The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. . .

Wow, it has been a rough week. Last Tuesday Chris was laid off from the job he just started in November. Talk about a shock. Here we were just celebrating the fact that he had been there long enough for our insurance to kick in and literally the first day we had to use it, he was let go. Gotta admit that I really did not see that coming. After much disbelief and many tears, I found myself crying out to God to show Himself to me through this. Why did we have to go through this again. (For those who don't know, this is our third bout of unemployment since John was born 7 years ago.) Lord, I know you are faithful, I know that you are who you say you are, you can and will do what you say you can do, I am who you say I am, I can do all things through Chris who strengthens me, and God's word is alive and living through me. I will be believing God. And I am already amazed at how He is answering that prayer. Some examples:
The Parent's Morning Out program at our church that Bethany attends offered us a full scholarship for her for the remainder of the year. The school pastor at John's school offered to defer the remainder of the tuition that we owe so that John can finish out his year there. My sister reminded me of a few state run type opportunities that we'll easily qualify for, including medicaid. And the beauty in that is that our pediatrician is one of the few in town that take medicaid, so we won't need to make any changes there. The women's ministry director at our church offered a scholarship to me and a friend to attend a retreat the end of the month at no cost to us. I cannot tell you the sheer number of people that have shared with me that they are praying fervently for us. I had just found out about Angel Food Ministries which is a church run food purchasing program that buys groceries in bulk so they can sell them at a huge discount. We had just found a home for one of our dogs we had been trying to relocate (nice way to say get rid of). In my Bible Wednesday morning I came across the following verse: "The words of the Lord are true. The ways of the Lord are pure. He is a shield to all who trust in Him." (2 Sam. 22:31) Yesterday, our pastor preached his second sermon from a series on 1 Peter. The topic? The blessings of salvation specifically in light of human trials. Wow! Do you think God may be speaking to us?
None of this is to say that we are all hunky dorry. Once glace at our budget is enough to make my head throb and my heart ache. And let's not even get on the topic of debt. But, I keep reminding myself of what I know to be true. God is God. God is good. And God always does what is best for His children. Would you pray with us that we would be faithful to keep our eyes on Jesus through this storm and that He would open our eyes and hearts to see Him work day by day.