Our family was so blessed when Brian got a seasonal, part-time job at Costco in November 2009. He was getting little to no work in construction for several months (like everyone else at the time). He was offered a permanent position after the holidays and was honored to take it. The pay was not enough for our family of 6 to live on but it was dependable income and God had multiple blessings in store for us. First of all, after he'd only been there 4 months, Jaron was born. If you've followed our blog you know that was the beginning of the most difficult journey our family has been on. It was a miracle we were paying our mortgage and bills over the last 2 years, another difficult path we've been traveling. When we heard Jaron's diagnosis, Costco was so generous to give him paid time off to cope with the terrible news. Our world was turned upside down and I know for Brian as the dad he felt helpless and overwhelmed as everything was totally out of his control. The staff at Costco were a Godsend! People were constantly asking him how the baby was and how he was doing! They shared their own stories, offered to pray for him, and daily assured him they were thinking of our family. Even a few customers heard our story and came in specifically to talk to him and reassure him about life with a special needs child. The day before we took Jaron to get his g-tube placed, a couple returned to Costco and the dad asked if Brian wanted to see their son's g-tube. Brian was really uncomfortable about the whole g-tube idea prior to that day. That night, when he got home from work, he told me all about it, what it looked like, what the parent's thought about it. They were very encouraging and positive. There were other ways that Costco worked with Brian to help our family. The assistant manager told me one day when I came in to thank her for being so accommodating, that they wanted work to not be another place to cause stress, they knew family was most important. We were amazed and so blessed!
About a month ago, Brian's grandpa mentioned that the maintenance guy who works for the retirement neighborhood they live in, was retiring. Grandpa told the homeowner's association that he had a grandson who was licensed and bonded and able to do all the work that they would require. Brian did some small jobs and gave them a few bids for bigger jobs and they soon were introducing him as "the new maintenance guy". He has been working there full-time for 2 weeks and even having my brother Jordan help him out. They have more work than they know what to do with! There are 253 units in this quiet, well-kept neighborhood that is only 7 minutes from our home. He is not employed by them but they will give him all the work that is the association's responsibility. It will be a lot of siding, fencing, painting, and roof and gutter repair. Also, the homeowner's will get to know him and ask him to fix things inside their home or do remodels, or replace doors and windows, etc. He's already been offered several of those jobs. He has the freedom to choose his own hours and take time off if Jaron is in the hospital and there will be work waiting for him. No more nights and weekends, yippee for mommy and kids! He has worked every weekend for the last 9 months. We are just so thankful for how God has guided us and blessed us in mysterious ways!
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