Be still....

Well, glad I could take some time to update everyone. Also wanted to let everyone I recently accepted a position, which ironically was my old position. For the last 3 years I have been on contract with my previous employer doing work from home when they were in their busy season. Well this summer, they asked me if I wanted to apply and come back on permanently. The same day we got a call from a friend that they knew of a birthmother that wanted to place her baby for adoption. That night as I prayed, I asked God for guidance. They so conflicted each other I didn't know what to do. I decided at that moment I would leave it up to Him to decide. As much as I didn't want to do either at that point, nothing just happens.

We never heard from the birthmom and she has since made the decision to parent. In the meantime, Dan and I prayed for the birthmom all the while trying to discern what God was telling us to do. We weren't sure if we were ready for the work transition. In the end, the only hurdle was a sitter for Dominic since Dan really didn't want him in daycare due to his medical history. I asked our current daytime sitter if she could and after a week of waiting for an answer she agreed. That was the answer I needed. I was excited and waiting to complete the process. Then I got word that they may not be able to hire due to the budget situation. I thought God, what in the world is going on. I was going to comment to my employer, but after discussion with Dan we decided to let it go and leave it up to God. Then I got a call a couple weeks after, and they asked if I still wanted to interview. The agency realized this position was too valuable for the operation of what we do. The peace I originally felt was back, so last Friday I accepted.

As I am typing I realize now the work of God in this situation. We moved to the current area we live in before we ever knew about Dominic. I offered to go into the office 3 days a week when we originally moved due to the commute and my office said it wasn't possible. Therefore, I became a full time at home Mommy loving every minute. Yes the human side of us thought how in the world are we going to do this on one income. But 3 years later he has provided everything we needed and more! Was it easy, no, life isn't easy. We have learned many valuable lessons along the way, that wouldn't have been learned if life was easy. Including our the growth in our faith. During this time, Dominic came into our lives. The first 5 months of visiting him at the adoption agency before bringing him home to ALL the visits at Hopkins after bringing him home. This could have never been done if I was working, even if it was part time in the office like I was doing. God knew this long before we did, and laid the path. Now we are in a good place with Dominic, yes we still have visits but no way near what it was.

After much discussion and prayer, Dan made a decision to let go of the Assistant Athletic Director position at the end of last year to concentrate on true love teaching. Given the history, we knew God would provide the difference and he did when my previous employer asked me to cover the position I previously held while they hired someone. That filled the gap from what we would have received with Dan's position, plus we have a much happier Daddy/Husband at the end of the day!

These are just some ways that popped in my head where we saw his work and knew when this came up we had to rely on God to give us the answer. Trust me, a lot of prayer and patience. This is one reason I love our sitter's family, because they try to obey God by praying before saying yes (a lesson I am still learning). It caused me to wait on Him, as they were doing on their end. This brought Psalm 46:10a to mind "Be still and know I am God..."

Thankfully, I have been doing basically the same thing for months now so I have a schedule pretty much down. The main transition will be in me being gone all day two days a week. After evaluating we realize it is an ideal situation for when everyone is in school so I can still be my #1 job, Mommy. There is a peace after all the prayers and discussion that have taken place.

As I was typing I was brought to a verse that summarizes it all:

1 John 5:14
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

As much as we want to do our own thing, Dan and I know we need to ask His will in our lives. Then we must wait and see what he has in store for us. It isn't easy, but He has provided so many things in our lives that is proof enough for us ask for His will. I know there is more to this and we are still waiting and praying daily. In the end His will is always soooo much better than our will.

This went way longer than I thought and probably not grammatically correct, but hey isn't that what true blogging is. My finger just kept typing and I let them. Enjoy the updates!