A bad start to my day -

Life is full of challenges. Everyday we face them. Some aren't so bad. We know that if we can just get through that day, then by tomorrow, we will be fine.

But other challenges, they are bad. We know that the challenge presents months of worry and anxiety, days and weeks filled with uncertainty about what is going to happen, and how we are going to get through this challenge.

Today presented itself to me with a difficult challenge. I do not like today. It is my least favorite day in almost a year.

Today I get to work at my normal time. I walk in the distribution center, and immediately, I know. Today is going to be bad. When you walk into work, and see all the major corporate gurus in their fancy suits waiting, you know something bad is about to happen. I already knew what was happening. My instinct has been telling me for months what was about to happen. That is one of the perks of doing the company's financial reporting. You know how the business is doing.

My GM sees me standing there with the "look" on my face. He knows I know. He can tell by looking at my eyes. His eyes tell me I am right. His mouth tells me to report to the breakroom for a meeting. All the DC associates are already in the breakroom, waiting.

Soon, they come in, the big wigs. They drop the bomb on the building. They are closing our distribution center. Come July 3rd, 300 Rite-Aid associates and managers will be out of a job. The news hurts. The news devastates. The news breaks hearts. The news is bad.

This distribution center has been opened for 31 years. We have only been Rite-Aid for two years. Before that, we were Eckerd's. The majority of the people who work here have been working here, in this building for 15, 20 ,25, some even over 30 years. They have literally spent their entire adult life working here. My heart aches for these people. They are losing more than a job. They are losing a piece of their heart.

As for me, I don't know right now. This is the second job I have lost due to a crappy economy in less than a year. Maybe that is a message for me. But for right now, I just really don't know.

Pray for my family. Pray for all the families of the people who work here. We all need the strength that only our faith in Jesus Christ can give us.

We will endure. We will survive. We might walk away with some scars, but at least we will still be walking.