Well, I have not been successful in keeping up this blog but I would like to try to do better from now on.
July 22 marked one year since my husband lost his job and I can tell you that God has proven himself faithful. All the blessings are too many to tell, but the ones that stick out the most to me are:
-We always had food in our cabinets!
-Our fridge went out and we were so blessed by someone to get a brand new fridge! (WE LOVE IT!)
-We never had major car trouble!
-Every time the kids needed to go to the Doctor's office, we had enough money!! All of Joseph's asthma meds that he needed were supplied (via samples) or we had just enough to cover them. (They normally cost us about $180-$350 a month if we had to pay out of our pocket).
-Matthew and I never had to go to the doctor for anything major!
-Both sets of parents, our family, and friends sent encouraging notes or money that totally blessed us!
-Friends gave our kids little gifts of love as well!
-We still own our house!
-We are still married!!
-We made it through the worst tax audit with the help of a retired IRS agent that happened to be a friend of a family member!!
Isn't that amazing?!?! I always thought that God gave miracles to Missionary families or Preacher families only. Truth be told, Matthew and I both just scratch our heads and wonder why God chose to be so good to us. Heck if I know, but I believe that He proved Himself real in our lives.
Now Matthew has three jobs! Can you believe that God answered yours and my prayers 3 fold?!? :) His main job is that he will be a principal at the Christian school through our church. When he lost his job last year, he threw himself into volunteering at the school in order to keep his spirits up. (P/s- What an excellent example he is to me!!! He worked hard to keep on "top-side!") He found a passion in teaching and is excited to work in that field.
The school is small right now so Matthew is working a late night job as a shipper at the bread company he used to work for. It gives him the opportunity to get health insurance, to provide the main part of our finances, and since he works alone he is able to listen to preaching and singing podcasts while he works. It is also a physical job so he has the opportunity to get a good workout in. ;) And he is working a third job as part-time income. As far as his work at the church, Matthew is an Adult Sunday School teacher, a Patch the Pirate Club leader, a choir member and an alter worker, plus he will finish his MBA in the Spring. He really is a man on the move.
Madeline and Joseph will both be in school this year. I can not believe that my babies are growing up so quick. I love them so much and they bring me a lot of joy!! Madeline will start kindergarten and Joseph will go to preschool two days a week. I will have one day, for three hours, to myself and I am so excited! Because most of our family lives away, it is hard to get too many free moments to myself. As funny as it sounds, I am looking forward to cleaning house during those three hours. We will see. Madeline will also be in ballet class and girls club at our church this fall. She is so excited to have the opportunity of both activities.
As for me, my life will revolve mostly around my family and church. There is no other place I would rather be! I will be a volleyball coach, continue teaching my sweet girls in Sunday School, be a nursery worker, an alter worker, sing in the Ladies Ensemble, sing duets, help in Patch the Pirate club, and help Matthew one morning a week with any office work that needs completed for the school. I will also be working to get my Bachelor's degree online at Midway College.
Right now our life is going to be busy, but while we have health and life, giving to the Lord and to others is really full-filling. God took care of us in our great time of need, surely living for Him is the least we can do.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
Reflecting on 2011
This was our Christmas letter this year. It pretty much explains our year in a nutshell:
I pray that 2012 brings many bright beginnings for you and your family. I hope He will do the same for us. And if not, we will keep trusting God, doing our part, and keep on going.
Best wishes in 2012
December 19, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
| M |
erry Christmas! We hope that this letter finds you well and looking forward to a wonderful holiday season! Madeline remembered the excitement of Christmas but for Joseph, this is all new and wonderful. It is so fun to watch our kids eagerly wait for Christmas day.
This year has been a rollercoaster of events. The year started out calm and it seemed as though things were falling in to place for us. Matthew was enjoying his job and became a deacon at our church. He and I both teach a Sunday school class. At church also, he is in the men’s ensemble (and choir) and I am in the ladies ensemble. Madeline was happy in her class at preschool and Joseph was turning 2. Things were good.
Then we took a turn in another direction. As many of you know, Matthew was let go from his job at the end of July. It was hard to take at first being that Matthew loves to work and that he loved where he was working. As with any heartache, time heals and you have to move on. Unfortunately, it is a very slow job market right now, but we have not let that stop us. Along with actively looking for another job, Matthew and I have had 3 yard sales, sold things on Craigslist and EBay, and have made cornhole games to sell; all to try to fill in the gaps where unemployment doesn’t. Matthew started his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) degree at Midway College. I also decided to go back to college to finish my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship (at Midway College online). Also, since Matthew is such a work-o-holic, he thought it would be best to stay busy volunteering at our church’s Christian school by teaching World Geography, Math, and Science to the High School. It seems as though our schedule is busier now than before. God has been so good to us. We have had so many people encourage us through this. Our main concern is our health. Things are too tight to cover any healthcare premiums, so please pray for God’s protection and please pray that a job opportunity will quickly present itself.
Madeline is already 5 years old. She has lost that toddler look and has grown into a beautiful young lady. I cannot believe how quickly time as flown. We are currently looking at schools for her to attend next year for kindergarten. She was blessed to have a great preschool the last two years and we are sad that PK-4 is the last year they offer. The thing I hear most from other parents of children who are in her class is “I have heard so much about Madeline from [such and so].” She is very social and loves her friends. Her interests right now tend to be art and crafts. She is such a good sister to Joseph and seems to enjoy teaching him new things.
Speaking of Joseph, he is 2 years old now. He looks just as handsome as his daddy but is as stubborn as him too. HA! It is amazing how well he gets along with Madeline and he will often say that he misses her as soon as I drop her off at preschool. He loves the movie Cars 2 and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. He likes matchbox cars and Thomas the Train. I have never seen him get as excited as he has seeing outside Christmas lights this year. He will go on and on about them. When he is on point, he is quite a charmer.
The thing that has gotten us through this year is our faith in Jesus Christ. There have been so many times that we could have been so depressed and just given up hope, but our faith has given us a reason to keep going and a peace that it will all be ok. Our hope for you and your family is that you know Christ as your Savior. He offers everlasting life to those who will accept Him. Romans 3:23. Romans 6:23. Romans 5:8. I John 1:9. Romans 10:9-13.
We love you all so much! Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
When I reflect on 2011, I have found that God has proved Himself to do what He has promised. He commands us to do our part and He will take care of His part. God has came through for us.I pray that 2012 brings many bright beginnings for you and your family. I hope He will do the same for us. And if not, we will keep trusting God, doing our part, and keep on going.
Best wishes in 2012
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Don't forget God's goodness
Psalms 71:14-15 "But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. (15) My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof."
I remember the afternoon that Matthew's call came telling me he had lost his job. I was numb, heartbroken for Matthew, angry at his company for letting us down but yet at peace too. He was let go on a Friday and I remember feeling so brokenhearted and angry and numb the whole weekend. It was like we were walking in a dark fog but yet we never doubted that God didn't have a plan. It is just the pain of the loss that we felt. Matthew loved his job. I had never before seen him wake up on the first alarm and jump up, excited to go to work. Even though we were so hurt and sad, we knew that when people started to hear the news that we would have a lot of people praying for us and that it would all be okay. It always is. When you dwell on all the good and walk in God's word, you find a peace that keeps you going.
Two weeks prior to him losing his job, Matthew had met with his boss and was told that he would be on a 30 day"improvement plan". He was also told that it was set up for him to "succeed" and that his boss wanted Matthew for the job. Matthew had been at his job for 10 months and during those 10 months, he received one month of training after being promised 6 months of training. Seems to me that if you leave a guy to do his thing after one month, that you are saying that he is fully capable of doing the job. Matthew's company let him go for "lack of initiative". (They also said that if they had a job open in Kentucky, they would transfer him because he had an excellent skillset. Go figure!) If any of you know Matthew, he will break his neck to make sure the job is done right and will give it his all. Seems to me it was politics as usual but that is neither here nor there.
So, for two weeks he and I both prayed and he gave it his all but it wasn't good enough. Matthew lost his job and a week later, we lost our health insurance. He wasn't given the 30 days to try to complete the plan, to give it a fair shake. I think that company shot themselves in the foot because you rarely find such a hard working man as Matthew! Their loss.
But our loss also. Wait a second...OUR GAIN! You see, if you serve God and try to do right, He promises to take care of His own. Are we special because we do serve God and try to do right? Heck-to-the-NO! God loves all His children equal because we are all sinners and there is no one that is better than the other. But just as we as parents tend to do more for our kids when they are trying to do good, maybe that makes sense that God would be that way. Heck if I know! Matthew and I feel as about unworthy as a pole cat. I have gone over and over in my head why on Earth God has been so good to us and I just can't find an answer because I know I don't deserve it and I know Matthew feels the same way.
I always enjoy hearing the stories of the faith where people have told of amazing miracles that have happened in their lives. Seems like missionaries have the best stories and great men of the faith too. I love the story my mom and dad have told me of Dr. Tom Malone's miracle. He was asked to speak at a conference and he didn't have gas money to go. He told the Lord he would go and drove until he almost ran out of gas. He pulled into a gas station and prayed because he wasn't sure what to do. I think the story goes: he told the gas attendant to fill up his tank (knowing full well that he had no money to pay) and the gas attendant came back and told him that his tank was already full. Talk about amazing!?!? I always wondered how awesome it would be to have miracles like that happen. Now I know! (Disclaimer: We have had several other miracles have happened throughout our lives. Being able to go to Heaven one day and being saved by a merciful Savior is "miracle" enough.)
Matthew always asks me "Do you want the good news first or the bad news?" I always pick the bad news first cause I like to save the good news til the end. So, the bad news first. Matthew lost his job, we lost health insurance (Joseph is on medicine that he needs and cost $170 for a 30 day supply and we don't know how much his inhaler is w/o insurance), we are going through a terrible tax audit where they say we owe $4904.44, our fridge went out and I broke a tooth.
Now the good/amazing/wonderful/blessings/miracles news. :) First let me tell you of the things that we should praise God for every day. We have two beautiful children who love us, both sets of our parents are alive, we have a great church, tons of good friends, a loving family and a house that is more than adequate shelter. Plus we have God who loves us. That alone is more than wonderful! As for the miracles, within the first week of Matthew being off of work, we received $200 anonymously in the mail, a $25 gas card from good friends and were invited to a fantastic meal! My in-laws bought us groceries that filled our cabinets and we received more anonymous money! Matthew's unemployment was being disputed but passed! We were able to get a 3 months supply of Joseph's medicine for only $87 (somehow the insurance approved it.)! Out of the kindness of their heart, someone gave us money for a fridge when ours went out!!! Matthew was able to get Cobra dental back-dated to August 1st for me to be able to go to the dentist. The dentist waived the initial copay because I had to get a temp filling and I have to come back. (My tooth was too inflamed to work on and the anesthesia shots weren't working.) Our stuff has sold on Craigslist and Half.com! Our two yard sales brought in close to over $500! (We haven't sold blood or anything yet, but I am sure that would bring some money in too! LOL!) Matthew had a law mowing party one weekend with a friend of his and that brought in some money! (Note to self: God expects us to do our part. We cannot sit on our cans and tell God to rain down the blessings on us. That is laziness and God won't bless if we don't try.)
I told my friend the other day that when God pours out all these blessings on you, you feel so humble. I always thought it would be great and amazing. It is, but yet you feel like God is next to you more than ever in your life and to be in the presence of God's goodness is ever so humbling. I know what a rotten person I am. I am so unworthy and I don't understand. I feel like the people who have given of their hearts to us are much better Christians than we are because they gave sacrificially. It seems like we might appear to be the "heroes" in this story, but really, they are. I have learned that we should love others as ourselves and that if we trust God, He will make a way. Our audit is "to be continued..." but I trust that God has a plan for that as well.
I promised God that I would tell of His goodness to us and I wrote this to not forget His goodness!
I remember the afternoon that Matthew's call came telling me he had lost his job. I was numb, heartbroken for Matthew, angry at his company for letting us down but yet at peace too. He was let go on a Friday and I remember feeling so brokenhearted and angry and numb the whole weekend. It was like we were walking in a dark fog but yet we never doubted that God didn't have a plan. It is just the pain of the loss that we felt. Matthew loved his job. I had never before seen him wake up on the first alarm and jump up, excited to go to work. Even though we were so hurt and sad, we knew that when people started to hear the news that we would have a lot of people praying for us and that it would all be okay. It always is. When you dwell on all the good and walk in God's word, you find a peace that keeps you going.
Two weeks prior to him losing his job, Matthew had met with his boss and was told that he would be on a 30 day"improvement plan". He was also told that it was set up for him to "succeed" and that his boss wanted Matthew for the job. Matthew had been at his job for 10 months and during those 10 months, he received one month of training after being promised 6 months of training. Seems to me that if you leave a guy to do his thing after one month, that you are saying that he is fully capable of doing the job. Matthew's company let him go for "lack of initiative". (They also said that if they had a job open in Kentucky, they would transfer him because he had an excellent skillset. Go figure!) If any of you know Matthew, he will break his neck to make sure the job is done right and will give it his all. Seems to me it was politics as usual but that is neither here nor there.
So, for two weeks he and I both prayed and he gave it his all but it wasn't good enough. Matthew lost his job and a week later, we lost our health insurance. He wasn't given the 30 days to try to complete the plan, to give it a fair shake. I think that company shot themselves in the foot because you rarely find such a hard working man as Matthew! Their loss.
But our loss also. Wait a second...OUR GAIN! You see, if you serve God and try to do right, He promises to take care of His own. Are we special because we do serve God and try to do right? Heck-to-the-NO! God loves all His children equal because we are all sinners and there is no one that is better than the other. But just as we as parents tend to do more for our kids when they are trying to do good, maybe that makes sense that God would be that way. Heck if I know! Matthew and I feel as about unworthy as a pole cat. I have gone over and over in my head why on Earth God has been so good to us and I just can't find an answer because I know I don't deserve it and I know Matthew feels the same way.
I always enjoy hearing the stories of the faith where people have told of amazing miracles that have happened in their lives. Seems like missionaries have the best stories and great men of the faith too. I love the story my mom and dad have told me of Dr. Tom Malone's miracle. He was asked to speak at a conference and he didn't have gas money to go. He told the Lord he would go and drove until he almost ran out of gas. He pulled into a gas station and prayed because he wasn't sure what to do. I think the story goes: he told the gas attendant to fill up his tank (knowing full well that he had no money to pay) and the gas attendant came back and told him that his tank was already full. Talk about amazing!?!? I always wondered how awesome it would be to have miracles like that happen. Now I know! (Disclaimer: We have had several other miracles have happened throughout our lives. Being able to go to Heaven one day and being saved by a merciful Savior is "miracle" enough.)
Matthew always asks me "Do you want the good news first or the bad news?" I always pick the bad news first cause I like to save the good news til the end. So, the bad news first. Matthew lost his job, we lost health insurance (Joseph is on medicine that he needs and cost $170 for a 30 day supply and we don't know how much his inhaler is w/o insurance), we are going through a terrible tax audit where they say we owe $4904.44, our fridge went out and I broke a tooth.
Now the good/amazing/wonderful/blessings/miracles news. :) First let me tell you of the things that we should praise God for every day. We have two beautiful children who love us, both sets of our parents are alive, we have a great church, tons of good friends, a loving family and a house that is more than adequate shelter. Plus we have God who loves us. That alone is more than wonderful! As for the miracles, within the first week of Matthew being off of work, we received $200 anonymously in the mail, a $25 gas card from good friends and were invited to a fantastic meal! My in-laws bought us groceries that filled our cabinets and we received more anonymous money! Matthew's unemployment was being disputed but passed! We were able to get a 3 months supply of Joseph's medicine for only $87 (somehow the insurance approved it.)! Out of the kindness of their heart, someone gave us money for a fridge when ours went out!!! Matthew was able to get Cobra dental back-dated to August 1st for me to be able to go to the dentist. The dentist waived the initial copay because I had to get a temp filling and I have to come back. (My tooth was too inflamed to work on and the anesthesia shots weren't working.) Our stuff has sold on Craigslist and Half.com! Our two yard sales brought in close to over $500! (We haven't sold blood or anything yet, but I am sure that would bring some money in too! LOL!) Matthew had a law mowing party one weekend with a friend of his and that brought in some money! (Note to self: God expects us to do our part. We cannot sit on our cans and tell God to rain down the blessings on us. That is laziness and God won't bless if we don't try.)
I told my friend the other day that when God pours out all these blessings on you, you feel so humble. I always thought it would be great and amazing. It is, but yet you feel like God is next to you more than ever in your life and to be in the presence of God's goodness is ever so humbling. I know what a rotten person I am. I am so unworthy and I don't understand. I feel like the people who have given of their hearts to us are much better Christians than we are because they gave sacrificially. It seems like we might appear to be the "heroes" in this story, but really, they are. I have learned that we should love others as ourselves and that if we trust God, He will make a way. Our audit is "to be continued..." but I trust that God has a plan for that as well.
I promised God that I would tell of His goodness to us and I wrote this to not forget His goodness!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)