benefit that will send both my girls to college for free and also waived my college students loans of $183k to zero. If you are reading this, I am not bragging for self, I am bragging for the miracles that GOD has done for a worthless person like me.

I suffer from feeling not enough or worthless to God. He tells me everyday, Schoen Safotu you are good enough for ME! He says, Schoen Safotu, commit your plans to ME and I will make them happen! Proverbs 16:3

Young people try out GOD.