Hardships and Blessings: Remembering Whose in Control

Whew...what a week! I'm glad it's almost over. It's been a pretty tough week here at our house this week. Our faith has definitely been tested. God has shown us that he alone is in control. That can be a tough concept IF you're a controlling type of person. Which, you know, I'm not! Hold on...got to dodge that lightning bolt! Ahhh!

On Monday morning, our world as we know it was turned upside down. ...and shaken a little bit! Nathan got a call from his boss that morning about 8:30 and he was here in Melbourne and asked for him to come meet him. Nathan's company has been making cut backs and has laid off quite a few people but through all of it neither Nathan nor his boss ever had any concern for his job. All that Nathan has ever heard from them is how well he's doing and how they want to promote him to their home office within the next year or so. But, that's what his boss needed to meet with him about. He had been laid off as well. By 10:30 that morning, everything was gone...his job, his vehicle, cell phone and computer. All gone.

As you can imagine, I was in pieces. Not the best way to be when your husband has just lost so much that he loved all within a couple of hours. Before he even left that morning to go and meet his boss, he was reassuring me that all would be fine and that even though he no longer had a job, God has always taken care of us and he would see us through this as well...for me not to be worried or upset...he wasn't. Easier said than done...as I sat there nearly 6 months pregnant and knowing that being without a job means being without insurance as well. I felt so lost, I can't imagine how Nathan was feeling at that time.

After spending the first three days of this week crying and being bitter, things are better now. Or at least for today. I am finding that we have to take it one day at a time and spend a lot of time praying for God's peace and guidance. God has already shown us in so many little ways this week that he is in control and is taking care of us better than we could even imagine.

Nathan is still in the Air Force Reserves and is able to fall back on that for a while. That was our first major prayer...that he could be put on orders for a couple of months which means that he will be able to work out there every day like a full time job. These orders have to be approved and they don't always go through depending upon a lot of things. That prayer was quickly answered and his orders have gone through. We only have one vehicle now and I'm not sure how that is going to work out but I'm not worried about it as I know we'll figure it out as we go. With him working there we initially thought that he'd be taking about a $1000 a month pay cut. We were okay with that (we HAD to be) knowing that we could make a lot of cut backs here at home to try to make up for it. BUT, another blessing, he found out that he'll actually make a little more working there than he did when he was working for Mercury.

Another thing we had to pray about was our insurance. Mercury offered him a severance package which was 6 weeks of pay and insurance coverage. After that 6 weeks, we have the option to use Cobra insurance which will keep our current coverage on medical only, not dental or vision. The downfall is that it costs nearly $1000 a month. But, we figured it's better to have it than to not. However, God had another blessing waiting for us in this area as well. We found out that we can get on the Military's insurance plan which will cost us a little over $200 a month and we'll have full coverage for our family. Also, they will take me with my "pre-existing condition" (sounds like I'm handicapped or something the way they put it!) and will pay 100% of my prenatal care and delivery. By the end of my prenatal care, delivery and hospital stay, I will have paid somewhere around $250 total for EVERYTHING!! Amazing!! This insurance is so much better than what we already have! We had one small hurdle to jump to get our family on this plan...Emma's birth certificate. I guess I never ordered one from the hospital when I had her. So I got online and ordered it but they said it would take 7-10 days to process and then they'd overnight ship it to us. Well, to get on the plan by Aug. 1st, we needed the certificate sooner. But we didn't worry we decided we'd just keep the insurance we have that is continuing under the severance pkg. and then switch over in Sept. We would have to be out a little more $ than we would if we could switch but it wasn't a big deal. I ordered her certificate on Thursday. Friday afternoon, the FedEx man came with her birth certificate. I was shocked! I don't know why...after all the other small miracles and blessings I should've expected it.

Through this whole week of me falling apart here and there, Nathan has been strong and optimistic. Every day I have 'jokingly' asked "Nathan, where are you gonna work? Nathan, where are we gonna live? Nathan, what's gonna happen?" -all in one breath. ha! It has been our comic relief when we start to get stressed out. We just laugh and laugh. -Yeah, I think we're going a little psycho! Once when I said it, he came back with "I was thinking...YOU go to work and I'LL stay home!" I REALLY laughed at that one!! Loudly and obnoxiously...I think he got the point. ha!

Our phone has been ringing off the hook every day! Nathan's boat companies that he took care of have been calling offering their condolences and letting him know how much they liked him and are going to miss him. They've been just as shocked as he was. Several of them were so upset that they called his bosses at Mercury to tell them what a mistake they've made...that Nathan was the best rep. they'd ever had and that their loyalties were no longer with Mercury any more. Of course, I was like "YES! Tell them about it! Drop them like they dropped us! See how THEY like it!!" (Yes, I know I'm so wrong! Bitterness and anger can get the best of me sometimes, you know.) But Nathan has been the opposite. He has been encouraging his customers to stick it out and see what happens. SO not what I would be doing probably. He is handling everything with such grace. It's really something. He has had the opportunity to witness to several people when they call outraged and wanting to know how he is handling such a terrible thing and wondering what he's going to do. He has been able to tell them how he trusts in God and knows that he is going to be taken care of and how he can have faith and not be anxious about it but excited about what God has in store for him now.

Well...I have to get off of here now. My family is waiting on me to get dressed to go to the beach and they're getting really impatient! Wonder where they get that from??? We're getting out of the house to play for a little while today.

Please pray for us that whatever God has in store for us, we'll be able to see His plan clearly and will make the right decisions. We appreciate your prayers and encouragement so much! Hope you have a great weekend!!!