Saved Folk in the House (20 page)
“Yes, I’m Nicole Riley.”
“Brother Vincent Coles,” he said, shaking her hand. “Please follow me. Did Sister Erica tell you about the test you will be taking?”
“Yes, she did,” Nikki answered.
“We’ll have you take the test first, then I’ll meet with you for the interview. Please follow me.”
He directed Nikki to a conference room. “You have forty-five minutes. Use that phone to dial extension thirty-seven if you finish sooner. Do you have a calculator?”
“Yes, I do.”
“This is not the CPA exam, so feel free to use it. Here is scratch paper and plenty of pencils. Do you have any questions?” he asked, handing her the exam booklet.
“No.”
“Then you may begin,” Vincent said, and left.
Nikki read over the test. The questions took her back to college, Mr. Hutt’s Principles of Accounting class. She completed it in twenty minutes, checked it twice, and dialed extension thirty-seven.
“Hello, this is Nicole Riley. I’ve finished the test.”
“I’ll be right there,” Vincent said, sounding surprised that she had finished so early.
Vincent checked her answers right there, and Nikki had aced the test. He informed her that she had done well, and they proceeded with the interview.
“Why should we hire you?” he asked pointedly.
At that precise moment, an anointing came upon Nikki, and it was no longer her, but the greater One who lived on the inside of her who spoke.
Nikki yielded. “Because in my fifteen years of experience I have probably seen every type of accounting transaction. I’ve worked in auditing, internal controls, daily operations, and financial reporting. I have worked in both the public and private sectors. I volunteered at my church in Virginia. With my knowledge of accounting, experience, and the help of the Holy Ghost, nothing is going to happen in the accounting department that I won’t be able to handle, Brother Coles.”
He sat back in his seat visibly impressed.
“We are currently going through a reorganization,” he said. “The task at hand is to establish a separate accounting department to deal with the financial resources and expenses that are generated outside of the local church. What would you say that main resource would be?”
“I’ve been a supportive partner with Way Maker’s for years, so I would have to say partnership income.”
“That’s exactly right. And what would the largest expense be?”
“TV. I can’t imagine anything more expensive than the television broadcast, especially with the millions of households it reaches all over the world,” Nikki said without hesitation.
“Right again,” Vincent said. “The position requires approximately twenty percent travel to oversee the finances at the national and international conventions.”
“How long do these conventions last?”
“The team is normally gone for three days. Is that a problem?”
God will have to work out that part of the job,
Nikki thought.
“Not a problem,” she responded.
“Good. Are there any more questions?”
“None at this time.”
“Well, it has certainly been a pleasure talking with you today,” Vincent said, standing and extending his hand.
“The pleasure was all mine,” Nikki said.
They shook hands, and she thanked him for the interview. She also let him know that she looked forward to hearing from him soon.
Vincent escorted her back to the lobby.
She went to the minivan and once again praised the Lord all the way home.
T
here had been no word from Way Maker Ministries since her interview more than a week ago. Nikki was determined not to ask Erica about it when they talked. She figured Erica would let her know when there was something to know. In the meantime, Nikki decided she couldn’t just sit around and not do anything. Besides, it was time to start bringing home the bacon. She called Accountants R Us, a temporary agency that only placed professional accountants, so the salaries were competitive. She was asked to come in and complete some paperwork. It felt good to dress up, corporate-style, again. Black or navy was safe, so she chose her black suit with pale gray pinstripes and knee-length skirt and black pumps.
Nikki was required to take several competency tests and then meet with two of the placement executives. They assured her that based on her qualifications she would have no problem landing a lucrative position in Atlanta. She asked them to hold off on aggressively trying to place her because she was working on something on her end, but by all means to keep her informed of opportunities.
The next day, Way Maker Ministries didn’t call, but Accountants R Us did—with a thirty-dollar-per-hour indefinite temporary assignment.
“Where is it located?” Nikki asked.
“At a large company downtown. We cannot divulge the name unless you are interested in interviewing for the position,” said Cindy, one of the placement executives Nikki had met the day before.
“That was really quick, Cindy,” Nikki said, stalling.
“Actually, I was already recruiting for the position. I was just waiting for the right person. I told the client all about you, and he is very interested in talking with you.”
Nikki was listening and praying at the same time. She heard from within,
This is not what I called you here to do
.
“I’m really not ready to go to work right this minute, since I just got here and I’m still learning my way around.”
“I understand. It has to be tough getting settled in a strange new city. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks for understanding, Cindy.”
They hung up. “I bind you, Satan,” Nikki said out loud. She began talking to God. “That was a trick of the enemy trying to get me to lose focus on what I came here to do. Thank You, Lord. Us Christians sure don’t have the same problems the world has. If I told somebody of the world that the devil was trying to get me off track by offering my unemployed self thirty dollars per hour, they would look at me like I was crazy. I can imagine what Rae would say. ‘Shoot, get
me
off track with a thirty-dollar-per-hour job.’ Lord, I guess we are peculiar people.”
Nikki and the children were believing God for the job. They sowed faith seeds and named the seeds by writing on the back of their envelopes “accountant position.” Nikki had learned long ago to get her children involved in what she believed God for, because their faith and prayers were not hindered by some of the issues that might hinder adults.
A few days later, a different executive from Accountants R Us called Nikki, who was just about ready to give up, cave in, and quit waiting. He had a job for Nikki ten minutes away from where she lived with an annual starting salary of sixty thousand dollars.
“Can I call you right back?” Nikki asked before hanging up and calling Erica.
“Personnel,” Erica answered.
“Erica, they are tempting me. I can’t keep turning down these job offers when I don’t know what you are going to do. I have to call this guy back today. If I’m not absolutely sure that I have the job at the church, then I’m accepting the offer.”
“Let me call you back,” Erica said.
Twenty minutes later, Erica called Nikki back.
“You got the job if you want it.”
“Why would you say if I want it?” Nikki asked curiously. “Of course I want it.”
“The offer is thirty thousand dollars a year.”
Nikki was shocked. She had just been offered double for the other position.
“Can I counter that offer?”
“I’m afraid not,” Erica said solemnly.
It only took Nikki a second to realize that she was no longer working for money, but to fulfill God’s purpose for her life. God, not a job, would take care of her and meet her needs.
“I accept,” Nikki said. “Now I have to call Accountants R Us back and decline their offer.”
N
ikki changed clothes three times, trying to find the perfect outfit to make a good impression on her first day. She wanted to be stylish yet conservative. She was the new accountant at Way Maker Ministries. Hallelujah! Her boss, Brother Vincent, seemed strait-laced and conservative, but he was cool in the interview, so she didn’t know what would impress him.
“Whatever! I got the job,” she said, giving up trying to impress. “I’ll just be me.”
Feeling eager and daring, she decided on her red suit.
Kevin had offered to take Mia to the bus stop the first couple of days so that Nikki could get the hang of her new routine. He had taken her and the children out for pizza to celebrate the new job. They made all of the arrangements then. He even offered to help out when she had to travel. Nikki was very grateful for her neighbor.
Erica parked right beside the minivan before Nikki could even get out. She had been caught checking her makeup. It was a gorgeous fall day, and Nikki’s window was down.
“You look beautiful, sis. How do you feel?” Erica asked.
“Like a million bucks,” Nikki said, gathering her purse and briefcase.
They walked to Erica’s office so that Nikki could complete the required routine paperwork. Erica turned on her radio. Nikki could hear “Victory,” one of her favorite songs.
She began to hum.The Spirit hit Nikki, and she jumped up and began to dance right there in Erica’s office, the first day on her new miracle harvest job, all dressed up.
Erica just looked at her at first. Then she laughed, and before she knew it, she was up praising God herself. They danced until the song was over. Then, worn out, they fell into their seats and began to pull themselves back together.
“God is just so good to me,” Nikki said.
“I feel you, sis. I feel you.”
Nikki completed all of the paperwork. Erica gave her the grand tour and introduced her to the staff. They ended the tour in the accounting department.
“I will leave you in the capable hands of Brother Vincent,” Erica said.
They hugged and she left.
“Welcome to Way Maker Ministries’ accounting operations. Are you ready to get started?” Vincent asked.
“Thank you, and yes, I am,” Nikki said.
“Well, as I told you before, we are making outreach and the local church separate companies in the accounting system. It is all one accounting operation right now. Each account has to be analyzed and applied to the appropriate company. You will head up the project of separating the outreach accounts. You will also be responsible for preparing a monthly report of all outreach accounting activity. You can be as creative as you’d like. This is a copy of the report the way it is prepared now,” he said, handing her a file.
Nikki skimmed the report.
“Use it as a guide to create your own. As you get into the process, you might come up with other ways to present your information. Any questions?”
“No,” Nikki said.
“Then I’ll introduce you to the staff.”
Vincent introduced Nikki to the two accounting clerks, who welcomed her to the department.
“We will meet this afternoon at three o’clock about your travel schedule,” Vincent said.
“Should I come to your office at three?”
“Call me to make sure nothing has changed,” Vincent instructed.
“I’ll do that.”
Nikki settled in and determined that she liked the sisters with whom she would be working. However, after the three o’clock meeting, she was beginning to have second thoughts about leaving the children to travel. That along with the low salary opened the door for doubts. The sixty-thousand-dollar offer from Accountants R Us had confirmed her worth. Now she had to struggle to consider her work efforts differently.
God is my source, my paycheck is my seed,
she kept telling herself.
Erica had assured Nikki that she would be available to keep the children when she had to travel. Initially, she was comfortable with leaving the children in the care of Erica, Kevin, and Randy. The children were certainly thrilled with the idea when she pitched it to them. She would see how she felt when the time came to leave them for the first time in the hands of these virtual strangers. She had time to get used to the idea, since the next convention wasn’t for two more months.
The first six weeks on the job went pretty well; however, Nikki was having a challenge getting to work on time. She came in at eight-fifteen one morning and got written up for being consistently late by five to fifteen minutes, which she thought was no big deal, since she usually stayed late every day. Kevin and Randy watched out for the children when she worked overtime.
Well, it appears that I have an issue that needs to be resolved. Just in case it can’t be, I’ll give Accountants R Us a call
, she thought.
It was a school night, and Nikki made sure the children’s homework was done and checked. The kitchen had been cleaned after dinner. All baths had been taken, and the children were asleep. Nikki was up praying and pacing. She wasn’t sure if calling Accountants R Us was a lack of faith. She knew she had to do what she had to do for her and her family, but she also believed that she was called to the accountant position at the church.
She was lost in thought when there was a knock at the door.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, a friendly face,” she said, opening the door to Kevin.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“How’s work?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh Lord, come talk to me.”
He took her by the hand and led her to the living room. They sat down on opposite ends of the sofa.
“Now tell me what’s going on,” he said.
He was the best friend a girl could have: cool, rational, reasonable, and very mature. He was easy to talk to and an excellent listener. Nikki told him about her doubts about the job.
“Didn’t you sow a big seed for that job?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered.
“And you’re thinking about giving it up already? Come on. It can’t be that bad.”
“I may have made a mistake.”
“No way. You are the sharpest sister I know. The way you handle your business, you do not make those kinds of mistakes. Give it some more time. Whatever it is, it’ll work out. Just give it time,” Kevin said, reaching over and patting her on the back of her hand.