The Pursuit of Happyness

This is one of those blogs that's probably more for my children to read later than for anyone to care about now but, here goes...

Last night, the wife and I watched part of the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" and it provided a good reminder of why we've just moved to Price. Thanks to Leslie finding a short term teaching job, my unemployment insurance and some savings, things were never bad at all during the three months I was unemployed but that doesn't mean it wasn't a scary experience.

Looking at Haylie and Zander each day reminded me that I was no longer able to provide for their basic needs.
- Would they have food to eat?
- Would they have warm clothes to wear in the winter?
- What if they were hurt and needed medical help while we had no insurance or income?
Thanks to great family and friends, I knew we wouldn't ever be homeless and out on the street but as a husband and father, its my responsibility to provide and not being able to do so was very stressful.

Initially, there were a lot of good jobs to apply for in the Boise area (and even the Salt Lake City area) but after two months, the economy was contracting further and there just weren't any jobs being listed. I interviewed for a few positions but was starting to hear back that most companies were getting 50 to 100 applicants (and sometimes more) for every position and there were a lot of overqualified applicants as well. The outlook became a bit more grim when jobs I had applied for (and in one case, even interviewed for) were no longer available because the companies were no longer hiring at all.

Despite the grim outlook, I had faith that things would be okay. When, through a friend and former co-worker, I heard about a rather promising job opportunity with Emery Telcom in Price, UT I was rather encouraged despite the prospect of a move away from Boise. I continued to look for work in Boise but was barely able to find two relevant job postings a week and wasn't even getting to interview for those.

There was a lot of agonizing over whether to take the Emery Telcom job or to hold out for something in Boise but I honestly believe the Lord was looking out for us and provided this opportunity for us. Price isn't the location we were looking for and taking a cut in pay isn't great but, so far, it looks like our family can be happy here and the job is exactly what I'd like to be doing. It is a HUGE relief to know that I can provide for our family again and that I won't need to tell Haylie why we can't buy clothes or stay in our home.

I have many friends who are or have been in similar or worse situations and I pray that they will find the employment and other opportunities they need to provide for their families and to not look at their children each day wondering how they'll get by.

Price may not be the most beautiful place we've ever been and I'm sure we'll continue to miss beautiful Boise, the many things to do there and especially the great friends we have there but for now, The Pursuit of Happyness for our family takes us directly through Price, Utah.