I Got The Job!!!

It is true, I got the job I interviewed for last week...yee haw!!!

I am praising God for this blessing and rejoicing about this opportunity. Now I have three weeks to prepare for my first day of work. There is lots to be done over this time period in preparation of me being gone for more than eight hours a day. Things I should have probably worked on sooner but now I have the swift quick in the butt I needed, plus motivation that I've needed because I am employed!!!

My husband is still on the job hunt. Now he wil have to turn his focus onto jobs that will work with my schedule. It is my job that has excellent health benefits, the best yet since our days in the military where we didn't ever have to make a co-payment for an appointment or pay for a prescription. We are beyond thrilled with the health benefits we will be getting!

Getting this job also means we can stay right where we are and not have to move. Which totally delights our children. God is good, all the time. Things don't always happen in our time, but they do happen. Prayer and a patient heart, are two things that have gotten me through this time in our lives. My relationship with God has grown. We have received many blessings that have helped us out a lot. And having a well stocked pantry has been vital for my family. Foodstamps doesn't give you enough to feed your family but it does help. Having a well stocked pantry helped tremendously so we would have enough for feeding our family. I am grateful to God for placing on my heart the need to build a large pantry. At the time I didn't know why I needed to do this, just that I needed to and am now so glad I listened. It truly made up the difference for our family.

Now I can rejoice in His blessing...

I have a job!!!!

How are YOU surviving unemployment?

I know many following my blog are dealing with a spouse being unemployed. Which is very hard to do, don't I know it! So, please share with us what you are doing to survive unemployment.

1. How are you paying your bills?

2. How are you dealing with the emotions one feels by being unemployed?

3. If you have children, how much do they know about what is going on?

4. Are you able to preserve your credit or is it in the 'pits'?

5. Have you grown stronger in faith during this trial?


Here are the answers to my own questions...

1. We are paying our bills late each month. I am selling just about anything we don't need. We've had a yard sale and that paid to get our garbage service back. We have some wonderful friends who have blessed us in various ways. There is nothing better than great friends and I feel so fortunate to have 2 GREAT friends. We've received money and gift cards from these friends, with no expectations. It is so humbling because I've always been the giver when we had income. I've always been the one to bless another in need and now I am on the receiving end.

2. It is hard to deal with the emotions of unemployment. We have our days where we are feeling low and hopeless. We have our days when we are feeling full of hope. On the not so good days we do a lot of praying, but we also vent to one another. I think venting can be good to get things off your chest. Just so long as you can come out on the other end feeling relieved. Some can't vent and that is okay. Know your limitations.

3. We have seven children and the four younger ones have no idea what is going on. The three older ones do and we are very open with them about our financial situation. We don't believe in hiding these things from them.

4. Our credit is in the pits. That is just the after effect of a job loss. When I started this blog I was on a strict budget to get our debt paid-off. Not that we had a lot of debt. Just enough that would take us 18months to pay-off. We can't preserve our credit because we don't have enough money coming in. Even with our friends offering financial help, it still isn't enough...but we are grateful for any help that they have given. More than they can ever know.

5. I would say we have definitely grown stronger in our faith. Though it has been rocky at times, we have still grown. The Lord has shown us that our life could be much worse and He has shown us that it is okay to accept help from others. That was a huge step for me to take. We've always worshiped as a family but I think in these last few months our worship time has looked different. We praise the Lord for all things good and bad. I think we sometimes forget to praise Him when things are bad. He knows what is ahead so He could very well be saving us from something much worse. Giving thanks in all situations is what we have been learning.


So friends, share your experience for those who are going through the same thing. Offer words of encouragement and prayers. Lets lift each other up to the Lord...we are stronger in numbers. He hears our prayers. Anything else you'd like to add is welcome, we'd love to hear it.

You are all in my prayers...

I am praying for all of you who are unemployed.

I didn't think my husband would be unemployed when I began my first 'No Spend Month'. My initial reason for doing it was to become debt-free. To take advantage of his income to pay off as much debt as we could. It was a great idea!

Being unemployed is difficult, for anyone. Having children makes it even more difficult in my opinion. I could totally go through this a lot easier if I didn't have children. It is so hard to look at them and know they understand what is going on. Not being able to fill a 'need' of theirs is heartbreaking for me.

Eventually you come to a point where you just know all the plate spinning you've been doing cannot be done anymore and those plates are going to fly into the air, hit the ground and break into a million little pieces. What do you do when you know the inevitable is going to happen?

I am cutting out as many expenses as possible. I am continuing to sell as much homeschooling curriculum I can, we have fliers posted around town to sell our chickens and I am selling some household items we don't need.

Mostly I am praying. I am praying for a job for my husband. A job for me. I pray in the morning, while nursing our baby, in the shower, and as I lay my head down to go to sleep. Praying is something I do all day long. Even with all that praying I have my days where I feel like nothing is going to change anytime soon. That our situation will continue to get worse. I've had pity parties too...sorry to not have invited you.

Then a day arrives where the Lord shows us that He is still here with us. He recently directed us to a movie, Facing the Giants. If you haven't seen it, go to your library and see if they have it. It is a fantastic movie about faith. Really, really wonderful. I highly recommend it. And that is all I am going to say about that, so I don't ruin it for you. Just make sure to have your Kleenex box handy!!

I know times are tough for many of us. I know so many who are unemployed, struggling as we are. I want you to know I am praying for you. I know the Lord has a wonderful plan for your life, your family. Trust in Him.

Your fellow unemployed friend,