We GET to Trust God Even More ~ AGAIN!

A little over a year ago, I wrote this post, telling about how our Christian school had closed, and I would no longer have a teaching job.  This was just a month after we had first seen Caylie's photo and inquired about her.  In fact, the very day that we said YES to God about making Caylie our daughter was the very day that I found out I wouldn't have a job for the coming school year.  (No coincidence there, friends!)  I said at the time that I didn't ever want to lament that we HAD to trust God even more.  I wanted (and still want!) to be GLAD when the opportunity comes to trust Him even more!  God was faithful through this last year as we were trusting Him for the finances to bring Caylie home, and He will continue to be.

On Monday, Jim found out that he would no longer be working for his employer.  This was not something that we thought would ever happen.  This was a place where Jim had accomplished many things and was moving ahead in his career.  We thought he would be there for the foreseeable future.  But that kind of thinking is comfort-zone thinking, and God has a way of bringing us out of that!

We are determined to keep our eyes on Jesus through all of this.  It is easy to become angry and bitter at those who made this decision.  (A decision which I feel was quite unfair and completely unwarranted.)  It is easy to want to lash out at those people!  But as I was talking to God about this, He reminded me of something that He has spoken to my heart several times in the past - that I needed to pray for those people and ask Him to bless them.  Hard to do?  Of course.  But necessary?  Yes.  Whether I "feel" like it or not, that simple step of obedience will be the key to changing my heart.  And I want my heart to be in tune with His.

God was not surprised by any of this.  He is not wringing His hands and wondering what to do now.  He isn't staying up nights trying to come up with a new plan.  Nope, His plan has been written for a very long time!  He knew on the first day that Jim started working for his employer what the last day would be - that was part of the plan!  This whole thing may seem to be orchestrated by man, but it is God's plans that stand!  He is releasing us from one season and on to another, and it won't be just about  a job.  He is going to use us for His Kingdom, no matter where either one of us is working at a job, or if we are at all.  And even though the way this happened seems unfair and not right at all, God is still in control.  What our enemy means for evil, our God redeems for good.  He is able to redeem and restore any situation for His glory, and that is what we look to and expect.

Jim and I often look back through the events of our lives and see how God has worked one thing to another, and where He was put spiritual markers to remind us of His working.  It is amazing to see.  Our God loves us so, so much, friends, and He is working in the big picture and in the smallest details.  I don't know why it's so hard for us to trust Him sometimes, when He has proven His sovereignty in our lives over and over, and especially since He has given us His Son!  Romans 8:32 ~ "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"  How can we fear and worry after all this??!

This is not the first time we have walked this unemployment path.  Jim and I often look back over the last time God had us here, and are amazed at how He worked through it all and brought such redemption.  In 1994 we began to do volunteer work with Promise Keepers, the men's ministry.  Shortly after that, God gave Jim a heart to work for this ministry full time, and we prayed and wondered how that could happen.  But God knew.  In 1996 we packed up a moving truck and left Anderson, Indiana and everything we knew to come to Colorado.  Those PK years were amazing.  God did awesome things in that ministry and in our family.  My journals from those years are very full!  But in February, 2003, Jim suddenly wasn't working for Promise Keepers anymore.  We didn't understand this.  God had called us here!  We'd left everything!  And now this??  It was a difficult time.  But now, over ten years later, we can see.  And the sight is pretty incredible.

If Jim had not left PK, he would not have come to his current employer.  He would not have been encouraged to pursue his Executive MBA degree (which was fully paid for by said employer!)  He would never have taken a two-week trip to Asia with his MBA cohort.  He would never have visited an orphanage in Vietnam and held orphans in his arms, and had his heart broken for them.  He wouldn't have had the pictures and stories to send back home to me, which broke my heart for the plight of the orphan, as well.  We would not have our precious daughter with us today.  YES.  God knew, and He redeemed. And He still does.

Please pray for us, that we would keep our eyes firmly on Jesus, and not waiver for one second in our knowledge that He is FAITHFUL.