The Job
By: Raquel Dunn
There's only three, maybe four more posts before this journey comes to a close. At least this journey of faith in this story. I know GOD has much more to write on my heart as I live out my life with HIM and I hope that I'll continue to share it and that you'll continue to follow it. Not because I want glory brought to my own life, but because HE is WORTHY of ALL our PRAISE! Now, onto the rest of the story.
The next month or so was rather mundane. No great happenings; I just continued following the simple steps of faith I'd been taking for the last three years. I was still spending most weekends in Knoxville and then coming back to work all week. My job was allowing me more freedom to put a resume tape (for those in the non-broadcasting world...this is how you get a job on TV...video of your work in TV) together, so I began to work on that. I would take stories I'd done for anchors to voice and add my voice to them and grab a videographer and do versions that showed my face for News Directors to see. While working on this, I desperately began to feel very conflicted about not giving my all to one place or the other. As I mentioned earlier, I had one foot in Knoxville and one foot in Bristol. So what do you do when face conflict? No, not go to a club with the girls this time! You pray!
I deeply desired to understand what GOD was doing at this time. I knew HE had called me to wait and buy a wedding dress which I was making payments on monthly, but I felt as if being torn between the two place didn't allow me to give my all to HIM. I had no real church home. Sometimes I was in Bristol. Sometimes I was in Knoxville and occasionally I even went to my parent's church. Before moving to Bristol, I'd been very involved at my church in Knoxville; volunteering when I could; jumping at the chance to teach; fellow shipping with my family of believers. Now, I was closer to GOD than I'd ever been, yet doing nothing physically for HIM since I wasn't settled.
It was like any other day at work. I arrived knowing what story I was hoping to work on while waiting to see if any major catastrophe called for us to cover it. When I walked in, someone called my name out letting me know I had a phone call waiting. That was nothing out of the ordinary, since I was expecting a call about a story I was working on that night. However, when I picked it up I got the surprise of a lifetime.
"This is Raquel," I stated in my most professional tone.
"Hey Raquel! This is Missy Glassmaker from Channel 10 in Knoxville. How are you doing?"
Confused as to why the Executive Producer of the station I'd interned for the summer before was calling me I answered in a baffling manner, "I'm good. How about you?"
"I'm great," she exclaimed, "Listen we were just checking in on some former interns. Seeing what they're up to now and how things are going."
I have no idea if she could hear the bewilderment in my voice, as I tried disguise it, "Well, I'm producing the weekend newscast here and field producing during the week. That's about it right now,"
Then she said something that catapulted me into a fog for the rest of the night, and quite possibly the next few days to come, "We've got a producer leaving and a position we're going to need filled and you're name came up. We thought we'd just give you a call and see if you were interested in applying?"
It felt like it took an eternity for me to answer, but I'm sure looking back I was quick and to the point, "Sure. I'd love to."
"Great! Get me tape together of some shows you've produced and we'll go from there." Missy told me.
"Okay." I said.
She quickly ended the conversation on a cordial note, "Good talking to you! I'll be looking for your tape in the next week or so," leaving me to my thoughts about how this moment could possibly be happening.
There was little time to think about what was said as I had to hurry off to our afternoon news meeting to plan that night's show, but afterwards it was all I could think about. Who calls and asks you to apply for a job? Sure, I'd interned just a year before, and I'd left on with high regards on the job I'd done, but jobs don't just fall in your lap, do they? What about being a reporter? If I took a producer position in that market, that's all I'd ever be. How could I give up the dream I'd had since I was 15 or 16 years old? I was so certain that was all I wanted to do for so long. While all my friends were flipping and flopping in college trying to figure out their career path, I never even dared to deviate from that plan. There was no question in my mind, I knew I wanted to be a reporter, as intimately as I knew my own name.
And then I began to think, the job is in Knoxville. Earl is in in Knoxville. I've been praying to be planted in one place or the other. Is this an answer to my prayers? What if me being close all the time pushes him away again? How can I be certain this is a trick to get to me make a mess of things?
I battled my decision to apply for the next month. After all, they had not promised me the job. They merely thought I might make a good candidate. I wasn't given a green light just because they knew me and my work ethic. They subjected me to the same process they would for any other applicant applying for the job. I sent in my tape and paper resume. I was interviewed by the News Director and faced very tough questions. I had to take a drug test and in the end, the ball was in my court. They offered me the job and gave a couple days to think it over.
While you may think the answer to this new dilemma I was facing would be simple, it wasn't. I consulted my family and friends. I wanted to be sure I made the right decision. Was it time to give up one dream to make the other a reality? I even asked Earl if he thought me moving back would be a problem and he said no. So I closed the book on the plans I'd had for my life and followed the WORD of GOD.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11 KJV
The next month or so was rather mundane. No great happenings; I just continued following the simple steps of faith I'd been taking for the last three years. I was still spending most weekends in Knoxville and then coming back to work all week. My job was allowing me more freedom to put a resume tape (for those in the non-broadcasting world...this is how you get a job on TV...video of your work in TV) together, so I began to work on that. I would take stories I'd done for anchors to voice and add my voice to them and grab a videographer and do versions that showed my face for News Directors to see. While working on this, I desperately began to feel very conflicted about not giving my all to one place or the other. As I mentioned earlier, I had one foot in Knoxville and one foot in Bristol. So what do you do when face conflict? No, not go to a club with the girls this time! You pray!
I deeply desired to understand what GOD was doing at this time. I knew HE had called me to wait and buy a wedding dress which I was making payments on monthly, but I felt as if being torn between the two place didn't allow me to give my all to HIM. I had no real church home. Sometimes I was in Bristol. Sometimes I was in Knoxville and occasionally I even went to my parent's church. Before moving to Bristol, I'd been very involved at my church in Knoxville; volunteering when I could; jumping at the chance to teach; fellow shipping with my family of believers. Now, I was closer to GOD than I'd ever been, yet doing nothing physically for HIM since I wasn't settled.
It was like any other day at work. I arrived knowing what story I was hoping to work on while waiting to see if any major catastrophe called for us to cover it. When I walked in, someone called my name out letting me know I had a phone call waiting. That was nothing out of the ordinary, since I was expecting a call about a story I was working on that night. However, when I picked it up I got the surprise of a lifetime.
"This is Raquel," I stated in my most professional tone.
"Hey Raquel! This is Missy Glassmaker from Channel 10 in Knoxville. How are you doing?"
Confused as to why the Executive Producer of the station I'd interned for the summer before was calling me I answered in a baffling manner, "I'm good. How about you?"
"I'm great," she exclaimed, "Listen we were just checking in on some former interns. Seeing what they're up to now and how things are going."
I have no idea if she could hear the bewilderment in my voice, as I tried disguise it, "Well, I'm producing the weekend newscast here and field producing during the week. That's about it right now,"
Then she said something that catapulted me into a fog for the rest of the night, and quite possibly the next few days to come, "We've got a producer leaving and a position we're going to need filled and you're name came up. We thought we'd just give you a call and see if you were interested in applying?"
It felt like it took an eternity for me to answer, but I'm sure looking back I was quick and to the point, "Sure. I'd love to."
"Great! Get me tape together of some shows you've produced and we'll go from there." Missy told me.
"Okay." I said.
She quickly ended the conversation on a cordial note, "Good talking to you! I'll be looking for your tape in the next week or so," leaving me to my thoughts about how this moment could possibly be happening.
There was little time to think about what was said as I had to hurry off to our afternoon news meeting to plan that night's show, but afterwards it was all I could think about. Who calls and asks you to apply for a job? Sure, I'd interned just a year before, and I'd left on with high regards on the job I'd done, but jobs don't just fall in your lap, do they? What about being a reporter? If I took a producer position in that market, that's all I'd ever be. How could I give up the dream I'd had since I was 15 or 16 years old? I was so certain that was all I wanted to do for so long. While all my friends were flipping and flopping in college trying to figure out their career path, I never even dared to deviate from that plan. There was no question in my mind, I knew I wanted to be a reporter, as intimately as I knew my own name.
And then I began to think, the job is in Knoxville. Earl is in in Knoxville. I've been praying to be planted in one place or the other. Is this an answer to my prayers? What if me being close all the time pushes him away again? How can I be certain this is a trick to get to me make a mess of things?
I battled my decision to apply for the next month. After all, they had not promised me the job. They merely thought I might make a good candidate. I wasn't given a green light just because they knew me and my work ethic. They subjected me to the same process they would for any other applicant applying for the job. I sent in my tape and paper resume. I was interviewed by the News Director and faced very tough questions. I had to take a drug test and in the end, the ball was in my court. They offered me the job and gave a couple days to think it over.
While you may think the answer to this new dilemma I was facing would be simple, it wasn't. I consulted my family and friends. I wanted to be sure I made the right decision. Was it time to give up one dream to make the other a reality? I even asked Earl if he thought me moving back would be a problem and he said no. So I closed the book on the plans I'd had for my life and followed the WORD of GOD.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11 KJV
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