A New Opportunity
Sep 11, 2022 | by The Fellowship
In 2002, my family and I were faced with a life-altering decision. As citizens of Argentina, for four years we had been enduring our country’s Great Depression, the worst economic crisis imaginable.
An industrial engineer, I was working for a company that manufactures steel pipe for the oil industry. My company began buying out competitors in other countries such as Mexico, Italy, Canada, and Japan. As a result, it became the leading oilfield steel pipe manufacturer in the world and decided to move its headquarters to Houston. The company offered me a position on the commercial sales team at the new headquarters and said the relocation expenses would be paid. It was a very exciting opportunity.
There were so many things to consider in deciding if we should accept the offer. We would be leaving our parents and extended family and would only see them infrequently. The English language would have to be mastered as well as a new culture, laws, and customs. We began asking the Lord to lead us as we discussed the pros and cons for hours.
Argentina is filled with citizens of European background. My own grandfather had immigrated from Spain and my wife’s grandfather from Italy. I had always admired their courage to leave all that was known and begin again in a new country. A similar desire to experience the world was in my DNA. My wife agreed that this was too good of an opportunity for a bright future to pass up.
Though the company provided funds to relocate, the hows and why were left up to us. We banded together with other company families who were moving to Houston to figure out where to live. Someone had learned that Cinco Ranch was a great place, so that is where we began to look. Six families bought homes within a block or two of each other in a new area opening up.
What a wonderful support group we were for each other, sharing our experiences and what we were learning about how to live successfully in Texas. The company office was in the Galleria, so it was a comfort for the wives to have friends close at hand should any need arise.
It was a very stressful time adjusting to a new country. My wife and I grew closer than ever before in our marriage. When we arrived in January 2003, we had an eight-year-old daughter.
The following January the Lord blessed us with another little girl. She was automatically a citizen because of being born in the USA, and in 2011, my wife and I and older daughter became naturalized citizens.
Beginning in 2012, I joined an international steel pipe trading company and then a couple of others after that with ever-increasing opportunities to travel worldwide. When Covid hit, I was working for a Ukrainian steel pipe company. The company closed for a period during the pandemic, and then started back up again last year. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February of this year, I was laid off.
Thus began a period of searching the internet for a new job … and praying for the Lord to open a new opportunity. Over the past five months, I filled out more than 100 applications!
When a major international oil company contacted me for an interview, I was so excited. We prayed fervently and asked others to pray with us. A few days after the interview, I was offered the position. The job will demand special skills that I have to build. This will be a welcome challenge as I must study and get trained in a field new to me.
It all is happening in the Lord’s timing! Our younger daughter has graduated from high school and just begun studying at a university in Pennsylvania. We had plenty of time to get her settled in before my new job began this month. Our hearts overflow with gratitude to our Heavenly Father who leads us every step of the way in this life’s journey.
M. R.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.
Psalm 32:8