Monday, June 14, 2010

...following orders...or breadcrumbs

my regular readers are aware of my efforts to find a source of income...
and the subsequent lack of success of all previous ventures...

I have been being told, for some time now...
to wait... trust... be calm & not fear...
but to obey the instructions that I would be given...

that in & of itself, can be scary...

what if I "miss" the leading ?
or what if the instructions are vague ?
if I just go searching, will I go in the wrong direction ?
after all, things that have seemed to be "a perfect fit"...
have turned out to be,"not for me", after all...

so I've waited & tried to follow all leadings...
but mostly the voice has told me to "wait"...
and what seemed to be possibilities have dried up & disappeared...

after church yesterday, a person who's also looking for work...
approached me to tell me how she was applying "on-line"...
& encouraged me to do likewise...
I had recently become aware that most fast-food places now hire, "on-line"...
& considered this a "nudge" to start "seeking"...

it always helps to listen to advice from a good friend...
so I asked MrGT if he had any thoughts on my situation...

as usual, his no-nonsense assessment of my impending financial collapse...
& suggestions for dealing with my situation...
brought to my attention that the time for waiting had passed...
it was now a time for finding work...
before things disintegrated beyond help...

this was a door opening...

God was using this advice to move my mind into a more receptive place...

the key thing that he said about looking for work that stuck with me...
was the idea of trying local places rather than the large chains...
so I was not surprised, to definitely get the "seek" message...
during my morning prayer time today...

but before I could get down to the church... to go online...
to re-check some of the places I'd been turned-down before...
or even start to make the rounds of various places I wanted to apply at...
MzFluff made her displeasure clear that she needed more food...


so I put DP on my list, as well as a few fresh groceries...
and went out to go to the church, planning to swing by DP & the market, "after"...
but as I went to back out, I felt an urge to go to DP first...
so I did...



after finding 2 flats of Fluff's favorite food, a flat of regular cat food...
and a bone for Molly, who's doing quite well with her diet...
I waited in line & noticing the manager at the register...
asked if they were taking applications...

he said that they were as they were going to have 2 openings soon...


he gave me an application & we chatted for a bit...
then he carried my cat food out to the car...
where we continued our very positive chat...

I mentioned that I knew the guy who had been the manager...
at his store for years...
and was now at the north Mudville store...
then he told me that he had heard...
that there were going to be openings there too...

so I thanked him, told him that I'd return the application soon & left...

I went right out to the north Mudville store...
only to find that my friend would be on vacation until next Monday...
his assistant told me that there would be an opening...
but that he wouldn't know about it until he returned...

so after an even more positive chat with her...
I left with another application in hand...
quite aware that DP is a "local" business...
which is what MrGT thought I should consider...
[though he did mean a food establishment...
what had stuck in my head was, "local"...]

so I finally got to the church to go online...
& found a FB post by DD about her sister's music school...
which advertised private lessons at their store...
so I sent her an e-mail...[she used to accompany me, eons ago...]
asking whether or not they might need someone to teach brass instruments...



now, I have taught private music lessons, group lessons & class lessons...
& the only way to make a lot of money in lessons...
is to write a book about it & take greedy people's money...
which is why I haven't considered it as a full-time job...



I have done it all when it comes to lessons...
taught privately on trumpet; beginner through college...
group & class lessons on guitar, strings, woodwinds, brass & percussion...
I've also done choir, handbells & recorders...

at my home, their home, schools, music stores, colleges...
it can be fun & satisfying...
but it's also exhausting, very insecure & frustrating...
not to mention not worth the gas & effort sometimes...



I had stopped teaching privately...
when I started teaching in the school district...
but have been recently encouraged by some...
to consider this as a possible revenue stream...

building up a studio is very difficult...

especially during economic times such as these...
but if I was working through a store so that they found & scheduled students...
dealt with collections, absences, etc...
and I only needed to show up & teach...

AND it was not my primary source of income...


I could deal with it, rather nicely...

after sending that e-mail, I went on to the VOPU Library website...
and found that they are seeking an,"Access Librarian/Music Librarian"...

it is, however a faculty position which requires an MLS degree...
[I'm a few units shy of that...]
but I do have the music degree they mention, as well as expertise...
just not the recent online cataloguing experience...

it may be a moot point as the contact person there is on vacation...
until Monday,[hmmmm...] so I don't know if it's filled yet...

I did, however find a Mail Clerk position listed...
which I have applied for online & will mail on my way home...

it's full time and just posted on 6/09/10...
the Librarian job posted 5/10/10, but is still listed...

so I guess I heard the instructions correctly...
it's definitely the time to "seek"...

2 comments:

Mousie and Christy's Mommy said...

Congratulations on "listening!" I have felt for some time that the waiting too long could definitely lead to financial disaster. It encourged me greatly to read this post!

catsinger said...

...in my case, it was that I needed to rely only on His supply...
and to get there, I had to wait...