First Dates and Faith During Change: The Story Continues

{by Beth Pedison Gibson}

Hello again, dear readers,

Last month, I started telling you about an exciting job interview I had with Mrs. Laura Bush at the White House in 2002.  I had planned on living in Texas for the rest of my life, until that interview... 

Background

The background of the interview was that a college friend who had previously worked for the Bushes told me about the open position.  She offered to deliver my resume and writing samples to her contacts.  I thought I should at least see what would happen. 

Over the next two months, I was asked to write and send more speeches and samples of my work.  As I worked hard to provide what the White House staff wanted, I felt God moving inside me.  I can see now that He was opening my heart to the possibility of moving across the country, and that He was preparing me for what was ahead.   

At the time though, I just thought it was a huge long shot.  Then I was invited to interview with Mrs. Bush, which I’ll tell you more about later.   After that interview, Mrs. Bush’s office sent my information over to the West Wing.  Two weeks later, I got a phone call from a Special Assistant to the President, asking if I would come to work on one of the President Bush’s writing teams, helping write his messages, proclamations, and correspondence. 

By that time, God had prepared me, and I was able to readily accept the offer, pack all my belongings, and move to Washington in about three weeks.  I started my White House job that December.  

What was ahead?

Not much after that, I met my husband, Ken, in Washington. [Pictured is Beth and Ken on their first date together].  After many years of being single back in Texas, meeting Ken in Washington was certainly confirmation that I had made the right choice to move. 

Even the way we met seemed God-ordained.   We met in a coffee shop called “Bread and Chocolate” on Capitol Hill.   We talked for more than an hour and exchanged phone numbers.  One of Ken’s questions, (which he says he wouldn’t normally ask people), was, “Have you found a church here yet?”   Because I hadn’t met many Christians in my short time in Washington, I was surprised to be asked.  Then I was truly surprised to find out that Ken and I were members of the same denomination and that we shared many other beliefs as well.   (Ken is also incredibly handsome and intelligent too, lest you think it was only our spiritual similarities that caught my attention. :)) But walking away from that coffee shop, I knew that something monumental had just happened.   After a whirlwind courtship, we were engaged and married the next year.

A few short years after that, I got another phone call that changed my life.  It was my doctor’s office saying I was pregnant, likely with twins.  So in 2008, Ken and I welcomed two beautiful babies into the world, Katherine and Jack.  Then one year after that, we moved from Washington, D.C. to a small town in Virginia called Gloucester.

Observations so far

Because I’ve had so many recent changes in my life, I searched the Bible and found that transitional moments are often times that God speaks to people very clearly.  

And I noticed that God often calls people to physically move – or at least to move way out of their comfort zones when He’s about to do something big.  A few obvious examples: Moses being called to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt; Ruth leaving her homeland with her mother-in-law Naomi; and the disciples leaving their jobs and families and to become followers of Christ. 

So, when we’re embarking on a time of change, I think we have to ask God what He would like to do in us and through us during this time.  I’ve also seen that, as Christian women, we can greatly learn from each other about how to walk through these major transitions with love and grace. 

We’ll talk more transitions next time, and I’ll share more of my story.   But one thing I’ve learned for sure:  Life is a series of transitions.   If we can learn to go through them with faith and obedience, we can grow closer to Him and see some of His purposes and joys revealed here on earth.  

Until next time –

          Beth Gibson