Saturday, July 3: The Great Pickleball Miracle

The much-anticipated phone call concerning my potential career change arrived this morning. Knowing it could go either way, I had high hopes, but also tried to be prepared for rejection. It was the nicest rejection I ever have received as the director of community services made some very nice comments. Out of 262 applicants, I made it to the final three people for two positions, which is as close as possible without getting the job. According to the director, both of my interviews went extremely well, but they hired two people already working for the City of Laguna Beach. My heart is aching a bit, yet I know that God’s hand was in the middle of this.


In the first interview, God announced His presence and put me at ease. As I drove into the parking lot that morning, the recreation supervisor who is retiring was exiting the parking lot. He rolled down his window and said, “The Lord is with us!” That helped me avoid the anxiety of the interview. After the interview was a 30-minute, performance examination. They brought in a laptop computer and asked me to read the question, and then type my response on the computer. “Someone in the community comes to you and wants to begin a program in pickleball,” the question said. “Pickleball is played in an area similar to the size of a badminton court. Who would you market the program to and how would you market it? Write a two-page letter to the director of community services and include a yearly budget for the new program.”


Simply by using the sport of pickleball, the Lord revealed Himself to me. Pickleball is not a well-known sport, but five years ago, a woman in my church was the gold medalist in pickleball at the Senior Olympics. One Saturday, she invited me to play with her group. I learned all about pickleball, including the rules, the dimensions, the equipment and the cost of equipment. Consequently, formulating and typing the letter was easy. Do you think that was a coincidence? My God is not a God of chance! The second interview was with the assistant city manager. Both he and his wife had taken tennis lessons from me, and it seemed more like an hour-long conversation than a tense interview. That being said, I did not get the job. I don’t know why God had me endure the lengthy, three-month process only to be let down in the eleventh hour. But He has His reasons and is incapable of giving bad gifts to His children.


16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
James 1:16-18


Everything that appears to be a gift isn’t a gift and everything that appears to be a curse isn’t a curse. That’s why the just shall walk by faith, not by sight, for we don’t see what God sees. Somehow, we think that it is only a miracle when God opens a door, and we lose sight of the fact that when He closes a door, it is just as miraculous! He knows the past, present and future and we have trouble seeing anything more than the moment. With the amount of prayer offered to the Lord concerning this job by myself, my friends and my family, God certainly knew my desire. His choice not to give me that job demonstrates that His will was done. I am thankful to be in the center of His will. Now that He has shut this door, I am looking forward to seeing what door He will open!

11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Luke 11:11-13


When situations are difficult, we get to prove if we truly believe what we say we believe. Now, it is my challenge to demonstrate that I trust God and rely heavily on His promises. As a dear friend reminded me today, a heart can’t be mended unless it is broken. There’s not a better place to be than wherever He desires for us to be!


5My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
6He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
7In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.
Psalm 62:5-7