Friday 29 October 2010

Jehovah Jireh

As I said in my bio I am definitely a "work in progress" as far as allowing God to be in control and am finding it very hard to deal with the fact that events are happening in our lives which we cannot control.   
My husband has been in and out of work for around 18 months.  He works as a contractor and in the past went from contract to contract with no difficulty but these days the contracts are few and far between.  Last year he finished one contract at the end of October and didn't get any work again until February.  This year he has worked for around 4 months on and off.  His last contract should have been for 6 weeks (the shortest ever) but he and the team he was working with were just too efficient and they got the work done in 4 weeks.  Since then he hasn't worked and when he doesn't work he doesn't get paid.   We have been trying to find work but during these recessionary times it is just impossible.  My husband has proved his willingness to go wherever the work is, he travels all over the country, staying in bed and breakfast hotels or whatever accommodation he can get just so that he can earn something, of course a great deal of it has to go on his accommodation costs.  Usually he comes home at weekends for some family time but the last contract was in Plymouth which meant he was unable to come home as it was just too far. 
We don't get social security and because when he was made redundant he took contracting work rather than making a claim on our mortgage protection insurance, it appears that our insurance is now invalid and they won't pay out. All our savings are gone, our overdraft is maxed out and we have no source of income.   At a time like this we have great anxieties about or future, we have only two years left on our mortgage and to lose our home at this time would be a nightmare, it is heartbreaking to be unable to meet our financial commitments and to provide for our children.  We don't know what is going to happen but we are sure that our Heavenly Father, who loves us more than we can know even to the point of giving His own beloved Son for us, knows what we need and will provide for us.  Last week our son came home from school with the soles of his shoes separating from the uppers and we just didn't know what to do or how we were going to buy new shoes for him.  The next morning we got a call from someone who wanted to give us a gift to help out.  When we saw him we thanked him and said how grateful we were to be able to buy some shoes for our son, the next thing we knew the gift had been increased to cover the purchase of shoes.  We just give thanks to God our Father for His loving concern.  In my last posting I shared two passages of Scripture which God was impressing on my heart, and this week I have had two people who don't know of the existence of this blog have texted me to share exactly those passages.  I think God is trying to tell me something!  I firmly believe that God provides for our needs but sometimes He takes us very close to the wire.  For me that wire is a line of trust, I have to believe that He will continue to provide for us despite all that seems to point to the opposite.  I often think, and sometimes say to my husband, "it will be interesting to see how God gets us out of this one"  Sometimes the trusting is so hard to do and I confess to feeling very down at times as our situation seems so hopeless, but one thing I know with absolute certainty is that however this situation turns out, I would rather go through it with God than without Him.





Friday 22 October 2010

Blessings to the soul

Just after I had posted that last thread I had a look at a couple of other blogs which I follow from time to time, one of which contained a posting which was a reminder that God not only cares for us and has a plan for our lives but that that plan is already in motion.  That posting was such a blessing to my soul.  I would love to be able to reproduce it in full but will need to ask permission to do so.


In the meantime these Scriptures have been a lifeline to me during this anxious time.
 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  
Jeremiah 29: 10-12  


"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?   "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well". 
 Matthew 6:26-33





Miscellany

The last few weeks have been very difficult and have caused us a lot of heartache.  My husband has found it increasingly difficult to find work in these straightened times, and we have found ourselves facing weeks and weeks with no income but still having to meet our mortgage payments and other commitments.  By the grace of God we have managed so far although not without great anxiety.  


At the beginning of this month we had to deliver our daughter to Lancaster to begin her university career.  She has settled in relatively well and is enjoying her time there, although not without hiccups along the way.  


A couple of days ago our son and his friends were playing with an American football at lunchtime, but rather than just playing catch with it, they were playing tackles etc.  As we pointed out to him later - there is a reason why American football players wear a lot of protective clothing.  During one tackle he was knocked to the ground with his arms pinned to his body thus rendering himself unable to break his fall, consequently he landed on his head.  On getting up he was unable to walk straight and had problems with his sight although it returned to normal in around 10/15 minutes.  Unfortunately he didn't tell anyone until he got home from school, even then he only told us that he has got a headache because he had fallen over during a game.  Close questioning (here you need to think interrogation) elicited the truth of the situation and close observation.   We ended up in the emergency department until 3.15 a.m.!!!!!!  Unsurprisingly he hasn't been back to school since but as next week is half term we expect him to be back at school when it re-opens.  In the meantime the headache from the concussion he sustained, and the pain in his neck from the whiplash injury might serve as a reminder of the need to refrain from NFL games without the proper protective clothing - especially a helmet.