When Everything Falls Into Place

Don’t you just love that feeling?

That feeling of everything seeming to fit together just perfectly….

We left what we had with nothing ahead of us (Changes in the New Year). After a month of job hunting, I found a job…that I’m still so thankful for (Got Job?)! As far as a place to live….we kept looking, and looking, and looking….(He Will Lead Us Home.)… Until now!!

Now we are signed up to move into an apartment in August. I’m so excited! It’s perfect. It’s within our price range, but nicer than others we looked at. There are a number of walking/running/biking trails, which will be perfect for my marathon training (Here We Go Again…) And they will accept our pets. And….

Some even awesomer news… My husband got a job with a great company, and starts in July!

I’m shaking my head at myself right now. We used to live in a rental house and our landlady decided to sell. At the time I had been so worried…what are we going to do, where are we going to live, etc. Then, at just the right moment, God provided a home. (Financial Obstacles) I declared I would never worry again–ha!

I was less worried this time around, but the worry was still there. I am sure this will not be the last time God gives me an opportunity to strengthen my faith!

Psalm 119:105

Can Stress and Communication Co-exist?

I am stressed. Not as much now as I was earlier in the week.

In The Beginning of Our Impossible Dreams, I mention a few situations that were stressful. And in Got Job? I mentioned part of the stressful process I went through in looking for a job. After God showed up at just the right moment in each of those instances, I declared I would never be worried about anything again! How naive!

Faith is a good thing. And I should have it. But I was being naive about my humanness. I am prone to worry.

A Little Foggy Ahead?

And when I’m stressed, I need more communication to keep the stress level down. My husband and I learned that the hard way earlier this week. My stress level was increasing….where are we going to live? when are we going to make enough money to live on? (I wouldn’t be so stressed if this just affected us, but we’re depending on his mom’s good graces for our current housing.) My husband isn’t working a regular 9-5 job and I only had a partial idea of how he was using his time throughout the day. So the stress skewed my interpretation of his work.

We had a miscommunication. I had a melt-down. We came back together and came up with our best solution:  He would time-track his work in a little book. That way I could see what was going on–have a little security blanket. Much better than not communicating about it and better than me peppering him with twenty questions….or more.

It’s funny. When I’m stressed I withdrawal. But when I’m stressed I need more communication. What a contradiction!

Any tips from you about the best way to communicate during stressful times, or to deal with stress?

Changes In the New Year

People enter the New Year with resolutions to make changes….

How many times do people choose something that turns their lives upside down, and follow through?

My husband and I did just that. After several months of looking for another job, a lot of thought, discussion and prayer, I quit my job without another lined up.

Disclaimer:  Our decision is not recommended for most situations. It appears against logic. A friend mentioned, “Faith was never intended to be a substitute for intelligence.” And we completely agree! But this was a decision that was made very plain for us.

Jeremiah 29:11

So. We spent New Year’s Eve and the following days with my mother-in-law, considering all our options for the future….jobs, apartments, etc. Last Tuesday I had a job interview with a recruiter. The following day I started my current job. It is a temp job with the potential of growing into something more. At the very least, it puts us near where we had been financially.

We have family to stay with and a job secured (temporarily) But many more things to figure out:  apartment, selling/renting our house, another car, pets, another job….

It is a huge choice we’re taking one day/aspect at a time. We are plowing ahead, believing we can make it.

Of course, I will keep you all up to date on our progress, struggles, and victories!

Anyone else make any unusual resolutions for the year 2012?

What to do when we don’t know what to do

Do you ever find yourself in that situation, where you don’t know what to do? I’m sure you have.

Two Trails - which way do we choose?

Maybe you’re at a cross-roads where you have to make a choice, or you’re trucking along in the direction God called you and come up on a dead end…

The next step we should take is not always pointed out to us with a big, neon sign. That would make life too easy, right? But most of the time, life is not easy.

I used to wonder why life wasn’t easier, especially when our God is a loving God. But over time I have come to realize two very wonderful things happen when we go through the “non-easy” times:  It creates an opportunity for us to grow closer to God. And it creates an opportunity for us to grow as a person, more into who we were intended to be.

I also learned something else.

Right now, I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a big, neon sign pointing at which choice I should make. But I can’t just not make a choice. I can’t just wait. I have to make a choice. So. I made the most logical choice, set things into motion, and am waiting to see if God closes the door, or opens it wider.

Sometimes I think God waits to let us know the answer, until after we step out in faith.

The thing I like about that idea, is God is helping me grow my faith in him. I can’t wait to find out the next step.

Have you stepped out in faith?