A Year Ago

Our house

A year ago, I was taking a cold shower wondering if we would have to sell the house. I was wondering not because the hot water heater was broken but because my husband was unemployed. It just so happened that the water heater broke two days before he was notified of his lay-off.

A year ago, I was also wondering if we would go into full-time vocational ministry. We had talked on & off through the years about it, especially if something cataclysmic happened. This seemed cataclysmic to me.

A year ago, I was wondering if we would move to Minnesota where all of my family lives.

A year ago, I was wondering how long our savings would last. Would it be enough?

Now, I know the answers to those questions: no, we didn't go into full-time ministry, move to Minnesota, see a zero balance in our bank account, or even try to sell the house.

But last summer, no one could tell me what would happen to us. They could only tell me their stories. Alike but different. No one knew the answers to those questions except One. And He wasn't talking.

My head wanted answers. He knew what my heart needed: the day-by-day practice of trusting Him and of seeing Him work in the big and the little things.

the hydrangeas in our front yard

Eight boxes of food were given to us the same day we had three extra children at our house. They stayed for five days. God gave to us so that we could give to others. My husband and oldest son "just happened" to wait a long time and then be given free doughnuts the first Saturday after the lay-off.

God didn't work in mysterious ways. He worked through a friend showing up at my door with groceries for a nice dinner. She came on a day that I was particularly discouraged. Another friend gave us a gift certificate for a restaurant and an offer for free babysitting. God gave to us abundantly.

Others gave us money. At different times. In different amounts. Because "we love you." All those gifts of money were the reason we didn't see the zero balance in our bank account. We were humbly loved. How sweet it is.

We canceled two trips up north to see family. Through the contrast of ease of travel to then not being able to travel, I saw how sure it was that God swept me up to Minneapolis at just the right time to be there -- at my brother-in-law's side when he took his last breath. He battled cancer for three and a half years. I live nine hundred miles away. Yet, God took me there at that moment. I was able to be with my sister for a week and half just after he died. How thankful I am that I was able to do something and be there when I live 900 miles away. And just as sure as he swept me there and back to Tennessee, I was unable to travel at all for 13 months.

Two canceled trips. He showed me that He is in control when I'm not paying attention (such as the ease to get to Minnesota just six weeks before) and when I am disappointed about rearranged plans. We canceled the enrollment of my oldest two in a writing class. Instead, we hosted a sign language class at our house, which became a treasured memory from last school year. His plan is better than mine.

Peace came through trusting Him. It did not come through answers or even a job. Yes, I was happy and relieved when my husband was offered a job six months later. But relief is not the same as peace.

The tree house that we built last summer and fall.

Today, I am thankful for my husband's job. I am thankful we were able to get back to Minnesota to visit family after a 13 month hiatus. I am thankful for a tree house that we built because of a canceled trip. I am thankful for more ways that God provided than I can list here. I am even thankful for the disappointments and the loss for I have gained something greater than any loss I felt.

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..." Philippians 3:8

I am thankful for the lessons learned while we were sailing on the Sea of Saturdays.

May I continue to walk in peace and not relief.

May I continue to know the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus,

Humbly yours,

Kathleen

Welcome Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood from Jen @ Finding Heaven. Link on over there to find more inspiration of God at work.

Do you have a story to tell about looking back and seeing the hand of God work in your life? I would love to hear how God works through you, too.

Land ho!

We have crossed the Sea of Saturdays and landed on dry ground. We were sailing for six months, almost to the day. On July 12, 2010, my husband was notified that he was laid off. On January 13, 2011, my husband received a job offer. We've been walking on the shore for six weeks. We have land legs again.

Sweet Number Three sent this with her daddy
on the first day of work at his new job.

We're learning to walk in this country of New Jobs. It is more familiar than sailing on the Ship of Unemployment. For instance, taking the trash out on Tuesday nights has fallen back into place with no effort. The second evening that Daddy comes home in the week equals taking the dumpster to the curb. This is familiar.

Whew! There is much relief in going to work five days a week. But relief is not the same as peace. In the first weeks, I found myself overwhelmed at managing the new schedule and what is to come. I was relying on the relief of having a new job and not on the peace of God. How quickly lessons learned of trusting Him for the unseen flitter away.

Adjustments are still necessary. Husband leaves an hour and a half earlier than the last 17 years. On the happy side, he is home earlier. I have wanted that for a long time.

But....I am well entrenched to a late night schedule. Maybe one day we'll be all done with school, the table set, and dinner ready when Daddy comes home. Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I'm aiming for that.

In the meantime, I'm working on a smile to greet him, no matter how behind I'm feeling and no matter how many things on the to-do list won't get done today. In the midst of the dinner crunch, I want to smile. A smile. That's all. Baby steps, you know.

I wouldn't trade sailing on the sea of Saturdays in the ship of Unemployment.

I didn't ask for it. I don't know that I would have asked for it or will ask for it again.

However, I am thankful. I am thankful for the sweetness of the Lord during the last six months. I am thankful for free babysitting, boxes of groceries, job leads, new contacts, encouraging cards and a myriad of other ways that we felt supported and loved these last six months.

I'm still musing about lessons learned.

In the meantime, we're all thankful for Daddy's new job.

Have you ever been thankful for difficulty in your life? Do you have anything that you are rejoicing over today?

Would you like to read some more encouraging words? Join Jen @ Finding Heaven for:

Unexpected change realizes long-awaited dream

Perhaps it began when I first saw The Swiss Family Robinson and the really cool tree house in that movie. Or perhaps it happened the first time I ever climbed the Tree Climbing Tree in the backyard of my childhood home. I don't really know when it began but I have always dreamed of having a tree house.

Even when we moved into this house nine years ago, the mature trees were a selling point. They were strong enough and shaped properly upon which we could build a tree house . We talked about building a tree house a lot. We gave our oldest son the book How to Build Treehouses, Huts & Forts. We wrote Build a Tree House on our To-Do List.

Oh, we didn't write it on the Every Day To-Do List nor the Responsible Human Being List. But rather, we wrote it down on our Fun Projects List. You know the one --the wish list that we never really seem to have time for.

Instead, we get caught up in our every day lives. In some really good things. Like going to baseball games, dance recitals, and birthday parties. We attempt to keep up with meals, laundry, and school. Then there are the things we need to do, such as write the mortgage check, fix the kitchen sink, and occasionally bring a meal to someone who just had a baby.

Yet, time marches on each day, not really mindful of my Wish List. (How dare it?) I have black lines on my to do lists that make me feel productive. Yet I rarely cross off items on my Wish List. I suppose it is because those Everyday and Really Need To Do lists are never fully "done." Their on-going nature makes getting to the Wish List seem impossible and impractical. There is always something else I should be doing.


And then the unexpected happens. Something to slow us down. My husband lost his job. We canceled a vacation. We stayed home to several weeks of No Plans. (I clear the calendar before and after a trip to prepare before and decompress after.)

My husband wrote down Build the Tree House. Bigger this time. We took some of that canceled vacation money and a gift card to Home Depot and began to build.


We set aside some of the items on The I Really Need To Do List. Our hot water heater had broken. On the first trip to the store to buy lumber, my husband and son saw someone else loading a hot water heater onto their truck. They chuckled and said, "That's what we should be doing this weekend." But instead they started to build the long-awaited dream.



It was worth a few extra cold showers to provide stress relief from the job hunt. All four children swung a hammer at some point. The girls would often provide snacks for the workers. Jack watched from his perch up in the tree. I took pictures.


Now, it was a quick sentence -- we canceled vacation. It took time to make the decision. The next time we've planned for all of my husband's family to be together isn't until Christmas 2011. That was more than a year from then. We were disappointed.



But I am thankful for a Built Tree House. It was built because we stayed home. I love how it took a stressful, challenging thing (job loss) to allow us the time to realize the dream of a twelve-year-old boy's mom and dad.

I am thankful for blessings in disguise. How about you?

I am linking up with Rachel Anne's Company Girl Coffee today. Click here to participate.

It was only $4.35

It was only four dollars and thirty-five cents. And yet tears sprang to my eyes.

It was a quick and unexpected action. She reached over my water glass and said... something. But, it was loud in the restaurant so I couldn't hear her. We'd both had hash browns for breakfast so I thought she was checking to see if our tickets had been switched on accident.

But she said, "I'm getting this today. You need a break." She was paying for my small breakfast.

I had enough in my purse to pay the ticket. But, truth be told: every penny helps. Because it has been four months since my husband last worked.

It was more than just the money. I had enough for today. My friend has been going through difficulties herself. Her son was ill and they're still determining all of the side effects. But she saw past her own troubles and saw into a small thing that she could do for me -- a thoughtful, caring gesture: to pay for the weekly breakfast cost at an early morning Bible study.

It was only $4.35. And tears came to my eyes because it meant so much.

Sailing on a Sea of Saturdays

We've been sailing on a Sea of Saturdays since mid-July. There have been some becalmed seas and a few rough patches. But for the most part it has been sunny, smooth sailing.

This Sea, this Sea of Saturdays, what is this sea of which I speak? It is the Unemployed Life. And Why a Sea of Saturdays? Because for days and days and days on end (or at least so it seemed) as we'd round the bend toward evening, we'd think, "Okay, now who still needs a bath before church tomorrow? "And then we'd realize, "Oh, wait...it's not Saturday. It just seems like Saturday because Daddy has been home the whole day. Again." Sigh.

Now, we've graduated from thinking every day is Saturday to trying to remember it's the night to Take The Garbage To The Curb. Who knew that this could be such a difficult thing? Not I! We haven't got our bearings. And so. we are only getting the garbage out to the curb every other week.

Oh, to find our bearings on this Uncertain Sea of Saturdays is not found in asking these questions: Where will we land? How long will it take to get there? How many storms will we go through? They only lead to...well...Uncertainty.

Even though I would rather not be here and am eagerly looking forward to stretching my land legs on some job ashore, I do know that there is One Who is Certain about the future. It is He Who Has Been Providing for us for 171/2 years on land and for 3 months at sea. Things are Uncertain but He is not.

So while we wait to hear "Land Ho," I'm wishing you & yours:

Happy Sailing,
Kathleen