Rejected ... Again

While creating Daddy his own office space yesterday, I came across something as I was tidying. It was a old brown envelop, and in it was 22 letters ... rejection letters. Every single letter your Daddy received from newspapers all over the country who did not want to hire his recently-graduated, 22-year-old self. In the days before the Internet, Daddy would have to wait to hear about job openings through a magazine called Editor & Publisher. And in a desperate attempt to get a job, knowing he was getting married in just five months, he send out resumes, cover letters and clips to newspapers all over the nation. And nobody wanted him. He received rejection letter after rejection letter. I want you to imagine this young man, knowing he was getting married and wanting to support his future bride, hearing over and over again, 22 times, that they had no opening for him, or that he wasn't what they were looking for. He then sent a resume to a newspaper in Murfreesboro, TN, for a job opening at The Daily News Journal. He hadn't received a rejection letter from their sports department yet, so he called to find out the status of his application. He was told he was "over qualified," and that they had thrown his resume in the garbage. Your Dad then told them, "Well, take it out of the garbage, cause I need a job." They hired him, and he moved down to TN in Wanda, our new, unairconditioned, light blue Plymouth. My sweet husband was tenacious about finding a job, regardless of the constant rejection.

No one likes to be rejected. And to be rejected over and over again is quite taxing and a blow to your self-esteem. You start to second guess yourself, wondering what's wrong with you and what you could have done better in your application process. It's frustrating. And there are two ways to respond: dust yourself off and try again, or dejectedly slack off and hold yourself a little pity party.

A friend shared with me two Monday's ago that she had applied for eight day care jobs and that every single one turned her down. She said, "I think I am going to call the last place and ask what more I can do to make myself more marketable, because I'm consistently told 'You're not what we were looking for.' Well, what are they looking for?" I told her I would pray for her and keep an ear open for available jobs, but heard a few days later that she was hired at a day care. What impressed me about her in this process is she was not about to give up. Her response was, "What do I need to do to improve?"

Right after Anton went to high school and with Ayla off to college, I decided to find a job to bring in a little extra money when we lived in Wisconsin. After being a stay-at-home mother for years, I wondered how open the job field would be for someone with little job experience over the last 18 years, except for some part-time work and freelancing. I found out pretty quickly as no one would hire me. In a last ditch attempt, I had one more interview which I went to pretty pessimistically. They hired me. And it was not long after that that I was hired for a dream job as a DJ at a Christian radio station.

There's a couple things Daddy and I have learned in this process. First of all, God has a plan. He already knows what He wants you to do. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart." It's the wait that's hard. Waiting for His direction when we want to know right now, that requires patience and praise. His timing is perfect. So the rejections may have nothing to do with you personally and everything to do with where God wants you. He's closing the doors He does not want you to pass through.

The second thing we learned is rejection is an excellent teacher. You learn patience, endurance and empathy. You learn how strong you are. You know Dr. Suess's first book was rejected by 27 publishers? Did you know Walt Disney once was fired because he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas?" Did you know Steven Spielberg was rejected from USC's film school three times? That Elvis Presley was told after performing at the Grand Ole Opry, "You ain't goin' nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." And when you remember that Christ Himself - God Incarnate - was rejected by the high priests of His time, you realize you are in excellent company.

I asked Daddy once why he kept these letters. He said he wanted a reminder of what it took to get where he was today.

Dear ones, you are going to be rejected many times over the years. Rejected by employers and rejected by friends. The latter will hurt far worse, but both can be a blessing. So first off, don't waste your time lamenting the rejection. In the words of my friend, Kem: "Water off a duck's back." Take it for what it is, a gentle push in a new direction, and step forward in grace and the promise that God has this. Proverbs 19:21 says, "The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established" and in Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." Know that every single rejection is just one step closer to success! So dust yourself off and try again.

Discuss: Talk about a time when you were rejected? How did you feel? What did you learn from the experience? What good came from it?

Prayer: Lord, we trust that you have our lives completely in your hands and we thank you for loving us so very much that you have a hopeful future for us. Give us strength in rejection and courage to strive on in you. In Jesus we pray, Amen.