WARNING: This post will probably be REALLY long! But I have to tell it all.
DISCLAIMER: I am not attempting to run anyone down or make anyone look bad. I am only telling MY story...MY FAMILIES' story. Giving God ALL the glory!
Where to start? I think I'll briefly go back to right before we moved back to this state. THE biggest, #1 reason we moved from the beautiful state we were in was so we could go to church...get our boys in service. That's what we wanted. We left a good job, that my husband loved. We left a nice home, that was special. We left it...we were willing for our souls' sakes. We were concerned about our children...ourselves.
Fast forward...Oct. 2011~Moved to this state, and lets just say for arguments sake...that nothing, NOTHING went the way we thought it would go. Things just flat didn't work out for us. We faced one thing after another. The rug was being pulled out from under us one piece at a time.
At one point the only thing we had (other than each other) left was Hubby's job. Nothing else seemed to be working out. And his job was MISERABLE! He had a micromanager boss, that drove him nuts! and wanted him to work a ridiculous amount of hours...like 5 12's and 8-10's on Saturday...ridiculous!
After 1 year (Aug. 2012) we made a few changes that we felt the Lord leading us to make. Not sure if they were going to be temporary or permanent...or what the results would be, but changes we made. It was very difficult, and there were times we thought we made a terrible, terrible mistake in even moving.
Dec. 2012~ Hubby made a comment to me towards the end of the month, "I really feel like the devil is trying to get into this home, trying to do a work."
Jan. 2013~ Didn't realize fully what was happening at first...just thought hubby was having a nervous breakdown, but finally realized he was going through Accusations from the devil. he (devil, and I purposely am not giving him any credit...no capital letters for him at all!) all but wore my poor husband (and me) out! That I will save for another day...maybe...that's really his story to tell. But for the sake of my story, it went on for 8 months! HARD HARD days! Something I hope we never have to go through again! I do feel that some of the problem was his job. He was bored out of his mind and worn out at the same time and that gave the enemy room to "play".
June/July 2013~ Sometime in these 2 months we looked into buying a camper. We had been approved for a loan and everything. On our way to go look at it, we neither one just really felt good about it. So we turned around and went home and dropped that decision for now. (God's watching out for us.)
July 2013~ I know this seems irrelevant but it needs a note here. Agreed to buy a 1/2 of a beef from some friends.
Aug. 2013~ Getting ready to go to Campmeeting! LOVE CAMPMEETING!
Aug. 1~Picked up beef from butcher shop.
Aug. 2~Hubby comes home from work. Comes into the bedroom. Looks at me and says, "They fired me." What?! Oh my! Now up to this point we have had the hardest year I think we have EVER had! Accusations are SERIOUS! I looked at him and said, "I don't know what the devil is trying to tell you, but we are going to campmeeting! We will worry about this when we get back!" (and before anyone thinks that I was being a mouthy wife, let me just say, that until you have had to deal with what I had just spent the last 8 months dealing with...don't judge! Accusations are no picnic!) And that is exactly what we did. (Aug. 3) We went to campmeeting, and to say we didn't discuss it or worry at all would not be truthful, but we tried our best! And the hubby was able to find some relief! Started lightening up and acting more like himself. Yes he still had days that were hard, but the light was breaking through!
So the last strand of the rug had been pulled out, but some of the other pieces that had been pulled out had been reinforced first. (Just like God, He won't leave us completely hung out to dry!) So we still had some support. And let me tell you! That support system has been AMAZING! God's people... People that are TRULY God's are AMAZING people! But then again God is Amazing...so why is that surprising!?
I have always heard people say things like "we didn't know where the next meal was going to come from, or how we were going to pay the next bill." But never really felt I had the faith to deal with that kind of situation. When my husband told me the news...I had no idea how long it would be for. To be honest I really didn't think it would be that long. There supposedly is a high demand for his type of work. But I had 2 specific requests from the very get go. 1. That God would really show himself to my little family. That my boys would see God beyond a shadow of a doubt. and 2. That I would not have to ask for the first red cent. I didn't want to be a burden, I didn't want to beg...I wanted God just show himself to my family and take care of our needs. I felt both of these requests very strongly. And I held to them!
So in the next 8 months...while my hubby is off work here is what we have done: (and not to say these boastingly, but God provided for each and every single one of them)
~Campmeeting
~Went with some saints to take a visiting minister to Niagara Falls.
~Michigan~meeting
~Tennessee 4 x's
~North Carolina~funeral
~All our bills were paid
~not hungry...had food (not prime rib, but we weren't starving! :) )
~no Christmas (but I think we are better off for it, although it was very hard at the time...I think my children learned something so much better by not having it), but we did do birthdays
~God gave us a bigger house...while my husband was UNEMPLOYED!
~Had a surprise 16th birthday party for son #2.
~Fed everyone that came to my house...(and that was a lot...there is always people in and out of my home...I love it that way! And we ALWAYS fed whoever was here!)
~And did not ask for the first dime...not ONCE! Thank the Lord!!! Oh he is SOOOOOO good! That was my prayer from the very beginning! Lord I don't want to ask/beg!
~I'm sure there was more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
Unemployment ran out at the beginning of March. I'm getting a little nervous, but keep telling myself, God will take care of you/us. He has never failed us, He won't fail us now! I want my children to definitely see God in this!
We have been told, (by more than one person) "If you all need anything just let me know. We don't want you all over there cold, or hungry." I appreciate that, I really do, VERY much! BUT, I struggled with that...just a little. I was getting a shower one morning shortly after that, and I was praying and crying. I told God, "I don't want to ask. I haven't asked for the last 7 months for a thing from a single person, I don't want to start now. Am I being too stubborn? Proud?" Instantly the scripture,
Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread., came to mind. I got hung up on "begging for bread, begging for bread, begging for bread! I won't have to beg for bread! He will take care of me! Rest! I was instantly filled with relief! I had assurance from God! I cannot get this out like I feel/felt it, but...
At one point I told my husband we are down to some steaks, which were promised to be shared with someone (and I'm sure they would have a fit if they knew we kept them to share with them), and a couple roasts that I am trying to keep for Sunday dinner, and a few odd and end "sides". Not sure what was going to happen, but decided to just take it one day at a time. Had to go to another "city" with a friend, but knew I would have to go to the store when we got home to get something for dinner. I never said a word to her about it. Lets just say by the time I got home I had $90...$30 for gas, the rest for the grocery. My grocery total came to $59.37. Those groceries should get me through at least 1 week...we will worry about next week, next week. Tomorrow will take care of itself. I just love seeing God work like this and prove himself to my family! Oh I have been so excited to share these testimonies! But I needed to wait, so the devil has no room to work!
Another day, I had several people over to help me work on a project. I had nothing for dinner...and we always fed everyone. I was a little troubled about what we were going to do. (again...never said anything) But one of the people here said, "We are ordering pizza for everyone for dinner tonight."
Another day, while we were completely out of EVERYTHING! I was making a grocery list...trying to figure out how I was going to get everything I needed with the little I had. While working on that grocery list someone called me and said, "Are you running low on anything? I'm meeting you at the store with $x for groceries." WHILE I WAS WORKING ON MY GROCERY LIST!!!! Now how in the world would she know I was working on my list except for God to tell her!
One Sunday night the gas light came on in the truck on the way to church. We made a mental note that we had to put a few dollars in it on the way home from church. On our way home from church, (I honestly had forgotten about it) but my husband says, "Who put gas in the truck?" The truck had over a 1/2 tank in it!
March 17, 2014...is this our "lucky" day? (No I do not believe in "luck" but...for the sake of the day...) Well it is the day we were given a precious bundle of joy! Son #2's birthday...16th birthday at that! Hubby has an interview at a place he applied for a month ago. ...came home...bummed out. Didn't feel like it went very well at all. So he pry won't hear from them again. He was really excited before hand b/c it sounded like a really good job...something he thought he would enjoy. Now mind you, he has had some other interviews, but nothing just seemed to be panning out. (Job A) (Mind you...this interview was on my middle son's birthday, the name of the place is the same as his initials, and it has to do with aerospace...and this child loves airplanes...so...coincidence? you decide :) )
He also had a 6 hour interview a couple weeks before this one, that called him like 100 times for references...kind of annoying...but...(important info)(Job B)
Wed. March 19...Job A calls back wanting a 2nd interview on Friday! Ok we are excited now! He didn't think the first one went well, and they called back already! They said they had more interviewing to do in the next couple weeks! We ask for prayer from our faithful prayer warriors at church!
Friday March 21~2nd interview~I was on pins and needles all morning! But the song the Collingsworth family sings, "God is Moving" was stuck in my head and I played that CD all morning. Hubby felt it went really really well! He was SOOOO hyper when he came home I thought I was going to go crazy! LOL He got a tour of the place and some other info that I am not free to share that made it seem they were definitely interested. They said they hoped to make a decision the following week.
Saturday March 22~Hubby got a Job offer letter via email from Job B! WHAT?! Why now?! And he has to reply within 3 days. That's Tuesday! Oh boy! Now what do we do! Once again we asked the Saints to please pray. We need direction now! Lets just say we didn't sleep well. Monday and Tuesday we were fasting and praying...hard! And the song God gave me Friday still hasn't left me. There were many reasons we didn't want Job B. It would go against everything we wanted...all our desires...the reasons we had for moving here in the first place.
Sunday March 23~ Fixed the last beef roasts from the beef I bought in July...last of that beef period.
Tuesday March 25~Decision day is here. Today's Streams in the Dessert devotion was "Faith for the Desperate Days" It was so perfect for this day! So fitting! Hubby went to morning prayer meeting... Sometimes we go through things in this life and don't always fully know why, but we do know it is for a reason. One of my children asked me at the table this morning, "Why is it when you have a big decision to make that God seems to make it as dramatic as possible?" Me: "So there is no doubt in anyone's mind who done it, when it is done!" All I want through this is for my children to see God, only God and his power! Hubby came home. He was getting ready to call Job B, I asked him what he was going to say to them? We discussed this a bit, then we prayed together about it. When we were done praying we neither one felt good about accepting the job. We struggled a little with this. One thing that we both have always seeked in big decisions was that we are both on the same page...of the same book! If we aren't then we need to go back to our knees until we are. We both had the same feelings...scripture came to us, "He will give us the desires of our hearts." It was not our desires...hubby's desires. Our desires were to be in church...that's the whole reason we moved here. This job would have kept him out. That just didn't make any sense. Why would we have left everything we had for this? Just for a sanity check though he decided to call our pastor and just kind of make sure we weren't totally crazy. After explaining the situation and why we felt the way we did, Pastor said, "well it sounds to me like you know what you need to do." Before hubby got off the phone he said, "I guess I'll keep praying about it through the afternoon." Pastor: "What is there to pray about?" Reality check! Ok. Hubby calls and turns down the offer. This was about 2:00ish. Now the stupid old devil (one of these days I'm going to get a punching bag and paint the devils face on it, I will wear that thing out!) tried to get in and make us second guess ourselves. (we later found out he attacked our pastor as well, and was making him worry he had told him the wrong thing.) But I refused it. I said, no it's done...there is nothing we can do about it now. Not going there! At one point I told my husband, maybe it was a test of obedience??? He said obedience to what? I said to God. I don't know...just a thought. I busied myself through the afternoon with normal "mom" jobs. Hubby paced...some...I gave him a couple jobs (wink wink). Put supper on...5:14 pm Hubby's phone rang. I'm busy with supper prep. He goes to the bedroom to take his phone call...as is normal. A few minutes later he says, "Tracy come here a minute." I had a feeling I knew what was coming! I go. He has this mile wide grin on his face. I decide to play dumb. Going to make him tell me...hehe. Our conversation:
Hubby: that was them.
Me: who?
Hubby: Job A.
Me: What did they say?
Hubby: They are sending me an offer letter tomorrow!
Ok I'm done playing now! I pretty much tackled him...crying...laughing...happy!!!!!
So we turn down a job...and trust that he will take care of us, and in about 3 hours he got the offer he wanted! He still doesn't start work for a few weeks so there is still some time for God to keep taking care of us!
They low balled him on the pay...pretty badly...but we just felt God in it so much. We talked to a friend of our that is an HR manager and she suggested that he just ask them if there is any room for negotiation. So he did. He called talked to the HR lady...she said she would check into and get back with him. This was the longest wait EVER! I was ok, with less money as long as he was happy with his job...but I was struggling with this one a little...more b/c I was afraid they would withdraw the offer. The devil NEVER leaves his job post let me tell you! Well, our friend was being attacked as well. She was a nervous wreck that she had made a wrong suggestion. I knew God had definitely worked in the situation up to this point, and I knew he wouldn't stop now, but the devil was harassing me. When they finally called they gave him back all but $1 of his former salary! I can live with that! :)
Suppose to start the job on April 14th. (A lot of things to get ready for it.) He does everything he is suppose to do on his end. In the meantime, it is time for the boys, "tune ups" in the hospital in the former state we lived in. So the first week of April we were in the hospital...timing was so perfect! Dad could be with us there. Came home from hospital on Thursday April 3. (and even that adventure God showed himself to us yet again.)
Saturday April 5~ Hubby submitted the final things to the "new job" that he had left.
Monday April 7~He got a call..."everything is ready, you can start whenever you want to!" Praise the Lord!
Tuesday April 8~ HUBBY WENT TO WORK! He called me on his lunch and said, "I really really like this place!" I'm so super thankful! There are other things that I can't say, but lets just say when God does something...He does it well!
No, I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread!
My husbands verse is Luke 6:38 Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over... Good measure...you have heard it said, "one more for good measure" Well God has given 2 or 3 or 4 more for good measure! Pressed down and shaken together...you know when you buy a bag of chips it says, "some settling may occur" Well God does not ship them that way...they are running over! I certainly am running over with thanksgiving and praise!
I'm sure I will think of more to add, but for now!
UPDATE 1: Since this company pays every other week and the week he started was a pay week, we had figured, and mentally prepared ourselves, that we would not receive his first paycheck for 3 weeks. He signed his timecard on noon Friday for the first week he had worked. On Saturday we were out of town all day and did not get home until 10:00 P.M. I checked the mail and guess what was in there! We was like "are you serious?!" They must have instant payroll! My HR Manager friend, said "that is unheard of!" God just keeps blessing! He is so amazing!
All part of the life we are,
