The Awesomeness of Unemployment, Continued!

As I write, we are approaching the eight month mark of unemployment. I've already written about why unemployment has been such a positive experience for our family, and I continue to see evidences of God's sovereign hand in all of this. Unemployment is not fun, but it was something that we needed for this time in our family. Not only has it had an incredibly positive impact on our family and our marriage, but it has come during a time of incredible change for our family, and we needed the extra together time for processing and for the endless discussions that have accompanied the changes we have made for our family over the past year.

Of course, there are worries that go with the unemployment territory. We do not know when we will again have a sustainable income. We do not know all the "what ifs" of the future. Will we lose our house? Will we be able to secure an income before our funds run out? How long can we put off purchases that we need (and want!!) but can't afford? But God has been incredibly gracious, and He has blessed us abundantly. Our money has lasted far longer than we expected it to, and we have been able to keep going while DH figures out the issues for our financial future.

This past week, we experienced some incredible blessings. For example, DH had been praying about our trimmer. It has been a lemon ever since we bought it, and is now completely unworkable - but we did not have the money for a new one. This week, however, DH went over to some friends' house to help them pack up their house - and while packing up the garage, the husband said, "Hey, do you need a trimmer? We're not taking it with us!"

Wow!

Not just a trimmer, but a much nicer one than we would ever be able to afford! 

Then, this past Saturday, I began to pray about our babies' sleeping situation needs. We needed some new accommodations, and really didn't know how we would accomplish that.

On Sunday, this showed up on Freecycle - and we got it.

Our first-ever toddler bed!

And on Monday, this showed up on Freecycle - and we got it.

Plus the mattress, not shown! 

It is so evident that God is providing for our needs! He is so incredibly gracious, and learning to rely on Him for our provision (rather than just hopping online and clicking "buy now") has been such a wonderful and faith-building exercise.

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I've noticed two particular challenges about having a husband home: (1) Getting the kids to realize that Daddy is not staying home so that he can play with them around the clock (this is pretty much impossible), and (2) Refraining from the nearly-irresistible temptation to put waayyy too much of my own input into DH's job efforts. That second part is a big challenge! But I continue to learn the fine art of keeping my mouth shut (rather than commenting on each and every thing that DH does or does not do!) and trying to keep my mind on my own concerns and responsibilities, rather than constantly breathing over his shoulder. Oh, the challenges of womanhood!

This coming week will be super-busy for us. We are having a family reunion at our home this weekend, for both sides of the family, and this coming week is the home education convention in Phoenix - the latter of which is my favorite event of the year (except possibly for Christmas Eve service... it may be a tie). I cannot wait! If you are going to be there, I will see you there... and if you're not going to be there, then you should be!!

But in the meantime, it's time to get ready for having family in town. Quick! Scrub the stove! Bleach the coffee pot! And above all, wash the cheese grater! (Yes, each of those has its own unique and hilarious - though humiliating - story.) I may or may not be blogging during this time, but if I don't, have a wonderful week! I'll post convention pictures soon!

Love to all!