Today I'm thankful for Michael's job, which allows us to live the way we do and affords us so very many opportunities in life. He has been working at AeTR for 4.5 years now, and it has been a God-thing right from the start!
When Michael got his first engineering job at Bunting Magnetics in November 2011 we were thrilled! Driving to Newton every day and being paid as a drafter instead of an engineer was alright, for the moment, because it was better than Toys R Us. It didn't take more than 2 weeks for a better, engineering offer to come along, and Michael went to work for Dell. The people at Bunting seemed genuinely confused about why Michael was leaving, thinking he wanted to "work his way up" to engineer from the humble drafting job they started him worth. This is probably why they continued to lose employees over the next several months. Michael was only there 2 weeks, but of the people he met and remembered from that time, at least two other engineers left in the next month.
Dell was contract work, which meant that he was basically assured a job for 6 months, and that's all the longer it lasted. In that time we'd found out we were pregnant and bought a house. But Feel was losing contacts and Michael was running out of work. You see, Michael is a very focused worker who likes to complete his work in a quick and efficient manner. I don't know if his coworkers at Dell weren't as quick or just understood the system better and knew to sit on their work for a while, but Michael was the one who was always completing his projects and asking for more, which Dell didn't have. This eventually led to Michael going to Minnesota for 2 weeks at a time (with another engineer who'd left Bunting). This was hard for us because we'd never been apart for such a long time since we'd been married, not to mention I was about halfway through my pregnancy with Avery, who we named, before we found out she was a girl, while Michael was away in Minnesota. They did a good job of finding something, anything for Michael to do during those 6 months, but at the end, they informed him they weren't renewing his contract and he was let go.
It was May 23rd, 2012, our 3rd wedding anniversary, when Dell told Michael his contact was up. He called me on his way home to tell me. With a large house and a large mortgage to go with it and a baby on the way, to say I was upset would be an understatement. That's when God stepped in. I cried on the way home from my sister's house, but when I got home, instead of breaking down further, I went to the back yard and laid in the hammock to pray. I knew my getting upset and stressed out want good for me or for Avery, so I laid there and prayed. I knew God had always taken care of us in the past, and that he would do it again. What happened next can only be described as "peace that surpasses all understanding". I felt fine, content, at peace. I didn't know how it would work out, but I knew it was in God's hands and that everything would be fine.
Meanwhile, while Michael drove home, he was making calls. He called the head hunter who'd helped him find the job at Dell, as well as engineers he knew, including my Uncle Ed, who wad working at a place called Aerospace Turbine Rotables, a place Michael had interviewed when he was looking for the Bunting and Dell jobs. Michael arrived home and we laid on the hammock together. We agreed to go out to a movie for our anniversary still and not let this news ruin our day. First, we agreed to take the dogs to the dog park to play. While we are there, Uncle Ed called Michael back to tell him to come in Monday to sign paperwork and his first day would be June 4th. Michael had gone 3 hours without a job until another one landed in his lap. If that's not a God-thing, I don't know what is!
Michael has been at AeTR for 4.5 years now. They took a chance on Michael with only 6 months experience and they have not been disappointed. Michael has continued working hard, far surpassing the production of his coworkers. He's been given ample raises and the company is currently discussing with him continued education and ways to further his career and his value to the company. They respect him highly and the CEO has said that the company needs to do everything they can to retain Michael, naming him specifically. Fortunately for them, Michael isn't interested in going anywhere else anytime soon. Anyone who lives in Wichita or the surrounding area, especially anyone who knows engineers in this area can attest that the market is fickle for engineers in the aerospace industry in Wichita. Having worked for a company for 40 years does not mean you're immune to being fired at the newest round of layoffs. One of the things Michael and I love about AeTR is that they don't have layoffs like that. They only have 4 engineers at the moment and rarely fire anyone in the company, definitely not the engineers who make the company millions of dollars each year. Job security is worth so much in peace of mind. It's a huge weight off of our shoulders knowing Michael has a secure job for many years to come.
This job has been such a blessing to us! It's helped pay for our house, it's paid for medical bills to have two beautiful children, it's provided a couple vacations to Vegas (and some much needed time away from the kids for this Mommy, also thanks to my mom), it's provided the financial security that we need for me to quit working for a couple years so that I can stay home with the kids. The things this job has given us are vast. I am so thankful for AeTR and how great they've been to Michael and our family. They have made a way for us to have so much more to be thankful for. I am so thankful for this great job that Michael has!
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