A week ago Thursday, my morning started off, in my mind, horribly. As soon as we got into work we were told that we wouldn't be able to make up our hours(People had been sent home early both Monday and Tuesday) and that we were off work until Thanksgiving day. I was annoyed to say the least that we weren't allowed to come in on Friday to even reach our 40 and we were just taking what we had at the end of the work day. To make matters worse, we didn't even get to work the whole day on Thursday. I clocked out at 9:30am with less than 30 hours for the week.
I climbed back on the wing wall on the dry dock to access the gangway to the Abraham (one of the guys had borrowed some of my tools and I needed to get them back before I left) and was stopped by a supervisor from another company. He and I had talked before when he asked me why I was in scaffolding so he knew about my drafting degrees. He asked why I had all of stuff and where I was going. I explained what was going on and he asked if I had a resume. Thankfully, my jump drive is always in my purse and it had a current copy of my resume. I got my jump drive, he printed off my resume and within 5 minutes of his project manager looking at it, I had a job!
God's perfect timing. There is no other way to explain it. If I hadn't been sent home for the week, I wouldn't have gone back on that boat that day and I wouldn't have been free to drive to Pascagoula for my drug screening. And because I had been sent home from the week, I was able to start work with them Friday morning. The work is so much easier and the pay is such a blessing(including benefits!). Saturday Diamond layed off 20-25 employees. I would have been on that list. They only kept 8 "free world" (non-prison work release) people. If I hadn't quit Diamond on Thursday and started my new job on Friday, I would be jobless right now. God's perfect timing. No other way of explaining it!
I am now an employee of Ardent Services, a company which specializes in electrical work on boats and oil rigs. Right now I am pulling cable and looking at blue prints to help find routes for running cable and installing trays. They have already promised me that as soon as they have a full-time drafting position(whether it is here at BAE systems or another site), that it is mine. Right now, I am content with what I am doing. I am able to look through the drawings, interpret them, problem solve and learn the electricity business from the ground up.
Another blessing? Rather than having to go home and having to come back to work Thanksgiving day, I got to be home for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow morning it is back to work for me until December 23rd. Translation? I get overtime which Diamond never allowed(obviously it was like pulling teeth just to get your full 40).
I am grateful for the experience and knowledge gained from scaffolding, as well as the friendships that were formed with my Diamond family. For the longest time, I wondered why God had brought me to a shipyard until I discovered my passion for the boats. Then I wondered why I was doing manual labor for $8/hour and my raise was never going through. I was patient(which has never been my strong suit) and God revealed his perfect plan in His own timing.
I feel blessed beyond measure!
