Another Bend in the Road

Our family loves road trips. We love being together in the van, having funny and sometimes revealing conversations, listening to music and Adventures in Odyssey CD's for hours on end. There are so many interesting things to see from the car window, especially if we take back roads. When we are planning a big road trip we always try to map out our traveling days so we know how far we have to go each day and where we are going to sleep each night before moving on. Despite this planning we have been surprised many times by detours caused by construction, or a backup which delayed us. Though the experience of these detours and delays hasn't always been enjoyable, they certainly make the road trip more interesting! And never once have we failed to arrive at our destination.

So it is with our unemployment journey. The experience of being unemployed or underemployed has not always been very pleasant, but the journey itself has been rich in many ways. And I'm so glad God sees our destination and is guiding us there, aren't you?

We learned of another bend in the road earlier this week when my husband was told he was being laid off from his part time temp job due to a cash flow crunch. Friday was his last day. The company hopes to hire him back after the 4th of July but that remains to be seen, and since the job was not paying all our bills anyway we are thankful for this opportunity hubby will have to spend more time looking for a full time job. God saw this coming and was not at all surprised by it. In fact, He allowed it. He is not done sifting us, or refining us, or driving us to our destination (whatever metaphor you want to use). He is God, who loves us and knows exactly what we need in order to be made more Christ-like. And I am not God, and I don't know what we need (even though often I think I do!).

From an earthly perspective this is a really bad thing. But from a heavenly perspective this is not even a blip. And by God's grace I am completely at peace. It has taken months for God to chip through my defenses, my fears and priorities, and my need for control, but I am completely at peace with God being in charge of this journey. Finally, I can acknowledge that He is the One driving (and really mean it) and I can sit back and enjoy the scenery and the detours that He navigates us through. For those of you who have been praying for me since writing this post, thank you! God is answering those prayers abundantly.

My husband has already updated and re-posted his resume on Monster.com, and has had several responses. He has an interview next Tuesday for a local job, and he has applied for one out of state at a company that looks like it would be a good fit for him. Our first choice is still to stay here, but we are willing to go wherever God takes us. We are not the drivers, remember?!

Please continue to pray with us for a full time job that can fully support our family, for God to lead and direct us clearly, and for continued peace as we trust Him with the details of this road trip. Thank you friends!