Hope & Faith

I joke around that I love having my husband around, but just as long as he is working... outside the home.  Mostly, I'm not joking.  Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that the kids and I have some quality time to spend with him (this is the most and longest we have had him all to ourselves in 13 years), but I also love having him go to work.

But, while we have had him home, we have been having fun.  We have gone to the movies (for free of course), went swimming, and more swimming, and even more swimming, and have hung out with friends and family.  I will say, that when Nat does finally find a job, he will surely be missed around the house.

Since Nat's layoff (almost 2 weeks ago), school has been on hiatus... dare I say that?  For some reason, the kids and I just don't really want to be doing school.  We want to hang out with our favorite person, our hero, our prince charming, our jungle gym.  We want to get some quality bonding time in as a family.  I can say that we have had a lot of fun just hanging out and getting to know each other better.

Most in our situation would be going crazy, pulling their hair out, looking for a job (I am guessing).  I think that this time has brought us closer together as a family, we have been growing stronger.  Not on our own of course, we have put all our faith into Heavenly Father to get us through this, we haven't lost hope.  I think that because we haven't lost faith, haven't lost hope, we aren't stressing.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't an easy thing for us to go through, but, we know that trials are a part of life and that everyone must go through them.  All, I have to remember (especially when I start dwelling on it), is that we are supposed to be going through this, this is going to make us stronger, and MOST important... Heavenly Father will never give us anything that we cannot handle.

On Sunday, we learned/talked about the Widows Mite in Sunday school.  I was brought to tears.  I felt exactly like the widow felt.  I now know where she is coming from.  Granted, we don't have it as bad as she had it, but it still, I made that connection with her.  I have the fears of running out of food and providing for my children, just as she did.  I also have the faith that she did.  That Heavenly Father will always provide a way for us to get what we need.

When the prophet Elijah asked the widow for a morsel of bread, and she replied that she had none to spare, and was gathering twigs so she and her son may eat of it and die.  This is when Elijah made the promise to her.  All she could go on at this point was faith that Heavenly Father would provide for her and her son. (1 Kings 17:10-16).

Sunday's lesson must have been just for me... even the Relief Society lesson was on Hope and Faith.  "When we fail to choose hope, we risk allowing despair to overcome us.  Despair is one of Satan's most powerful tools.  Once we allow it to grow in the least, it will take over with very little cultivation... Let us choose hope instead of despair.  Hope will anchor us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the author of hope.  If we will put ourselves in his safe harbor, we will be kept safe from the tidal waves of evil in the world."  Pam Whitman.  Hebrews 6:18-19 -- scriptures on hope.

Still no word on jobs... the waiting game continues, as well as the filling out of applications.

I joked w/Nat... maybe we should see if someone has a motorhome that we can use/have/buy for fairly cheap, and go find a campground that needs caretakers.  Sounds so very tempting right at this moment, no rent, no bills (except for the necessities)...