When one door closes ...

When the CEO and vice president of your company call you in for a meeting at five minutes before 5 p.m. you have to know it's not good news. Yesterday, I was laid off from my job as an editor with a local business publication.

The company had been making several cutbacks in operational areas, and yesterday the cutbacks hit the staff. My position was eliminated, thus, I was eliminated. It was as if someone had punched me in the stomach.

I had been with the company longer than anyone in our editorial department. I'd tried to be a good and loyal employee, doing everything that was asked of me - and then some. But, I guess when you're competing with the bottom line, it always wins.

Now, I have to pull myself together and regroup. I'm trying very hard to believe this is part of some master plan God has for me. Still, it's tough. I may give myself a few days to mourn this chapter of my life, and then I'll try to figure out what's next. Maybe I can do some freelance work while I see what other opportunities are out there. I have a couple of book ideas I've been kicking around so maybe now's the time to work on those.

I guess I'll have to see what doors open for me.