My name is Jonathon. How Can I Help You?

Trying to keep this one shorter than the last, but just wanted to do a little "mom bragging" on our son, Jonathon. As you may know, he was hired in November of 2014 as a cashier at a then newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market, truly an answer to a prayer!  Following his release from therapy, he became involved with the state Department of Labor's Vocational Rehabilitation program who provided him with funds to return to school as well as job-placement assistance through Goodwill. As a result of that assistance, he ultimately got the job at Walmart. Prior to being hired, though, he attended many job fairs and always came home disappointed. I remember having to have difficult conversations with him about the unfairness of the hiring process, and the reality that people judge us based on what they see, not necessarily on what we have to offer. Fortunately for each of us, Walmart doesn't fall into that judgmental group. After a couple of interviews with the management at Walmart (and doing his own follow-up "Thank You" letter), he was offered a job! What a blessing! Not only is he happier and more confident now, the location is ideal for us. It is literally less than a ten minute drive from our home which makes transporting him a breeze. We have a wonderful friend, Rosemarie, whom I mentioned in my last post who has stepped in and takes him to work most days for us--what an angel she is! I also have a friend, Mark, who has filled in for us on several occasions so I want to thank him as well. His brother, Jeff, has also been a tremendous help--can't forget him! It is such a beautiful thing to see our Jonathon so happy; after all, he is truly a "people person" and getting to talk to people all day is definitely in his wheelhouse!

To get to my real point: He is being featured as one of Goodwill's "Success Stories" in an upcoming newsletter! On Tuesday, he had his photo shoot at the store. I snapped this picture during the shoot, although I didn't ask permission to post the cute photographer's pic, so I hope he'll forgive me if he should ever see this! :)

I'll post more from the article and the actual pics when I get them--just had to do a little boasting for this hard-working young man. If you're ever in the area, stop in and say "Hi"; he'll love it!

God truly does provide!