I must say it's been a busy week. But also a stressful one.

You see, a job opportunity opened up in my office a couple of weeks ago; one that would have given me more money, and a position just under the Circuit Clerk's job. But with all those 'perks' would have been more stress, more responsibilities....was just the extra salary worth it??

So I applied at the encouragement of not only my immediate bosses (which included the Circuit Clerk) but also a lot of my co-workers. They all thought I should get that job; I mean, 17 years experience should be enough, right??

So the whole time I'm thinking, could I really handle this job? I was doubtful, but applied nonetheless.

They had interviews on Friday; I was number 3 of 4 who applied. One of those 4 was a woman who has worked in the court system for over 20 years. But I didn't think she had worked in as many areas of the office that I had. (For years the office she worked in was separate from ours; it wasn't until recently that our offices "consolidated".) And I had never worked directly with her, so I really didn't know just how much she 'knew'. And she had just recently been promoted to one of the 2 office manager positions as well.

Long story short, I didn't get the job. The woman I just talked about did. Am I bitter? A little. Let down? Somewhat. You see the boss who encouraged me to apply was on vacation last week and was not involved in the interviewing process. Would that have made a difference? Probably not. There were 3 Judges doing the decision-making, and not sure my boss's endorsement would have been enough. I was told that one of the deciding factors was that she had a college degree. Not sure in what, but just that she had one. (she is also about 7 yrs older than me) I didn't go to college. So I don't have a fancy degree; I don't have ANY degrees.

Then again, I have to remember that God is always in control. For some reason, He didn't want me to have that job. Perhaps I will learn why soon, perhaps it will take years for me to know. So when I go back to work on Monday, I will continue to do my job the best I know how. I will respect their decision and work the best way I can with this new manager. I do have another opportunity to apply for one of the office manager jobs that will be vacant at the end of February, so all is not lost.

I knew there was going to be a lot of changes at my workplace, but had no idea it would be so much, so soon. The next few months are bringing a lot of new people in, and others are leaving as well. I just hope that I can continue to trust God to prepare me for whatever job advancements those changes might bring.