New Every Morning - Part One

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NASB

Although this blog serves several purposes, one of which is sharing our family's journey, I really haven't shared a lot of details lately.  We have been on a particularly long leg of the journey these past several months, and I suppose now is the time to catch up on our lives.

There's my tea--Forever Spring oolong.  I thought it was fitting to drink of cup of this given the never-ending winter we've been enduring!

On to our story; but, as I share it, I hope you'll see the fingerprints of the Lord all over it and woven through it.  Someone once shared with me the story of the loom--how the Lord is weaving a tapestry of our lives, but what we see woven on our side of the fabric seems a mish-mash of colors, without a discernible pattern, all jumbled with no defining theme.  But, when the Weaver is finished, and turns over His tapestry, what appears is fantastic--a beautifully woven piece, every hue just so.  He is making something beautiful with our lives, and sometimes we can't see it; it appears to be just a messy pile.  That's where trust enters the picture--and that's where we've been these past months.

Now, here is our story, starting in the spring of 2013.

May.  Fernando's employer, Miteq, was up for sale throughout the spring, and we knew that a buyout would possibly/probably mean a layoff for many, including him.  All his co-workers told him he's never get laid off; he was too valuable to the company and to the clients.  Fernando's response was that our Lord could do whatever He pleased in our lives to achieve His purposes.  We weren't worried.  Fernando still had a job, and still brought home a paycheck.

My May garden, planted in faith that we would be here for the harvest.

June.  Our state homeschool convention is the focus for the beginning of this month every year, and once again we were looking forward to all the details that came along with it.  As the Coordinator for Special and Struggling Learners (within our state homeschool organization, ICHE), I am responsible for bringing in a speaker (or more) to address topics pertinent to parents who homeschool special needs and struggling students.  On Wednesday the 5th, ICHE kicked off the convention with their speaker banquet, and then the convention ran from Thursday through Saturday the 8th.

Just before the banquet, I got a phone call from Fernando:  Miteq had been bought (it would not be made public until July).  Certain (few) employees had been called in to Human Resources, but not Fernando.  Like most of the other employees, he received a large manila envelope.  He was being terminated.  The notice stated that he would be guaranteed work through the end of August, and would be laid off by the end of November.  This news was huge and my mind couldn't comprehend the timing--did the Lord not know that it was the very beginning of the convention?  How were we supposed to function throughout 3 1/2 solid days of taking care of speakers, attending/overseeing workshops, talking to people, coordinating schedules...??  Ultimately, I knew that the Lord was in complete control, and I would have to trust that His grace was sufficient.  And it was.

Fernando and I were supposed to present a workshop together on Thursday; however,Fernando had to go in to work to take care of all the paperwork involved in the transfer of ownership.  I would have to do the workshop alone.  At lunchtime that day in the speaker cafeteria, I opened my Bible and right there, shining out from the book of Psalms, was the conclusion of what I would present later that day in the workshop!  I scribbled down notes, thanking the Lord for His mercy the whole time.

A June sunset from the comfort of home.

There was a blessing in the busy-ness of our state convention; I didn't think about it until the weekend ended and I had time to sit down, breathe, and look back.  God's timing had been perfect, and I had to trust His timing by seemingly blind faith.

When I finally looked back, I was flooded with thankfulness at His incredible mercy--for, just when I could have been overwhelmed with worry, wondering what we would do, how things would turn out, the Lord had given me a job to do.  That job--the convention--would keep me busy beyond belief, just as it does for a week every June.  I had no time, not even a minute, to dwell on the uncertainty that had come crashing into our lives.  I wasn't just busy, either, with my daily routine.  I was doing the Lord's special work that week--encouraging others, sharing with them, praying with them, counseling them, as they faced their own uncertainties with their special and struggling children.  What a joy to be about the Lord's unique work for the week, and to not even have time to worry about my own life!

To conclude this Part One of our story, I want to share the Scripture the Lord gave me for that Thursday workshop.  It was the final section of my talk, and the part where I should have sat back and let Fernando do some talking!  This section of my presentation was titled God Will Provide.  Although it pertained to our journey with sweet Joseph who has autism, there was a bigger meaning to His Word, as we began this unknown, unwritten new chapter in our life.

God will provide faith where there is none.

It is a trustworthy statement:  For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

If we endure, we will also reign with Him;

If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

God will provide strength when yours runs out.

As for God, His way is blameless;

The word of the Lord is tried;

He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

For who is God, but the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God,

The God who girds me with strength

And makes my way blameless?

He makes my feet like hinds' feet,

And sets me upon my high places.

He trains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,

And Your right hand upholds me;

And Your gentleness makes me great.

You enlarge my steps under me,

And my feet have not slipped.

Psalm 18:30-36

God will provide the next step on a darkened pathway.

When I question if He'll be there, and where His hand will lead me...

Even there Your hand will lead me,

And Your right hand will lay hold of me,

If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night,"

Even the darkness is not dark to You,

And the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to You.

Psalm 139:10-12

Onward to Part Two.


Back to life,
Christine
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