This morning something happened that hasn't taken place in our home in 9 months and 4 days.
My husband kissed me good-bye and headed off to work.
If you don't know the background of this unexpected season, you can read about it HERE or HERE. It wasn't just a job loss. It was getting job offer after job offer and having the most random things prevent Steven from ever starting those jobs. It was like taste after taste of "hope deferred."
I was thinking yesterday how grateful I am that God only calls me to walk out life one day at a time. Because if someone had sat me down ten months ago and explained what was about to happened, I don't think I think I could have taken it all in.
And yet to follow my Shepherd one day at a time through this has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. He has sustained us spiritually and financially. He has lavished us with not only our needs (Like the night I got on my face and told God that I needed something my daughter had to have, and the next day a friend randomly offered me huge supply of just that. Or the time I cringed as I went to pay out-of-pocket for a doctor's appointment only to find that it had anonymously already been paid.), but also kindnesses that were totally unnecessary. (Like the time I kept eyeing a certain pair of shorts that I knew I couldn't justify buying. And the next day another friend handed me a pair of exactly that design in the exact pattern I wanted because when she bought them they didn't fit just right. And guess who they fit perfectly?) How do I get to be the recipient of this kind of love from a God who is also running the universe!?!
Psalm 73:23 comes to mind: "Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand."
He has taught that pressing into Him is the only way to truly "count it all joy...when you meet trials of various kinds." (James 1:2) He has answered my prayer for joy over and over again. He has made Himself more tangible than I have ever know before. He has used this time to re-envision our lives; and has given us both a growing desire to "count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:8) Because of all of this, Steven and I can say with all honesty that this trial was a gift. And both of us have never been more excited about the future and about living with an eternal perspective.
And now, with a lump in my throat, may I thank so many of you?
For the friends that have listened and cared again and again. For the friends that have stopped me at church, over and over to tell me that they are praying for us. For guys who have surrounded my husband. For the texts filled with Scripture. For those who have listened to God's prompting and shared those promptings with us. For the family both here and in Michigan that has loved us and cared for us. And especially for you girls (you know who you are) who have been the Aaron for my Moses (Exodus 17:12), holding up my arms when I couldn't hold them up myself. Thank you. Thank you more than you know.
My husband kissed me good-bye and headed off to work.
If you don't know the background of this unexpected season, you can read about it HERE or HERE. It wasn't just a job loss. It was getting job offer after job offer and having the most random things prevent Steven from ever starting those jobs. It was like taste after taste of "hope deferred."
I was thinking yesterday how grateful I am that God only calls me to walk out life one day at a time. Because if someone had sat me down ten months ago and explained what was about to happened, I don't think I think I could have taken it all in.
And yet to follow my Shepherd one day at a time through this has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. He has sustained us spiritually and financially. He has lavished us with not only our needs (Like the night I got on my face and told God that I needed something my daughter had to have, and the next day a friend randomly offered me huge supply of just that. Or the time I cringed as I went to pay out-of-pocket for a doctor's appointment only to find that it had anonymously already been paid.), but also kindnesses that were totally unnecessary. (Like the time I kept eyeing a certain pair of shorts that I knew I couldn't justify buying. And the next day another friend handed me a pair of exactly that design in the exact pattern I wanted because when she bought them they didn't fit just right. And guess who they fit perfectly?) How do I get to be the recipient of this kind of love from a God who is also running the universe!?!
Psalm 73:23 comes to mind: "Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand."
He has taught that pressing into Him is the only way to truly "count it all joy...when you meet trials of various kinds." (James 1:2) He has answered my prayer for joy over and over again. He has made Himself more tangible than I have ever know before. He has used this time to re-envision our lives; and has given us both a growing desire to "count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:8) Because of all of this, Steven and I can say with all honesty that this trial was a gift. And both of us have never been more excited about the future and about living with an eternal perspective.
And now, with a lump in my throat, may I thank so many of you?
For the friends that have listened and cared again and again. For the friends that have stopped me at church, over and over to tell me that they are praying for us. For guys who have surrounded my husband. For the texts filled with Scripture. For those who have listened to God's prompting and shared those promptings with us. For the family both here and in Michigan that has loved us and cared for us. And especially for you girls (you know who you are) who have been the Aaron for my Moses (Exodus 17:12), holding up my arms when I couldn't hold them up myself. Thank you. Thank you more than you know.
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