Will You Call Me Sweetheart ?

Time is rushing along in our lives, but some things seem either to stay the same, or repeat.  Truly Solomon displayed wisdom when he wrote,

"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 1:9

In our family, we've had both good times and bad repeat themselves.  January 18 was my 22nd wedding anniversary with my amazing husband Doyle.  Since it fell during the week, we had planned to go out to dinner that Friday night.  Unfortunately, that Friday morning Doyle was let go from his job.  It seemed a bit of deja vu for us because he had also experienced this in September of 2009.  Instead of celebrating with a fancy dinner in an upscale restaurant, we celebrated with pizza for two and a simple date night.

In a way this was a blessing.   Since Doyle had been hired for that position he had been under incredible stress.  What we found out in retrospect was that his job entailed responsibilities previously completed by not one, but three employees.  He was under pressure to do the impossible and it played itself out when the company decided it wasn't working (!) and that they needed to restructure.  As a part of the restructure, they eliminated Doyle along with some other employees.  When Doyle called to tell me he was coming home early and why, he actually seemed happy.  I could hear a peace in his voice.  He had been relieved of a burden that had proven futile to carry for him.

While being unemployed again will be a financial adjustment for us (this time we have one more mouth to feed), we know God will be faithful.  That doesn't mean that we are constantly up emotionally -- quite the contrary.  Back in 2009 he was unemployed for seven months before finding another job.  This was difficult.  Personally, I'm glad I don't have to watch the husband I love start wrestling with depression each Sunday evening as he mentally prepared to go to a job on Monday that was an unhappy place for him.  Like Joseph of the Old Testament we're unable to perceive exactly what purpose our pit and prison has had for us.   I know Doyle, like Joseph, was undeserving of the criticism heaped upon him.  Like Joseph, I am striving to bear no resentment to those who facilitated the pit, the slavery, and the prison.  God's love for us, and our love for one another will carry us through this.  Eventually we hope to see His greater purpose for this season. 

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."  Hebrews 11:6

During the last few months of his work there, we had definetely been seeking God under the great difficulty Doyle had been experiencing.



Last weekend when I went grocery shopping I had an unexpected volunteer to go with me.  My 12-year old Ethan leapt at the chance to go help me.  While he's usually enthusiastic to eat what I buy, he doesn't usually volunteer to help me get it.  Once we got to Kroger, he made a beeline for the specialty candy bars.  With a shy voice he told me that he was shopping for Hannah, his friend from church.  I had noticed in recent weeks a few comments from siblings about his attachment to her so this wasn't a total surprise.  By Sunday he had the candy wrapped in a bow.  As we parted company for Sunday School I asked him if he was ready to see Hannah.  He flashed me his biggest grin.  My mother's heart couldn't help but notice that while his pre-teen heart was ready to venture into love, his face still showed me a young boy's smile missing a tooth.  He is growing between two life seasons.



For Valentine's Day 2012 I am blessed with so many sources of love in my life;  my supportive, hard-working husband, a 17 year-old son who hugs me each morning, a 13 year-old daughter who sings songs of praise while she does her chores, a 12 year-old son with a tender heart, and an almost 9 year-old daughter who lives to love people.  Most of all, I have the Creator of love who overshadows my life with His faithful promises.

"Who shall ever separate us from Christ's love?  Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation?  Or calamity or distress?  Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?  ... Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.  For I am persuaded beyond doubt that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:35-39