Job Update

Well,

Most of you know I have been going for a new position at the Daily News.

But, for those who need a refresher ... Our old editor was fired in April and we hired a woman named Carolina Garcia. After the Assistant Managing Editor (AME) and Managing Editor quit in the past couple months, our new editor decided not to replace them but rather restructure with what she calls a "flattened" management system including three senior editors. They will be in charge of Online, Content and Presentation for the entire paper. So I went head-to-head with a guy named Tom for the presentation job. He had the job when he was first hired at the DN (then it was called the AME for design). He was demoted and they took some money away from him because he was in over his head and frankly not the best people person. Whenever that job or a similar one became open he went for it and didn't get it, so I thought my chances were good right off the bat. Carolina brought in a woman to interview for the position and told me that she liked her but "didn't have a place for her," which was clearly good to hear and then we were down to two.

Tom and I were working together on a project last week and both knew the other one was going for the job. So I pulled him aside late last week and asked him if he wanted to talk about the elephant in the room. He said yes, he was surprisingly gracious and we both said let the best man win and we agreed to give major projects to one another no matter who Carolina chose. (he is an outstanding designer by the way).

So, Carolina called me into her office today and says, "I interviewed you and Tom for the job, and you are very talented and I want you to take the job." !!!! There was buzz last week that the finalists (plural) would have interviews with the publisher, but it seems clear that only the finalist (singular) for each position will meet with him for a very informal get-to-know-you discussion. Mine is being set up for later this week ... So, she threw out a figure as far as salary goes, I told her that Karen and I want to start a family and that Karen won't be working for the first few years (we hope more) and that my number was different than hers and asked her if there was "wiggle room." She said we can talk about it later this week so I'm quite hopeful her number will change to more closely resemble mine ... Regardless of what the pay is, I think it's a bad career move for me to turn the job down, so barring any catastrophes later this week with the publisher, it appears the job is mine.

Karen and I have had many good lessons in contentment during our first couple years of marriage, especially when things were tight financially. In the past few weeks we had to remind ourselves that the Lord had already made up his mind and that we needed to rejoice no matter what He decided. When things started to look good it was hard not to let ourselves get carried away. We can rejoice and thank the Lord for "no good thing does He withhold from those who walk upright." And "every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no shadow of turning."

We thank you all so much for your prayers. What a joy it is to know that we have family and friends who love the Lord, who honor Him with their lives and uphold their brothers and sisters in prayer. We also ask that you would continue to pray that I would have wisdom in this last step and that the Lord would be generous with my new salary. We know that the Lord has already determined exactly what we need as far as salary goes, but we're also told that we lack because we don't ask. ... not sure exactly how that works, so "ask" with us.

Brian, with Karen nearby