A Future Hope

I am so thankful that I do not have to try to "live my best life now". I am so glad that one day I will be in eternity where there is a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no more sorrow or pain. If you are a believer and follower of Christ one day you will live in a perfect world. We have a hope through Jesus that no matter how bad things get here on earth we will one day live in paradise.

Six months ago today my husband lost his job. I can not begin to explain how hard this trial has been for me. There were times when we were not sure how the bills would get paid. But God has brought us through. He has provided for us every step of the way. I have truly seen His hand at work and I know He is not through with us just yet.

 My prayer for each of you is that you will see the hand of God at work in your life. Unfortunately I can not promise you perfection on this earth. Frankly I think the whole "health and wealth" gospel taught by so many today is a hoax and anti-Biblical! However, I can promise that God provides peace beyond understanding and one day after this present world is gone we will live in paradise. Praise the Lord!

Four Years of Marital Bliss

 

 

Four year ago today I married my best friend! Jon is the best husband anyone could ask for. Little did he know when we said our vows four years ago how God would test our commitment. We have been through rich and poor, sickness and health, a terrible car accident, and an emergency c-section. Through the good and bad Jon has repeatedly shown his commitment to our marriage and our family. I am extremely thankful God made me to be Jon's wife and helpmeet. 

 

 

 

Jon is a wonderful husband! Therefore, I thought I would make a top ten list of what I love about him. Granted there are way more than ten things I love about my husband but I would never be able to fit them all into one blog post. So without further ado... 

 

Top Ten Things I Love About My Husband

1. He is truly a spiritual head of our family. One of the first things that attracted me to Jon was his love for God. We met at a Bible College so I knew he was a Christian but he had an extraordinary knowledge of the Bible. I loved listening to him in class talking about theology or a particular passage in the Bible. I remember thinking to myself I would like to marry a guy like that one day. He takes the time to encourage me in my faith. He makes sure we go to fellowship. He teaches our boys about God's love for them. He leads us in prayer around the dinner table and initiates prayer with me as husband and wife.
2. He is a great father! Our boys are so blessed to call him Daddy. He not only plays with them, he changes diapers, feeds them, disciplines them, and reads books to them. I know a lot of dads these days are like sitcom dads. They are self-centered and just plain dumb. Jon is none of those things. He is involved and loves our children dearly.
3. He is my best friend! We have a lot of the same interests and we find humor in the same things. We both love to go to McKays (a used book store) and Starbucks. If I could pick any one to be on a deserted island with it would most definitely be my husband!
4. He is tall, dark, and handsome!
5. His willingness to work a terrible job to take care of our family. Right now his temp job is hard and tedious. Yet he goes to work everyday so he can provide for our family.
6. His love of my cooking. Okay, let me explain. I feel so valued and loved when he gets excited about something I'm making. I love to see his face light up when I tell him I made his favorite meal, baked a favorite dessert, or even made some sweet tea. His excitement brings me great joy.
7. He loves to read. When I broke up with my high school sweetheart I told my mother that I wanted to be with a guy that loved to read. I remember her telling me that I might need to lower my standards. But God was already at work. He gave me a man that loves to read.
8. His support in our homeschooling plans. Both of us went to public school. So when I told him about my conviction to homeschool our children he could have said what's the point? Instead he listened to me, prayed, and supported my conviction. Even more, he wants to help teach our children!
9. His strength and integrity. We have been through many trials in four short years but not once has Jon shown signs of weakness. He has made the hard decisions and been faithful to our God. I am grateful God gave me a strong leader.
10. And finally, for this list anyways, I love his laugh. Things could seem hopeless but his laugh will brighten my day. He has a great sense of humor and loves to make others laugh. I think that is one of his spiritual gifts. He can cheer people up with a simple joke.

 

Jon, I am so happy to be your wife. These four years have been tough but at the same time wonderful because I have been with you. I am so blessed to be able to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you!

 

 

"The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.' That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh." ~ Genesis 2:23-24

 



At Just the Right Time

It has been seven long months since I last dared peek at this blog. These seven months have been a trial by fire for me and my family. We have hit lows I never thought possible but also have seen God work and provide in ways I never imagined.

In December my husband lost his job.

Words escape me. I can't even begin to convey to you what life has been like. We have had moments of total despair and moments of unspeakable gratitude. We have had to humble ourselves and ask help from family. Yet we've also seen God work in mysterious ways and somehow pay off our medical bills from the boys' births.

My dream of coming home full time at the moment seems impossible.

Earlier this month I found out that my part time position in a social service agency will be no more due to a budget cut. However, a new position has been made known to me but it is full time with some travel.  It comes with benefits and since my husband's temp job pays very little and has no benefits this full time position for me seems to be the only way.

Have you experienced times of complete heart ache? I have been praying for almost two years that I would be able to come home full time and at one point we really thought it was going to happen. Then everything fell apart. I'm beginning to identify with Job minus losing my children (which I pray will never happen). Why is life so hard? Why do we live in a fallen world?

I have prayed that God will make His will my heart's desire.

Romans 5:6 says "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."

At just the right time. I know God will provide for us at just the right time. His timing is perfect.

As of this moment, I don't know what my future holds. I have until the end of June with my current part time job. I know that if God's will for me is to be home full time He will provide at just the right time. And if His will is for me to wait a while longer then I know at just the right time He will provide. I'm living by faith alone. And I am so thankful that my faith is in the one who created the Heavens and the Earth.

Has anyone else went through an unbearable trial? What brought you through?

Linked up at: Growing Home, Raising Homemakers

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The Parable of the Necklace

Within the last few months I have been praying daily for guidance.  And for the past few months I have been in waiting mode.  If you truly know me then you understand that patience is not my greatest attribute.  Wait, who are we kidding, I have absolutely NO patience! 

A few months back my hours at my part time job were cut in half.  Financially, that just wasn't enough.  I won't go into all the details but we are trying to decide if I should pursue full time work outside the home, my husband attempt to find a second job that will work with his floating schedule, or my husband find a new job entirely.  My heart's desire is to stay home full time with my babies. 

After waiting for two months I became very frustrated!  So while I was getting ready that morning I yelled prayed for God to give us an answer.  Within a few minutes I received a call for an interview for a full time position.  The job is something that I went to college to do but it means leaving my kids for 8 hours every day.  Financially it would be a great blessing and help us get out of debt and into a house of our own twice as fast.  But... it is not my heart's desire. 

"God, what are You doing here?  Do you even care?  Why aren't You bringing me home?"

By now you're wondering what this has to do with a necklace right???

I have been taught since I was a small child that God cares for me.  He created me with a purpose and will not forsake me.  I know these truths in my head but I still haven't grasped them in my heart.

So, this past week I decided to go looking for some outfits for family pictures. (I was blessed to have a gift card to one of my favorite stores and my mother-in-law agreed to take our pictures for us!)  As I was trying on shirts I kept thinking and praying about our situation. 

"Why are You not listening to me?  Why do You not care?"

Wow!  I sound like my almost 2 year old whining because He can't have something.

Anyways... I found what I needed and left the store.  When I got home I realized that I had left my favorite necklace in the dressing room.  I called the store as I was driving back and asked if someone had turned in a necklace.  "I'm sorry, there was no necklace in the dressing room and no one has turned one in."  I went on back to the store and searched high and low and while asking God to help me find it.  While I was praying I will confess that I was actually thinking, "He doesn't care.  He's not going to help me.  He never does."

Maybe I'm the only one here who feels that way sometimes.  Things don't go my way and I automatically resort to the false truth that God truly could care less about me.  

I left the store empty handed and mad.  Later that night I was talking with my husband and asking him why things weren't working out.  What did I do wrong?  Why won't God take care of us?  

I whined for the next 2 days.  

But God in His graciousness did not forget me.  

Don't you love that phrase! "But God".  He does not forget us.  He does hear us and He does care for us.  Just like I want to make my boys happy He wants to make us happy.

Two days later I went back to that same store with my mother.  As we were waiting in line I decided to should go to customer service and see if my necklace had been turned in.  The friendly worker said that a necklace had been turned in the night before but my description didn't match the lost & found log.  She went to look at it anyways and guess what... it was my necklace!!!  

But God showed me grace!  

I didn't need that necklace.  I could easily live without it.  But God knew that I really liked it and He in His grace gave it back to me.  

I don't know what our future holds.  I don't know how our financial situation will be resolved.  But I do know that I am God's little girl and He does care for me.  He does hear me and does want to give me my heart's desires.  He wants to take care of me and use me to bring Him glory.  

But God... such powerful words.

My prayer for anyone who reads this (if anyone does) is that you will embrace those two precious words.  He does hear us and He does communicate with us.  You are never alone if you have believed.  

But God...

How has God shown His grace to you?  I would love to hear your stories of But God!


This post is linked with:  Thankful Homemaker, Women Living Well, The Better Mom

Busy being a Mommy

 

I promise I am still very much alive.  It has been quite some time since I last posted anything.  I promise, I do have a very good excuse.  I've been busy being a mommy. 

 

Parenting two little boys is definitley different from parenting one little boy.  When I finally think I have a moment to myself one of the boys figures it out and comes running or starts crying.  Even the BATHROOM isn't off limits!!!

 

But you know what... I LOVE IT!  Every single moment is full of joy.  Even those moments when I want to hide under the covers and scream I find joy.  My two fussy, cranky, precious, happy, funny, adventurous little boys are true blessings from the Lord.  

 

So all of that to say, I have not had time to write lately and my number one priority after God is my husband and babes.  In addition, my computer has recently passed on and trying to post from my iphone is too difficult for my limited technological ability.  So hopefully in the future there will be more time to share my heart and story with you.   

 

I do want to leave you with just one thought...

 

God is really working on me right now.  Recently my 20 hours of work a week was cut down to just 10.  Financially we are very strained and my husband is looking for a second job to ease the burden.  We are definitely in a season of waiting.  Waiting is hard.  There's no other way to describe it.  Please be in prayer for us that we will seek God with all of our heart and be able to discern His word.  And also that we will be an example to our children of those who wait on the Lord.  We want our lives to reflect Christ to them. 

Thoughts on that "Gray" Book and that "Magic" Movie

I have no doubt that this will make me very unpopular.  I posted the article below on my Facebook page and already at least one person has posted a status about it. 

"Fifty Shades of Gray" and "Magic Mike" have become blockbuster and best selling hits.  Many women (and men) have went crazy over them.  Christian women included.  And yet I wonder if our God is pleased with this excitement.

Please understand that I am not judging you if you have read this book or seen this movie.  I myself am a big sinner and I have destroyed my purity in the past.  I know the allure of the world but I'm grateful for those who showed me truth.

This article took the thoughts out of my head and presented them in an organized and nonjudgmental format.  I hope her words inspire you to look to God's word and prayer for guidance on not only this book and movie but every idea that may cross your way.

50 Shades of Mike (In Which I Am VERY UNCOOL) ~ MelissaJenna.com