Praise Him
I will never forget the day that Jeremy asked me where my savings account was. We had been dating for about 6 months and I had been teaching for about 4 months. I would pay my bills when they came in and then spend almost everything else. I may have had a couple hundred in the bank just in case. Well, Jeremy was different. As most of you know, he is a very frugal man. It took a good 2 to 3 years for me to transform into a saver, but it happened! We had everything all figured out (which works well for my personality-I am a HUGE scheduler and planner). We were going to build up our nest egg (check), survive and thrive on one income (check...sort of), have two children (check....and maybe one more), life was going to be smooth sailing (X). What!? But that was how we had it all planned out. God had a different plan for us-to rely on HIM, not our plan. And that's where this story begins. Before the girls came along we agreed that I would stay home and raise our children while he worked for the income. We also saved up a nice big nest egg for ourselves during the time that we were both working. It made us feel safe and secure-like we would be protected no matter what. We never had an easy financial road since I stopped teaching, but we always made it because of that nice big security nest egg.
Fast forward a couple years....
We had our second sweet angel, Little Layner, who was just an precious as our first. The housing market takes a terrible turn and we now have no income since Jeremy is in the mortgage industry. We travel up to Pittsburgh for Christmas and Jeremy breaks his arm snowboarding and we now have over $13,000.00 in medical bills. A tree falls on our roof. And still no income. Was God there, was he even listening to our pleas and prayers?
Fast forward just a couple months to now....
I am working part time for the school system as a students with special needs instructional coach. Hayden goes to preschool while I am working (thanks to mom, Bernie, and dad) and Jeremy watches Layne at home. Hayden is in love with all of the teachers and friends at preschool. Layne and Jeremy have the chance to bond for four hours every day. Jeremy is doing call center work from home and other odds and ends jobs that friends pass on to him. He's also going to start working for UPS in the EARLY mornings and he is going to be doing some other work for his boss. I am also baking lots of cakes, cupcakes, and cookies on the side.
All of this to say.....
God is so good! I can't tell you that this season in our lives has been all laughs and smiles but I can tell you that I have never seen God's hands in our lives more clearly than I do right now. We no longer have that nice big nest egg, but God is providing for us now. If we truly believed the countless stories in the Bible where God provided then why did we have the nest egg after all? Where we any different to Him? He has given us the answer-we are no different and He has provided and blessed us in so many ways! He has blessed us with the insurance check for the tree on our roof and friends to fix the roof for free. He has blessed us with friends that provide meals for us at least once a week. He has blessed us with family that provides clothes for the girls and me on my birthday! He has blessed me with a job and health benefits. He has blessed us with a lot of odds and ends jobs for Jeremy. He has blessed us with a stronger marriage even though we are going through a hard time-we are in this together until the end!He has blessed us with many friends and family members who have listened to us and been there for us. He has blessed us with a wonderful family and church family that constantly prays for us and passes on job leads to us. And so much more....
This "Just barely making it" way of life is not the way we had it planned, but I am continually amazed by how God is not only providing for us but also blessing us each and every day.
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever." Romans 11:36
2 love notes:
It’s in the “barely getting by” moments when we realize God’s sovereign grace provides more than we can imagine or deserve. Yours is an amazing testimony to this truth. –Jamie
PS. Oxygen is the best treatment for diaper rash. It's kind hard/messy to do sometimes given the fact that the reason for the diaper rash in the first place is due to frequent, sometimes loose poops. We've even had babies where the oxygen tube was for the butt and not the nose. Crazy but it works!
what a great testimony Trista...and that nest egg was another way the Lord provided...He knew the road ya'll would be on in the future..what a blessing to have that nest egg to pull from during this time...I too am encouraged at how the Lord has provided for our family for the past 2 1/2 years. It has been a tough road but a good one! Thanks for sharing!
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