It's been so long since I posted. I was sending out some Happy New Year cards (late Christmas cards!) and directed them to the blog for our 2009 life. I never finished mailing cards- maybe I should make them Happy Spring cards now! I'm so bad!
Winter has been hard. We haven't had as much snow as usual- though it seems to be trying to make up for it now! I think it's been the lack of sunshine. I NEED sun.
And since we've been unemployed so long- this week marks a year from the date John was laid off- the sun is imperative to my sense of well-being! Most days I am just fine- like Will Rogers said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." And I like being happy and focused on happy, positive things.
I never have a bad DAY. I have rough MOMENTS in a day, but what a waste of a day to have it all be bad. Right this second....I'm weary. I'm a little teary. I'm worried. Yet, even in moments like these, some of these tears are acknowledging how blessed I am.
Life, in all ways but one, has continued wonderfully for us. Our home is filled with peace and love. Our lives are filled with love from family and friends. Our hearts are filled with love for each other and we are so very grateful for our blessings. It's humbling and wonderful to hear someone say,"We're praying for you."
I'm so thankful to hear those words because I know the power of faith and prayer. I know that we are being sustained by our Heavenly Father. We are His children and He loves us. Some have sent tokens of love and support- even the "widow's mite" has come our way. It's amazing to feel so loved.
This isn't our f
irst turn at being unemployed and in some ways it's been easy because we know how to do this! Yet, with our country and the world in economic trouble, it's different. And John's older. That concerns him more than me. I guess when I see him I'm looking at the 24 year old I married! But I know that Heavenly Father is aware of us and I know that even with the lack of jobs He can create one for us. We only need one.
We pray about many things relating to this situation. One of those is whether or not we should move. Neither of us feels that we should at this time. We have gone to the scriptures, fasted and prayed and we feel we should stay here. Faith is what gets us through.
It's hard to think of the lesson to be learned when we've faced this before. And truly, the only thing I can think of besides our own personal spiritual growth, is that the world is headed for even more turbulent and trying times. We can see wickedness growing and flaunting it's power so openly. Because of the world our children, now adults, are living in and raising their own families in, I think this experience is for their benefit as much as our own.
We don't know the trials life will bring, but having a foundation of faith in Jesus Christ and having love for Him and each other, we will make it through triumphantly. And our posterity will witness that and draw strength from it. They are learning the power of prayer themselves as these little voices, from 7 to 3, pray aloud for "Papa John to find a job".
Miracles happen every day. While we're hoping for a job miracle, we have had miracles. Melanie had a lump under her arm at her cancer check and went to the oncologist for testing. It turned out that she's so slim it's just a lymph node~ When 3 months rolls around I start feeling a little nervous with her approaching checkup but this one ended beautifully. Still cancer free.
And Jill and Paul had their first infertility appointment in Arizona. After 3 years of trying for their first and now another 3 years of trying for their 2nd they were going in for help. Two days before Jill's appointment she recognized that she had been feeling funny and decided to take a pregnancy test. It was positive! Truly a BIG miracle!
I told John during those 2 weeks that if that was the only miracle for the week, we could wait another week for our job miracle.
We pray and beg and plead for a job. What we get is peace and love and comfort sufficient enough to be happy in the day, to look outward and serve others in their times of need, and to know that even if today isn't the day we find a job, it's been a day of miracles.
