In more recent news from the Mobleys, David has been awarded tenure at UCI! We are so thankful to God for providing David with a position here at UCI. We had thought that God had closed this door six years ago when David was not the candidate chosen for his current position, but then God opened the door again almost two years ago and here we are...PERMANENTLY!
Many of David's colleagues at UCI have phenomenal credentials: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, Berkeley. David's are not quite as impressive. He transferred to UC Davis from a junior college and completed both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at UC Davis. He then went on to work as a post-doctoral researcher at UC San Francisco and as an assistant professor at the University of New Orleans. So, why are we here? God has blessed David abundantly as David sought to glorify God in his work.
God has been there leading David each step of the way in his career. When he was trying to decide on graduate program (before we were dating), he had a dream that he should read about Zerubbabel. As he searched the Scriptures for passages about Zerubbabel, he read in Haggai 1, "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?" David was a fairly new Christian at the time, and he understood from this, that God wanted him to study at UC Davis so that he could continue to grow as a Christian in the place where he first heard the gospel. Many may have thought that he was out of his mind to choose UC Davis over his other options, but God has blessed his obedience. Secretly, I'd like to think that he also was really attracted to a cute, peppy, intelligent blonde, but I know I had nothing to do with his decision.
When David first applied for faculty positions, he had his heart set on the position at UCI (the position he currently holds). We were disappointed when he did not get the job offer and even more so when the first-choice candidate accepted the offer. We thought it meant he would work one more year as a postdoc, but then his boss told him about the opening at the University of New Orleans. My first reaction: "You're NOT going to apply for that job, are you???" Then, we went to live in New Orleans for four years.
The plan was to stay there until he went up for tenure and apply for other positions simultaneously. Again, God gave David wisdom and one day he told me he wanted to "test out the waters". Next thing I knew, he had gone on three interviews and had been offered three positions! Interestingly, the position at UCI was the exact same position that he had applied for and interviewed for four years earlier! And here we are permanently!
Although David's job has both positive and negative aspects, he is, in one sense, living out his dream. After becoming a Christian, he has really wanted to be a Christian professor in a research university. One of his points of contention before turning to Christ was thinking that Christianity and science were at odds. Meeting and talking with an engineering professor at UC Davis who was also a Christian was incredibly influential in his decision to follow Christ. We pray that God will also use him to help many others who come to UCI with a similar mindset!
