Monday, September 17, 2012

Changes

     To my dear friends and family that read this blog, this isn't a post I particularly wanted to write, but as it is what God has ordained in our lives at this time, I feel the need to write it down.  God is working in our lives, and I'm sure someday this will be an amazing story to tell.  Right now in the middle of it, I don't know where it is going, or how it will turn out other than to say that God is working all this for our good, and He will be faithful to complete the good work he started in me so long ago.  This is all part of that story.
     Friday, Ron was asked to lunch by the owners of his company.  They kept their explanation brief.  He was being replaced.  They knew he had been pursuing a new career path, after a conversation with a background investigator.  It's all a part of the hiring process.  They decided to replace him on their terms rather than waiting until he decided it was time to leave.  So Saturday, he returned the work truck, keys, and phone and said good bye to coworkers he's labored beside these last twelve years.  I am saddened by the way this chapter has ended, but not that it has ended.  I am confident that God will provide.  Ron has been looking for a new job for a long time.  I expect that at the right time a door will open to him.  In the meantime, we are entirely dependent on his grace (as if there were ever really a moment when we weren't).  We just don't always think of how dependent we actually are.  Thankfully God's tender mercy toward us and His Faithfulness hasn't changed. 
     We know he is working for our good, and we can trust in that outcome no matter how it looks from here.  We don't know where God will take us from here.  We have lived check to check for some time, and now there are no more checks coming in.  There is an urgency in our prayers that God would provide, so I am asking you dear readers to join me in that prayer.  Please pray also for Ron and I that we would continually focus on God throughout this time, that we would not be overcome by fear and worry, but continually praise the God who provides.  I really am not afraid and that can only be attributed to God and the strength and peace He gives.  I know if I were left to myself I'd be a mess, so I'm thankful He has given me that peace to rest in His goodness.  I know it'll be okay.  I don't know how that will look, but God willing the conclusion to this story will be one that brings praise to our God!

Friday, July 27, 2012

God is faithful

It has been nearly a year since my last post.  As life gets busy, I forget to take the time to sit down and write.  I don't mean to let so much time go by, but before I know it, it's been a year already.  It's hard to know where to begin with an update that encompasses nearly a year.  God has been so good to us!

      I went back to work this year.  I was an EL teacher for an elementary school in Oakley.  It was a difficult decision to go back to work, but in the end it seemed to be the only way.  I did have mixed feelings about it, but I must say I am grateful for God's good provisions for our family.  Ron has faced cutbacks at work over these last three years, and we have explored many options and possible career paths.   The only immediate solution God provided was for me to go back to teaching part time.  This job did not involve a long commute, and allowed me to be home in the afternoons and evenings to continue homeschooling the kids. It was hard to leave my favorite job ever to go work outside the home, but it was necessary, so I'm thankful God gave me this opportunity.  It was a rewarding job, teaching approximately 80 first through fifth graders.  He gave me many more children to love and minister to and pray for.  The job ended at the close of the school year, so now I am home again, and thankful to be here.
     Ron applied for several law enforcement positions back when I applied for my teaching position.   He is on the eligibility list for two, but has not received an offer for employment, yet.  He scours job sites daily and is considering going back to school.  In the meantime, we wait and we pray that the Lord will provide.  We pray that He will orchestrate this hiring process and make a way for my husband to embark on a new career.  To be selected, he must be chosen out of the over 1,000 applicants, and he must pass an extensive background investigation process as well as a series of tests and interviews.  It is a long process and the wait is hard, but we are hopeful.   I know God knows our needs and He cares.  He has already made possible the impossible in so many ways. 
     I'm trying to be patient, but some days I rest better than others in His perfect plan.  Some days I battle my own fears about what the future may hold for us.  I'm thankful Ron hasn't given up hope.  I am thankful to be home with my kids again and planning for the upcoming school year.  I am thankful for the time I have to talk them through their disagreements and help them see how good God is.  I am thankful for cuddles and hugs and homecooked meals. I'm thankful as I switch the last load of laundry today that I have clothes to wash and a washer to wash them in!  Ron's mom sent a box of coloring books and bubbles that occupied the kids today.  What a sweet blessing!  God has been faithful to provide our every need.  So while this doesn't really tell you what all has transpired this year, it does tell you where we are right now, and a little of how we got here.