Wordless Wednesday: The Princess

Marriage Monday: Schedules, Unemployment and Adjustments

Last week at Come Have a Peace on Marriage Monday, Julie posed the questions: Have you ever experienced a time where your husband had a lot on his plate? Do we go on with our own "stuff" and wish him luck, or do we change our schedule? (Note that this is not what is being discussed this week - I'm a little behind. I started writing this post last week and am just now getting it finished!)

My husband's previous job required a lot of him. He often worked nights and overtime. Somedays it felt like we only saw him when he was leaving to go to work. He got on a four days on, four days off schedule so his days off were different every week. We didn't have a typical "Monday - Friday Dad works and weekends are family time" schedule. We adapted to his schedule. His four days on, I tried to find activities for us to do away or that were quieter so he could sleep during the day before he had to go to work. I saw him for a bit when he got home in the morning and then for a little before he left for work in the evening. His four days off, regardless of which ones they were, were our family days and days to get things done.
My husband lost his job in January. He's been enjoying getting to spend time with the kids and figure out what he'd like to do next. I think it's also been eye-opening for us both - for him to see what it's like to be home all the time and for me to see how he does things differently than I do.
I think as parents and as husband and wife, it's important to remember to help one another out and take each other's schedules into consideration. I can't say that the hubby and I are perfect about that but we are trying. It's a work in progress right now - we're just getting into the groove of being around each other most of the time. Since he's home more, he's doing a lot more cleaning and helping around the house. He's an excellent cook and really enjoys making dinner for us most nights. We're adapting to each other's schedules.
My husband worked at his previous job for almost eight years. For someone young, I think that's quite an accomplishment. It's been...different trying to figure out what we'll do now. I was reading Lysa TerKeurst's blog earlier and this post from her personal assistant explains how I am feeling pretty darn well:

Being unemployed is hard. It's raw. It's full of uncertainty.


As I re-read the devotion I wrote about being unemployed that is running today through our ministry, I am reminded and comforted that God knows, He knew and He is still there.


He knows what we are dealing with daily.
He knew we would be on this journey.
He is still present, still active, still near.


This is where our thoughts must remain. This is where we find our hope.
I will admit that I fall off the wagon every now and then and enter into a pity party as my thoughts run aimlessly such as "Where are you God? We are trying here. Nothing seems to be working. Why is it taking so long?" In these moments of weakness, I must remember that God is doing His work on His timetable, not ours.

Yes, it is rough - and not just for us parents, but for all of us. A week or two after my husband lost his job when I was tucking my four year old son in for the night, he asked me, "Why is Daddy home all the time?"
I told him that Daddy did not have a job any more. He thought about this for a second and then said, "Oh. How will we have money then?" I blinked back tears as I contemplated what to say. I finally told him that Daddy would be getting money from being unemployed for awhile and that he was already looking for a new job. That satisfied him and he went on to bed peacefully. That little question stayed on my mind, though. It kind of reminded me of God and his scheduling. In this situation, I (and my husband) are the little children saying, "How will we have money? Will we be able to pay our bills? When will I get a new job?" and all the millions of questions we want answered. We would love for it to be on our schedule, preferably NOW. But we need to learn to adapt to God's schedule and his plan for us. God is the patient parent, helping us and guiding us through our problems on his schedule so we can peacefully sleep for another night. This verse has been showing up a lot in my life (and it's no coincidence, I'm sure!) and I hope it will encourage you too:

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:12-13

Addison Ranch

A friend on Twitter was talking the other day about getting chickens and I told her I had some. I was going to link her to a post I'd written about them but those posts were relatively old and since I haven't written about them in awhile, I thought I'd write an update about 'Ol Addison Ranch. :)

Covergirl Giveaway Winners

Drumroll please! The winners of the Covergirl ShadowBlast and ShineBlast Giveaway are...

Baby's First Birthday

Exactly one year ago today, my baby girl was born! It's been quite an experience, going from being a mother of one to being a mother of two - but I would not trade it for anything. Ellie is her own little unique person. She likes bopping around to music and loves her brother unconditionally. It doesn't seem like she ever stops eating! And yet, she is still so petite. She is very sensitive and always a diva. It's her way or the highway, buddy! :) My son is the ham, she is the serious one. She's more cautious around people and hesitant to be too far away from me. She loves exploring, though and will gladly crawl all over the house. She's been lovingly called Ellie, Babe-a, Witty Bitty Babe and Crab Cakes. She is my little sweetie and I can't wait to see what the next year holds for us! ♥

 

 

Sounds Like Life to Me

My husband is a great guitar player. He wouldn't ever tell you that and he'll probably be mad that I am talking about him but he only reads my blog occasionally so it may be awhile before I have to hear about it! ;) His favorite songs to play are usually country and he played one the other night by Darryl Worley called "Sounds Like Life to Me." Here's the official video for the song:






If you can't watch the video, check out a snippet of the lyrics:

Sounds like life to me
It ain't no fantasy
It's just a common case of everyday reality
Man, I know it's tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you're caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me

This song is so true - and so relevant to how I was feeling that day. I love Facebook - for staying in touch with family, networking, getting back in touch with old friends - but sometimes it really brings me down when I get on there. I see everybody ranting and raving about things that aren’t really that big a deal. Of course everybody earns the right to rant once in awhile but some people just seem to be stuck in negativity all the time – everything they talk about is awful, terrible and no good. They're always having a bad day, their kids/family/significant other is horrible, school/job is stressful, their life just stinks...you know how it goes. I think that’s a very poor way to live your life. Yes, sometimes life really stinks but that's just the way life is sometimes. If everything was perfect all the time, things would be pretty boring - and we probably wouldn't learn anything! Challenges sometimes teach us things we wouldn't have been able to learn otherwise. And life is what you make of it. If you're unhappy and mad all the time, your life is probably going to continue following in that fashion. So hubby thanks for reminding me, in your own country way, that sometimes "that's just life."

Wordless Wednesday: Standing Birthday Girl

 

 My baby girl will be one this Saturday! I'm sad and happy at the same time. On Monday she decided she wanted to try standing!

More Blog Awards!

You bloggy friends are just too good to me! I received two more blog awards around the end of February. It's so exciting to get an award, even if it's something silly or small...it still makes me smile and brightens up my day! I hope these awards I pass on will brighten other people's days too.

The first one I received was from Coupon Clippin' Mommy and it's called The Bogart Award:

This award means you're really going places, Baby. You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now, and I'll still be reading them. Here are the rules for this award: Link back to the blogger who sent you this award, post where you would like to be in 10 years and pass it on to 10 awesome bloggers.

Wow, ten years from now...well, my son will be fourteen and my daughter will be ten - holy moley! I can't even imagine that yet. I hope homeschooling will be going okay with them and that they'll be growing up well. I'd like to have several more children by then. I will be 33, hubby will be 37 and we'll have been married almost fifteen years! Wow! I hope we are even more in love then than we are now. I hope to be a better writer and maybe even make some headway on the stories I've been writing.
Honestly, I don't think I could tag 10 more awesome people - I think I've tagged all of you at least once! :)

The second award I received was from Gumdrops and Groanings and it's called the Beautiful Blogger Award:

The rules are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award and insert a link to their blog.

2. Pass on the award to about 15 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are great!

How very sweet! It's always nice to be called beautiful! :) I have discovered some new blogs (or at least new to me) recently and I'd love to send this award along to them! I don't have fifteen but these are all really good ones that I have recently started following!

- Between the Lines
- Closing Time
- It's Morning Already?
- Raising Arrows
- The Toy Box Years