The Big Hunker Down: 7 Take-Cover Strategies to Weather the Storm of Job Loss and Keep Your Destiny out of the Bar Ditch

By Brenda McDearmon

Have you ever had to take cover in a closet or navigate a car down a rain-drenched highway during a thunderstorm? If so, you know the fear and even the nervous excitement that accompany both situations. A job change can evoke similar intense emotions, even demanding some of the same survivalist measures to get through it. We know the storm won’t last forever, but we still have to gather provisions, make a plan, and say our prayers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664235779

Brenda McDearmon

Brenda McDearmon approaches life with a purposeful spirit of intentional adventure, whether she is enjoying a Texas day trip, fostering a new friendship, or memorizing scripture with her granddaughter. She loves to read, write, bake brownies for her family, make lists, and explore. Visit her online at her blog, TexasOverFifty.com.

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Copyright © 2021 Brenda McDearmon.

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-3578-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3576-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3577-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021910658

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/01/2021

This book is

dedicated to my husband, Mike, who is

my favorite person in all the world, to our beloved

family, and to my Savior, Jesus Christ, without whom

there would have been no story for me to tell.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1    The Big Hunker Down

Chapter 2    Eeeek! The Ugly Ol’ L Word

Chapter 3    Get Alone with God

Chapter 4    Accept What You Just Can’t Change

Chapter 5    Expect God to Do Big Things

Chapter 6    Let Yourself Grieve

Chapter 7    Plan the Party

Epilogue

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

Your destiny doesn’t have to get stuck in the bar ditch.

—Me

Most people have never had the pleasure of living in the Texas Panhandle, but if you have, you understand the power of an unexpected storm. The winds blow. The snow drifts, and the tornado swirls. Sometimes, a high-pitched siren blares loudly in the middle of a dark night, alerting all to take cover. In many cases, the weather guy or gal has been watching things for hours ahead, giving a play-by-play report of the storm’s progression. If you’re accustomed to checking a smartphone app every morning, you may get wind on Monday of what’s likely to blow through on Friday night, allowing a whole workweek to make sure there’s enough animal feed in the barn and people food in the fridge.

However, basically those who live in that neck of the woods have adopted a learned-from-experience preparedness. Every season has its storm, and people have been through it so many times they know to expect it. Whatever the weather will be will be. Ready or not. And if it’s serious enough, they might just have to hunker down.

If one happens to get caught driving down the highway when a storm comes out of nowhere, all preparedness tactics shift down into a lower, slower, even more deliberate gear. With the first loud pelt of hard rain on the windshield, the warning arrives. Slow down. Turn on the car’s flashers. Hold the steering wheel firmly at ten and at two. One must put immediately into place all that was learned in driver’s ed—and wherever else one might have grasped it—because no one wants to skid across a slippery Texas roadway and wind up stuck in the bar ditch.

The bar ditch is that narrow, little, muddy canal on the side of the road where you never want the wheels of the car to go. Bar is actually borrow, shortened by Southern slang. Where dirt is borrowed to build up a road, what’s left is a low place in the ground alongside it. Now instead of puddling across the roadway, rainwater has another place to collect. But if you lose control of the car (or big ol’ Texas pickup), if you insist on barreling through without giving any heed, you might wind up over there in the ditch, stuck as all get-out. Rest assured progress comes to a complete halt when that happens, my friend.

Job loss can feel much like the same experience as the onslaught of a Texas thunderstorm.

You might have seen it coming, or you might have been taken by surprise. Either way, when the storm of job loss hits, there’s no way to get through it but to go through it. Like taking shelter in a cellar, the first thing is to simply to embrace the big hunker down.

Whether you picked up this book because you’re facing an impending job loss, you’re smack-dab in the middle of the thing, or someone you love is going through it, I want you to know I’m so glad you’re here. I know what it’s like to dread that storm’s approach, what it takes to endure the uncertainty, and how to plan the party when the clouds have finally lifted. Friend, be encouraged. Hope is found in the hunker down, the storm does pass, and your destiny doesn’t have to get stuck in the bar ditch.

So tie your shoelaces, gather a case of water bottles, and pack up a few treasured possessions. The storm is calling us into the cellar. By the time you finish this book, however, you’ll be like me and my Texas neighbors. You will have learned a lot from the experience and developed some pretty strong preparedness tactics to get you through it. Not only that, but when the hunker down gives way to the hoorah, you’ll be ready to celebrate with the best of ’em.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

CHAPTER 1

THE BIG HUNKER DOWN

Weather changes that occur in the clouds and outside the door can often pale in comparison to what happens under the roof and inside the house.

—Me

We Texans have ways of dealing with crazy weather.

Houstonians carry flood insurance, farmers build houses with basements, and those who live on Texas lakes are in a good habit of tying their boats securely to the slips. We basically try our best to be one step ahead of whatever might drop out of the sky.

Weather changes are one thing; however, do any of us ever feel adequately prepared for a sudden onslaught of emotional turmoil? It’s a good question to ask because—let’s face it—weather changes that occur in the clouds and outside the door can often pale in comparison to what happens under the roof and inside the house.

How much easier is it to put a few water bottles in the basement than to prepare our minds for an unexpected storm? Like a car equipped with snow chains in a blizzard, are we preset to contain our fear, keeping our eyes on the road ahead? Have we packed our emotional boats with life jackets strong enough to hold us above the dark and churning waters of self-doubt or loss of confidence?

As I am writing this book on how to get through job loss, the entire world is collectively engaged in a big hunker down. We’re all wearing masks and holding on, trying to get through a whopper of a storm. We who have hit the Big 50 have never seen anything like it, and neither did our parents. Most assuredly, nothing like this has ever been witnessed by our children. It’s a global pandemic, and the culprit is a coronavirus by the name of COVID-19.

This is one doozy of a crisis for sure, and although it may be the worst, we have definitely experienced a few others along the way. Remember the anxious anticipation of Y2K? There was absolutely nothing else on the news besides doomsday predictions and tips for survival, due to the projected fear of a global blackout. We talked about it, read about it, and heard about it nonstop for months and months.

My dad was a rugged man who wore cowboy boots and spoke the independent language of a guy who knew how to survive. He loved nothing more than to contribute some tidbit of knowledge that ensured the well-being of his loved ones. For a solid year, he regularly inspected my pantry and gave gallon jugs of water for birthday gifts. This was a man who preached preparedness with gusto, my friends. My concerned daddy could only rest easy at the end of every day if he knew his kids and grandkids had provisions for the prophecy.

Chances are you have known someone like my dad. But while he tended toward the extreme, the fact is that when it comes to job loss, you and I need to prepare for it more than we have. Employment statistics aren’t necessarily doom and gloom, but they do serve as fair warning. Layoffs occur. Downsizing happens. What seems so secure one day can take a drastic downturn overnight.

My husband and I got married at twenty-one and twenty-two years old. We expected to finish college, get