For so many reasons!
#1- For His love for us. An amazing sacrifice of love, He gave His life for us. Amazing.
#2- For this precious life growing inside my belly!
#3- For making it to 16 weeks!
#4- The little flutters going on in my belly as I type this!
#5- For my amazing family. The Lord has been so good to us. So good.
I could go on and on and on. But I am grateful to the Lord for sustaining us through a tough and unpredictable time, and continuing to bless us daily!
Friday, January 6th, I was taking down the Christmas decorations, and happened to look out the front window to see Rob getting out of his jeep. I opened the door to meet him, thinking he had come home at lunch to surprise us. I couldn't have been more wrong. Smiling, I said "What are you doing home?" My precious husband burst into tears after saying, "Because I don't have a job any more."
I was in completely shock. So was my husband.
Now, remember, I am
I love childlike innocence. Aubrey came up to Rob as he was crying, and threw her arms around him, babbling about something very important; a ball, I think. But she held onto him as if to know he needed it. That meant so much to me, because I felt to helpless. I didn't know what to do or say. But my Heavenly Father would know. So I wrapped my arms around them both and we prayed.
Prayed for strength. Prayed for clarity. Prayed for answers. Prayed for patience. And we prayed for our faith to be strengthened.
Faith. We needed faith. Because where do we go from here? I'm pregnant, Aubrey is only 2. With the job goes the insurance... Ugh. I have to admit, my faith may have been strengthened, but it wasn't without some doubts.
Eventually, we were able to talk through what happened. And honestly, I'm not sure we still know exactly why. The woman who let him go is the only one that knows. But, I will say, the more we found out, the more we saw God's hand across the whole situation. Rob didn't need to be there anymore. He had done what God had asked in the 2 years he was there, but He had a new adventure waiting for us.
And an adventure it was. Out of this unpredictable situation, God unfolded a story that could only glorify Him!
HOURS...
Yes, hours. (Only God)
Hours after Rob was let go from the company, his name was already floating around with other companies for another director position. He called the state (through whom his director's license is through) and spoke with a woman he knew well (God bless you, ma'am), who told him to update his resume and she would pass it out to everyone. While he was on the phone with her, she gave him a name and number to call, of a local nursing home facility that was looking for a director. So, Rob called the number and left a message, not knowing that the same sweet woman from the state had also called her too! (Again, only God!)
Well... come 5pm. Mary (from the local nursing home) called Rob back and told him to email his resume and she would contact him by Monday to set up an interview. Rob had also applied online to a few places over the weekend, and by Monday morning (January 9th) had TWO interviews scheduled for the week!! (Seriously, only GOD!!)
So, long story, short. Three weeks after having our world turned upside down, Rob was back at work, doing the same thing, just in a new place! Rob is the new Administrative Director at the Tarboro Nursing Center in Tarboro, NC!!
Praise the Lord!
We are blessed to be able to stay in our home (as opposed to moving to Wilmington... the other interview he had)!
We are beyond blessed that it was only 3 weeks before he had a new job!
We are SO SO grateful for having taken the Financial Peace class, and been on a budget and been faithful to keeping it... that we never touched our emergency fund! (and if that's the definition of an emergency, I don't know what is!!)
And an added blessing of this new company... they are paying for half of our interim insurance!! Which if you have ever had to use COBRA, you will know it is expensive! But since I am pregnant, if we didn't get COBRA... I wouldn't be covered later with his regular insurance (post the 90-day probationary period of any new job). And Rob's parents are so generous and are paying the other half as a gift to us.
We are speechless.
Well, not really. Every prayer is praising and thanking God for His blessing over our family! We don't know why He has chosen to bless us this way, but we will continue to give Him the glory for carrying us through this trial! Because, honestly, there is no other way to explain it all! His hand is everywhere is all this.
And thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who prayed for our family without knowing all the details. Your prayers meant (and mean) so much! We thank God for each and every one of you!
Lord God, our gratefulness is as immeasurable as Your love for us. You protected us through the storm, provided for us in the unknown, and blessed us beyond what we deserved. All glory and honor, power and praise be to Your Name!
Amen.
Amen.
