Ever wonder if your job is part of God's plan?

Months after I was diagnosed with cancer, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. My mom had already died of cancer. Are we seeing a pattern here?

My children were young, and I was working part-time in the insurance business.  These life changing diagnoses, however, caused me to, once again, question my priorities. 

After all, my work wasn't about the money.  And now, with dad's illness, even though he was states away, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. Maybe I should give up the job and make more time for family. One particular day, struggling with these questions, I arrived at the office, parked my car, and prayed. 

"God, what do you want me to do?" I said. "Am I supposed to stay in the insurance field?  Do you want me to quit to have more time for family? Please make your answer obvious."

I paused, exited my car, and approached the office.  Dorothy, our marketing representative, met me in the foyer. 

She'd just returned from an office-sponsored trip to Portugal.  Her bright eyes were brimming with excitement. "I want you to see what I got for you," she said.

I cringed. Before leaving, she'd offered to get me a souvenir, but I didn't need anything. I didn't want anything. Besides, I hardly knew her.

A small group of co-workers gathered.

“I want to see Debbie’s face when she opens it,” one of them murmured. A sense of dread filled me. Probably it was some obnoxious tourist gift that she'd wasted her money on. 

Strutting, Dorothy led the way to her office.

“Here it is,” she announced.

I looked, but saw nothing.  No flamboyant tee-shirt. No flapping foul. No camels carved in cork.

“Don’t you see it?”

I shook my head, still expecting a galloping elephant.

“Here.”  Dorothy motioned toward the corner of the desk.

My gaze landed on a small, white, round case placed there. I immediately recognized the sweet image of Our Blessed Mother...Our Lady of Fatima and the iconic figures of three children kneeling beside her in prayer. I gasped. It was so beautiful...so pure...

Speechless, I picked it up and gingerly opened the case, which contained a rose-scented rosary. Gently, carefully, I lifted the sacred beads one-by-one, astounded.

Back then, I didn't  discuss my faith in the workplace. Dorothy had no idea that I prayed the rosary daily. 

I struggled to speak. “How did you know I would want this?”

She wiggled in delight.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It just screamed ‘Debbie’ at me when I saw it!”

Dorothy's gift amazed me. She wasn't Catholic, she wasn't particularly religious, I don't know how she chose it, but her gift hit home.

Not only did I treasure the rosary, but the timing was incredible. Clearly, it was an answer to my curbside prayer that very morning. God used Dorothy to deliver his message that day.

The answer was obvious.

For whatever reason, yes, God wanted me there.