Still Faithful

I wrote previously about the faithfulness of our Father, but I continue to ponder and think, continue to be amazed... and so grateful. One thing that I failed to mention about the time during which Tyler did not have a job- we had in our savings account, enough for 1/2 of one months' bills (ie what Tyler would normally contribute in one month). Nothing more. That amount remained untouched for a year and a half, until the last month between Ty's last paycheck from contract work, and his first paycheck at his new job. It covered the one month gap where he would receive no income, perfectly.

Still Faithful.

In October I awoke one night with shooting pain in my abdomen. I remember debating whether or not to go to the ER because of the pain I was in. Deciding that I had no desire to spend $100 to be seen, I opted to lie very very still until morning when my doctor's office opened. I called them as soon as they were open and asked how quickly there was an opening. They had one 20 minutes later. By this point, the pain in my lower abdomen was such that it hurt to sit down, it hurt to stand up, and walking was extremely painful. Upon arriving in the office I was seen by the Nurse Practitioner in my doctor's office. I explained my symptoms, and after carefully pressing on my belly (which caused me to groan and writhe) she asked if I would be willing to get a CT at the hospital because she was worried I may have appendicitis. 30 minutes later I was sent for CT at Jewish Hospital. Once there, I had to drink very nasty oral contrast (yes, I plugged my nose like a child to avoid the taste :) ), and wait an hour and a half for it to get in my system. On my way to Jewish, I had called Ty and updated him on the situation. He asked me to let him know the results of the CT, saying that if I were to indeed have appendicitis, he would come join me. About 20 minutes after drinking the yucky contrast, while waiting on my CT, Ty arrived. He told me that he had called his boss (Ed) to update him on the fact that he may have to leave, pending my results. Ed then asked what he was working on, and asked him why he was still at work, instead of on the way to the hospital to be with me. Ty stammered that he didn't know, and was quickly instructed to do so. Blessing.

Not long later, I was taken back to have the CT performed. At this point, my pain was increasing, and the act of lying down on the "bed" was quite excruciating. Following the CT, I returned to the waiting room to sit with Ty while the doctor reviewed the results. Suddenly, the doctor appeared in the waiting room. I stood up to talk to him (with minimal grimacing) and he informed Ty and I that it was not appendicitis, but in fact looked like either an ectopic pregnancy or ovarian cyst. He stated that he was trying to get in touch with my doctor for continuity of care, etc, etc. As he was explaining this, I began seeing black and white dots, felt heat rising up my body and got dizzy. I apologized and sat down, Tyler later told me that in that moment, all blood drained from my face. The last thing I remember was the doctor calling for a wheelchair and stating "never mind, we are taking you to the ER". I awoke to being moved to a wheelchair and heading towards the ER. As I arrived in a room, I began dry heaving. The nurses quickly put IV's of saline in my arm and drew blood to determine if I was pregnant with an ectopic pregnancy or had a cyst. As the saline got in my body, the dry heaving ceased. The doctor gave me pain medication, and for a while, I simply sat with Ty, waiting on results. Then they came. The doctor informed me that it was in fact an ovarian cyst, and it appeared as though it had ruptured. Now my body needed to heal, and I would be placed on bed rest. This was a HUGE blessing. The risk of an ectopic pregnancy was scary, and if the cyst had not ruptured, they would have attempted surgery to remove it. Instead, my body was able to heal with just some rest, and not risk scarring that could prevent future pregnancy.

Still Faithful.

Finally, in the midst of all of this, we moved last winter to a new community group, who, in the midst of Tyler not having a job, surrounded us, loved us, accepted us, and encouraged us. The guys drew close to Ty even as he was having to travel, and the ladies gave me much needed support in a extremely stressful situation. They rejoiced greatly with us when Ty got a job, and have continued to be people that we share life with, and treasure their friendship.

STILL FAITHFUL.

In the midst of stress, trials, and so much more. HE is still Faithful.

He is Faithful

So I wrote in my last post about my husband not having a job for 15 months... and I wrote that my Father was faithful with our finances... but did I mention HOW faithful He really was? I know I was stressed... but that was in part due to lack of faith... HE was faithful. REALLY faithful. Faithful as our community group surrounded us with love we could never imagine. Faithful as bills were paid... sometimes just in time... and faithful as we were protected from many other things. Our 17+ and 13 year old cars lasted... when, for how much maintenance we had done on them, they shouldn't have. Our apartment did not burn down (when we didn't have renters insurance), the list goes on.

So when Ty got an excellent job, and a few months later we began having car problems... some would get frustrated. My response- I am grateful that God did not allow that to happen when we didn't have the means to do anything about it. He was faithful to protect us and keep them running when we needed it. Even small things like bills being less than expected during that time, were a gift. My Father KNOWS my needs, and meets them.

My faithful Father allowed Ty to get a job, and job above his "experience level", where we could pay off debt, so that we will be free to honor Him with our finances, and our lives. So when He calls... we can follow, joyfully. I could continue on... but all that to say... He Knows... and He Cares for the intimate, tiny details of my life

My Father is so Faithful

Getting back to it....

I know it has been ages since I have posted on here, but the past year has been somewhat of a rollarcoaster. My husband didn't have a consistent job for 15 months... during some of which he was contracting consistently for a company, the rest caused us to learn to completely rely on God in an entirely new way. I have never known my neediness so acutely, nor my Savior's love and provision so abundantly. Tyler was contracting for a company consistently until October of last year, and was under the impression that he would be put on a 2 year contract, which would have provided some stability. 2 weeks later, he was moved to a different job, and upon the completion of that task the company had already overstaffed their other contract. So, while I had mentally been preparing for some stability, God was planning for a journey. From November 2010 until June of this year, Tyler worked any individual contracts that were offered to him. He has a friend whose private company occasionally had work for him installing networks in large hotels and businesses. While the work was a blessing, it meant that Tyler had to leave (sometimes on a moments' notice) for work anytime it was offered, because we did not know when it would come again. You may ask why he would not just go get a job in a restaurant... but when he did work, the money that he made was far better, and typically made up for the weeks that he was off. However, there were many times that I would ask if he were planning on going and applying at a restaurant for a job the next day... and it would NEVER fail.... the NEXT day he would be offered a contract for work, exactly in time (this happened multiple times). This was a huge blessing, but incredibly stressful, as Ty would sometimes leave for what we thought would be 3-5 days, and end up being gone for 3 weeks. While sometimes he would come home for three weeks after that, there were times when, a week later, he would again be gone for 2-3 weeks. It was a very emotional time. Yet throughout this time, God's was working. He worked in Ty and I's hearts in so many ways. In February of last year, Tyler began interviewing with a company in a process that would last 5 months. 5 long, drawn out, months in which he still was travelling consistently. We wanted to hope, but were scared to, wanted to get excited, but didn't want to be disappointed. So we continued to trust. Finally, in June, he was hired full time as a Field Service Engineer for a company that works on and maintains servers. This company is truly amazing. The way that they run their business, the work environment that they seek to create, and the things that they value are a huge blessing. So, while we have been stressed, stretched, and strengthened, we also were then handed a job for Tyler that not only fits him well, and he is good at, but that he enjoys. Never once during those 15 months did our bills go unpaid, we learned so much of the faithfulness of God, and our walk with our Father was a close walk, grown in desperation as we sought HIM as Hope, Provider, Protector, Warrior, and Savior....

Ash Wednesday

This past week, I attended my first Ash Wednesday service. Previously, I was under the impression that Ash Wednesday was for Catholics, and thought nothing of it's meaning or application for me, but then found out my church was holding an Ash Wednesday service, and decided to attend. I was so encouraged.

It is a day to remember. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, people laid palm fronds on the ground, and hailed him as a king. He was their accepted king. Later, those very same people jeered and spat as he hung on a cross as their Savior. We do the same thing.

We also remember Cain and Abel. Cain killed his brother. Then as God was punishing him, (and driving him from the land), he begs God for mercy. We do the same thing. We commit murder, we sin in the most atrocious ways, and then ask God for mercy. God was merciful with Cain, he did not allow Cain to be killed in spite of the fact that he had killed his brother. Instead he marked Cain with a sign, so that others would not kill him. This was a gracious act. God was gracious to Cain. We don't know what this mark was, but it was a visible sign that others could see. It was a mark of shame for his deeds, but a mark of grace, because God spared his life.

And so we burn palm fronds, and we put the ashes on our heads, we remember that we deserve death for our sin and should be ashamed, but God is gracious to us and saves us.

Grace so Amazing

I haven't been on in a while. Ty and I have been working a lot, and enduring life in a way that makes you hopeful, and grateful. I have never so desperately needed the faithfulness of God, and He has never been so graciously faithful in my life. We have experienced job loss, several times over, and every trial that comes with that. Trying nothing more than to be obedient to what we feel God has laid before us and everything stands in the way of that- it's overwhelming. Yet, God is faithful. There were times that bills should not have been paid, when God graciously provided. I have cried out to God in desperation multiple times, and He has always answered. I am more amazed by His grace in my life than ever before. I don't deserve salvation. I am a wretched sinner, and I certainly don't deserve for him to be my Rescuer when I fail; yet he has, and does, again and again. He cares and provides, continuously. The Perfect Holy God of the Universe has time for me, cares for me, knows my every need and meets me where I am. Sometimes he allows the struggle so I can grow, and trust, and seek Him, but always, He is there.

He is SO faithful, and SO gracious to me.

Love So Amazing, So Divine... Demands My Soul, My Life, My All

And the Change Continues...

It's funny how we make plans. Plans fail. So we make more plans. Perhaps our planning is running with what we think God has in store. Perhaps we should tread with more trepidation as we step. At any rate, plans have continued to be made, and continued to be changed.

I am no longer working on my BCBA. At least not for now. Perhaps down the road. But then again, maybe not. I'll have to pray about that one a bit more first.

Tyler has a new job that he likes very much, and we are very grateful for. Praise God! Our prayer is that we will now be able to free ourselves from debt and then be able to be freely used by God in our finances.

The church plant is going well. God is blessing it, and we are being blessed by being able to be involved. We are excited to see where things will go and how the Father will use us.

Job. We've been studying Job at Sojourn, and boy, it is a swift reminder. I have been both blessed and overwhelmed as we have studied this book. It has made me eager for the Word, and I have been overjoyed to watch the effects of it work in my life.

I feel like this is just a short update, and my prayer is that in the future I will do a better job of updating on here, so that it will less look like a calendar, and more like a journey.

Change

Alot has been going on lately. Tyler and I are helping our church with a new church plant we are launching. I am seriously looking into grad school for my BCBA certification. We are making plans to move into a bigger apartment, and Tyler is currently working on a resume for a new job. Phew. Alot to think about, and all very exciting.

We are so excited about getting involved in helping with Sojourn's new church plant. It's an exciting time to be involved and get plugged in. But there is always the sigh of *change*. It's not a bad thing, in fact, it's a good thing, but it won't be " the same". I think that is a good thing. I think God is once again making me flexible so that he can use me. I am really excited. But still, sometimes in the quiet moments, I find a big sigh coming from deep within me- sort of like a breath preparing for the road of change ahead.

Grad School. God has seemingly opened some big doors that will allow me to do a one year master's level certification program to have a BCBA degree (Board Certified Behavior Analyst). This will open many doors for both Tyler and I, as Ty looks at grad school ahead, and will allow us to potentially accomplish some very clear goals that we believe are God- given. That's exciting too.

Bigger Apartment=more to clean. Haha just kidding. A bigger apartment will allow us to not only have room to open our home to friends and family that are traveling, or need a place to stay, it will also allow us the space to spread out- so that as we head into a few years of grad school (me first, then Ty), we won't be breathing down one another's necks as the other tries to study.

And finally, Tyler is currently working on a resume for a new job that a friend recommended him for. We are praying that if he is supposed to get the job, he will, and if not, the door will very clearly close.

As you read, please join us in prayer for these big events in the days and weeks to come.