The Golden Handcuffs

There was a bit of a wrench thrown in my plans for change. From a purely monetary perspective it comes down to the "Golden Handcuffs". At least that is the term floating around with church employees relating to the difficulty of leaving church employment. The difficulty mostly relates to the retirement benefits that come to you after you have worked there 10-20 years. I will be at 9 years in September. Once I hit 10 years I get 50% of my supplemental insurance paid after I retire. That is worth about $150/month till the day I die. That could add up to $50,000 in today's dollars which could be worth a lot more in the future.

Don't get me wrong, I love working for the church and I have many friends who tell me that they would love to work for the church. There is something wonderful about working for a company that shares your values and beliefs so perfectly. I get to attend devotionals every Monday morning and learn about family history during our training meetings. There is something so wonderful about feeling like I make a real difference in the world. If nothing else my search has just made me very grateful for what I have.

The problem is that I feel stuck and I am not progressing. It is very competitive to work there, which makes it hard for me to be promoted. That part is frustrating. It may take a master's degree and some really hard certification tests to get some important credentials before I can really compete properly.

We had our annual broadcast today and it was so inspiring and made me feel so grateful to be part of something that does so much good and brings so many around the world to the Savior.  There are benefits that come from working for the church that I will never be able to quantify. What was slightly humorous to me was that while I was attending the broadcast I got an appointment for an interview with a real estate investment company and I got a job offer from a mortgage company.

I got myself pretty worked up wondering what I was going to do if I got an offer. I fasted last weekend and I went to the temple and prayed about it and I wasn't getting any clear answers but today I just feel sick when I think about accepting the position and leaving church employment. I know I just need to hold out for a better fit even if it takes me to Hawaii. I feel like God has a plan for me and I just need to wait for it to unfold.