Sometimes Life Throws You for a Loop - Thank Goodness the Lord's Holding on to the Rope!!

I have written this blog entry about a dozen times, only to take it off. I'm not good at articulating - without this being a HUGE entry that will take hours to read!! I'll try again and maybe this one I'll actually leave up! Darren and I have a testimony that I want to share!

In the middle of May Darren was flown by his company back to St. Louis (headquarters to Maritz, the company he worked for) for a meeting. A meeting he was told was a budget meeting. He was told that Thursday morning that the company was eliminating his position. So I guess in a way it was a budget meeting - they were taking him out of the budget! He had been with Maritz almost 12 years. He immediately called me and both of us felt like we had gotten punched in the stomach. We were expecting it to happen eventually, just not so quickly and not without some kind of warning. His client - Nissan/Infiniti - moved their headquarters to Tennessee, so Maritz set up shop there too. So Maritz began reworking positions, etc. Darren's position is being redistributed to a few people, some in St. Louis and some in Tennessee. Darren stayed on until June 15th. We only told four people - sorry if you are just finding this out. Darren's pretty private and didn't want a lot of questions.

Instead of a rambling entry, I'll give you the highlights and let you see how God was in control and as always, kept us in his perfect timing.

What I did: 1) Cried; 2) Upset tummy; 3) Had a brief moment of panic; 4) Worried because we would lose our insurance at the end of June. Bad timing because of my pituitary gland lesion. I'm currently still undergoing blood draws, doctor appointments, MRI scans, etc. Cobra was going to cost us almost $1000 a month. Holy Cow! 5) Worried because we still had one large remodel bill to be paid - afraid we'd totally drain our savings; 6) Worried because we still had some small items to purchase for the house; 7) Worried because what if Darren didn't get a job before his severence ran out; 8) Cut coupons (which I do anyway), said we can't do or go anywhere, no more Sunday lunches with the gang, no more movies...no more this and that; 9) Cried a little more; 10) Ate my worries away.

What Darren did: 1) Prayed about it, and left it in God's hands; 2) Told me that we will live exactly as we always have, nothing to change, we'll trust God; 3) Told me that we have been faithful our entire marriage in giving of our tithes, offerings, and missionary support, God will provide.

What God did: 1) Provided us with 3-1/2 months severence; 2) Darren had 4 weeks vacation and only used one at the time, so he got a check for 3 weeks unused vacation; 3) We received a check for about $1100 for overpayment on our escrow/tax account; 4) Our last big bill of our remodel was less than we thought it would be; 5) Darren was contacted by a headhunter BEFORE he knew about him losing his job with Maritz about a different position - it wasn't a good fit, but they had another position for him, he interviewed, he got the job; 6) There is no 60 or 90 day waiting period for medical coverage - that is pretty common - it begins August 1st! Perfect timing as I have more doc appointments/blood work a week from today!; 7) We will be receiving paychecks from Polk as well as still receiving Maritz severence for a month and a half - which allowed us to take a nice week off and enjoy ourselves (aka - shopping!!).

Yesterday was Darren's first day at Polk as a Senior Customer Development Executive. Polk is about 3 miles from our house. No more long hauls to Marina Del Ray for client meetings, commuting to Torrance. I keep telling him he's gained the gift of time as well! Darren was able to be off a couple of months with pay and not once did he look for a job. He was contacted by the headhunter, went through a series of interviews and that was that! How many people do you know that have been able to have a couple months off with pay to do with it what you want - as an adult?? I don't know many. He got to work on the house, relax, have meetings at church during the day for the Sanctuary Renovation team, etc.

I hope you see my heart and not "see how much money we have..." - I just wanted to show that God totally took care of us - even though I continued to worry and didn't completely trust him like I should. Even when we got that surprise check from the bank for over payment of escrow - you would have thought that would have been a big faith boost, huh?!

Darren has always worked in the corporate world and he was always honest and stood up for what he believes. Many times he was standing alone, but he did it! I believe God honored that. He allowed Darren to be off a couple months, regroup, gave him a job without him having to go out and hunt for one, and Darren got a nice boost in salary! Again, I'm not trying to sound like I'm bragging - just trying to show how God honored Darren's faithfulness! I'm really proud of him!!

All these things happened in God's timing!! A quick side bar on timing - My friend Pam Cherryholmes was in the area within minutes of me getting Darren's call - she wasn't supposed to be. Her son had asked her to go somewhere with him, which he usually doesn't do. She went and made her way over to the office, took me to lunch and gave me great words of wisdom and scriptures. A very calming voice for me - I was so appreciative of that! God knew what he was doing that morning 'lining everything up.'

So it seems I have rambled after all and left a LONG entry - sorry for that! But hope you were blessed by what God has done in our lives!