God is Good, God is Great

We spent the middle of April doing what we always do . . . going to Zion National Park for our annual family vacation. I always love excaping to where it's warm and green while it's still a barren wasteland in SLC. It also holds a lot of memories because I think I've probably been there at least twenty-five times growing up.

This year the trip was extra special. As you may or may not know, Eric was facing overwhelming uncertainty in his current employment. He works (or worked?) for Merrill Lynch which was bought out at the end of the year by Bank of America. Shortly thereafter, B of A announced it would lay off 30,000 employees within the next three years. It's complicated but Eric's SLC division is the bank for ML and since B of A is already a bank, everyone assumed they would all be laid off. Especially since B of A announced they would be closing the charter on July 1st of this year (I told you it was complicated). Anyway, it got so bad that Eric's boss was sending him job opportunities elsewhere and everyone was encouraged to jump ship as fast as possible. Well, the Friday we were on our trip he got a message from his boss telling him to call in as soon as possible becuase he had something important to discuss with him. He dreaded making the call because we both assumed it was to be fired. To our great astonishment and delight, he didn't fire Eric but told him that B of A was offering him a permanent position (they only offered a position to 4 people in the entire SLC bank). We were both so happy and it totally made our trip.

As it turns out, Eric had been applying for other jobs during this whole ordeal and shortly after he was offered a job at B of A, he was offered a position with Silicon Valley Bank which is the major shareholder in the technology-lending sector. After careful consideration and prayer, Eric has decided to go with Silicon Valley Bank. He will have the opportunity to network with many important companies and individuals here in SLC and futher refine his skills.

Facing the current economy and the major problems with the banking industry, I wasn't sure what the future would hold. I was willing to go wherever we needed to go and to do whatever we needed to do but I was hoping that by some miracle we would be able to stay in SLC close to family and friends. We love our house and neighborhood and originally bought it because we hoped to be here for a long time. It was disheartening to know that we might have to leave. However, I wasn't too worried and knew without a doubt that no matter what happened, Heavenly Father would take care of us. By God's good graces, he has allowed us to continue to live here. I know that it was a blessing and an answer to our prayers for Eric to receive two very good offers here in SLC where the market is so poor right now and I am truly grateful for his loving care. I hope that I can repay him somehow. God is good and God is great. I personally testify that He will watch out for us if we put our trust in Him and ASK. He does answer prayers.

Anyway, I'm posting some pictures of our trip. You can see how happy we are.