An Unexpected Journey

"Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go."

-1 Corinthians 16:6

What an unexpected journey life can be.

Cassie does a great job of describing the start of our story HERE. I wanted to add a bit from my perspective. However, keep following Cassie for more.

She mentioned how our meeting was quite coincidental, or better yet, driven by God's plan.

In 2009, my job at Forest Highlands Golf Club was quite hectic. We were in the middle of the recession and my boss was under quite a lot of scrutiny that I did not totally understand at the time. He was worried that he could be fired if he didn't produce results in our department. All I saw was a boss who put a lot of pressure on me to do little, seemingly obnoxious, tasks. We had to pinch every penny and yet produce more and better quality events. Sound familiar to anyone? The seriousness of the dilemma didn't hit me until later that fall, after I had already given and finished my two weeks notice and fully written off ever working there again, when the head chef and food and beverage director were fired for their apparent lack of results.

Despite all of that, I decided to take another route and work at the Kids Camp at Northern Arizona University. It also worked better with my schedule as I had to fill in a summer school class in the mornings through June. Not as stressful, less hours and more hands on games and fun.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to know how incredible it was that I even went back to Forest Highlands at all. I graduated in 2011 and was planning to take a train trip through the United States as a graduation gift to myself. But, on the budget of a part time student worker in the History Department during my last semester, I didn't quite have the funds even with some graduation monies I received.

In early May, I stopped in to say hi to my old boss and see how the new staff was doing for the year and he mentioned that he probably had some part time work here and there if I was interested.  I wanted nothing to do with it, but he gave me a few days to think about it. I called back a few days later and accepted, knowing that in the long run, I needed something to keep me busy and a little extra money couldn't hurt. However, he mentioned that the Snack Bar supervisor just quit the day before.

My boss has an uncanny way of explaining and manipulating your thinking to do what he wants sound like the best option. I didn't want anything to do with full time, supervisor positions or any serious responsibility and yet he explained how beneficial it would be and how I am the kind of person that can't stand not being in a position like that (he knows me too well). So I accepted the Snack Bar Supervisor position.

It was a week before opening day and the old supervisor quit because my boss turned the screws to him to actually do work and if he couldn't handle the responsibility, he needed to quit. You already know how that story goes. I was left with a filthy snack bar, a new staff that I didn't know, a revamp of a menu, and a position I kind of knew, but had to learn. My first week back, I clocked in 55 hours. So much for part-time.

Luckily for me, Cassie was one of those new staff members I had to get to know. She was my go to gal in the snack bar. I was learning a lot of the position right along side of her and she picked up a lot of slack of the other snack bar attendants and myself when I had to juggle too much.

Maybe our first couples shot together.

If you read through her side of the story, you understand all the hurdles that had to fall for her to finally rest in that position a couple of summers ago. You can understand my side of the story as well and know that again, a lot had to fall into place just right. It's easy to say, in retrospect, that the two of us were meant to meet. In that day and time, I couldn't tell you why one event was happening over another or why the events of taking that position happened the way they did, but I can tell you now that it was because of Cassie.