“The Lord will provide”
While this is a truth that I have known and believed for years, it has become very meaningful to me over the past year in general and the last 9(ish) months in particular. While this post is not an update on little Sea Monkey, per se, I feel compelled to share testimony of God’s faithfulness to provide. As this has a direct impact on our precious little girl’s life, I feel it is pertinent to post here.
As some of you already know, we did not plan to begin a family this soon into our marriage. We wanted to do the “responsible” thing and become more established financially first, enjoy life as a couple, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (can’t you just hear the King of Siam from the old “King and I” in your head?). And as we were talking and making plans, God looked down on us and smiled an amused little smile, shook His loving head, and went about arranging our future according to His own plan. As usual...
When we found out I was pregnant, our situation was as follows:
- After the Christmas rush, Andrew was working 20-25 hours a week.
- I, on the other hand, logged a whopping 60 hours! For the entire month of January...
- We were living in my grandparents’ travel trailer – while it was perfect for 2 people, newly married, there really wasn’t a place for a baby. Not even a sock drawer...
- We had no idea if Andrew’s hours would increase and I was hoping, at best, for a few month’s work – I was working in an interim capacity as the event coordinator with no experience and (in my mind) few qualifications beyond an ability to be organized and great people skills.
- We had no insurance and even if we could have afforded to go out and purchase some the very next day (which we couldn’t), pregnancy is considered a “pre-existing condition” (they make it sound like a disease or something. Sheesh!) and wouldn’t have been covered.
So, needless to say, getting pregnant was not exactly the “most responsible” thing to do. Oh, God... You have such a quirky sense of humor sometimes...
God allowed us to...um, mellow in these facts for a little while. 6 weeks, in fact. Then it all started pouring down. It was beyond amazing as we just watched things unfold! I say “watched” because that’s really how we felt: we were just standing on the side as God paraded all His blessings in front of us.
First, Andrew’s boss asked if he was interested in taking the necessary training to become an armed security guard. Um.... duh?! “Nah... my husband has no interest in legally carrying his gun to work, in plain sight, with the right to use it if necessary...” Yeah, right. Oh, and by the way, the company paid for it. This not only meant an increase in salary (if and when he worked an armed post), but it also opened up an entire host of potential hours for him.
Very soon after, my boss offered to promote me from “Interim event coordinator” to “the New event coordinator” -- so, in other words... indefinitely. “Oh, and as an added bonus, would you like to live in the house that’s on my property? Rent-free; all you have to pay for is energy used (electricity and propane), keep the yard looking nice, and allow brides to use the Bride’s Room and bathroom on those few occasions it’s needed. I’ll even pay for curtains and blinds to be put on all the windows. And all that furniture that’s just being stored there? Feel free to use it, if you can. There’s also a spare refrigerator and stove just sitting in storage. All you have to do is move it into the house.” If I hadn’t been sitting down, I woulda keeled over in shock and amazement. After living in a trailer for 4 months, we felt like we were moving into a palace!! Funny story though... this house we moved into? It was my childhood home. My family moved into this very house when I was 5 months old and didn’t move out until almost 3 years ago.
As if all that wasn’t enough, God just kept throwing more blessings at us over the next several months, reminding us that He was still watching and caring for us.
- My boss increased my pay rate... twice,
- Andrew’s hours were never less than 35 hours a week (with only 1 exception),
- God led us to a birthing center that is not only just as safe (or safer) than an OB/GYN and hospital, but will be about one-third the cost,
- Our family and friends have provided all the essentials (and some non-essentials!) for the first year or more of our baby’s life.
Then, to top it all off, for the foreseeable future Andrew has been posted at a bank... as an armed security guard... with guaranteed 15 hours of overtime every single week!!! Yay guns! And yay overtime!! And this pregnancy ain’t over yet! What else does my Jehovah Jireh have in store for us?!
Folks, life really is an adventure. And the best part is that we cannot see what lies around the next bend. We may not always think so, but it truly is the best part. These past several months would not have been nearly as exciting or thrilling if we had known God’s plans for us. Sometimes we want to shake God; sometimes we want to curse His strange sense of humor and timing. But just wait and look back a few months or years down the road; I promise you will laugh, cry, squeal, and thank God all at the same time.
No, getting pregnant when we did was not the most responsible thing to do. But it most certainly was the best thing that could have happened. Thank you, Lord!!
