A Job!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged! More on that later. But for now, I just have to explode because two hours ago I got my first full-time job!

I am overwhelmed by the grace and tender care of my Savior. We have come through such a valley of sadness and fear, of enormous change and the uncertainty it brings. Just a couple of months ago I didn't think we would be able to stay in our house or town. We had no idea where our paychecks would come from, where our path would lead, or how we could find insurance. My whole life was up in the air.

But here I am now, hired by a company I am so excited to work for, at a job that seems perfect for me. Brian's employment is coming together and should be nailed down soon. He's been accepted to a wonderful Marriage and Family Therapy master's program and should graduate in two years. And we get to stay in Hudson. Near family and friends and in our sweet little house.

This job is a miracle to me. I didn't know how to find something I would really love doing. Not to mention the fact that I have only worked one tiny little job since Jay was a year and a half old. I can work my forty hours in four ten-hour shifts, and in only a couple of weeks I can drop down to three days a week. The pay is good to start, has opportunities for raises, and I can get full insurance coverage for my whole family for only $120/month. Better yet, the company (a non-profit credit union) is all about relationship. My job has been described as being an advocate for my customers; I will be able to develop relationships with them and be their personal assistant for many of their financial needs. I love it! And at a point in my life where I really needed to get out and have an existence separate from my home and kiddos...I am speechless.

The cliche is true...God's timing is perfect. Rarely as quick as we'd like, but perfect nonetheless.

Forgotten Toys (Almost)

Why is it that kids start to play with a toy again only after you've just put it in the give-away pile? Seriously, they haven't looked at it for six months to a year, but just put it in the Goodwill bag and watch...it's like they have some internal radar that warns them when a toy is about to be ejected from the stadium! Their warning alarm blaring within them, they quick grab the thing, play with it like it's the best and most intriguing item on the planet for just long enough to make you feel guilty for almost having given it away. (How could you, Mom--it's my favorite!) Of course, as soon as it's safe again, the toy will lose all interest because (as you had correctly surmised in the first place) they really do have too many toys to begin with.

The moral of the story: take the give-away pile out to the curb/car/friend's house IMMEDIATELY. Don't wait, or that toy is never leaving!

Booger

Ever had a booger flicked in your eye? Yeah, well, that happened to me last week while shopping in Target with my two girls. Little Cait was sitting in the jump seat and must have been doing some extracurricular diggin', cuz without warning, a slimy chunk of goo went straight into my eye.

Not much more I can say about that. Just had to share it with all of you.

Almost There

A couple people stopped me tonight at AWANA demanding pictures of the new kitchen on my blog. And since it's been 5 weeks since I posted last, I figured I'd better give some kind of update.

It's been 12 1/2 weeks since we started gutting the kitchen and we are almost there. Two weeks ago we installed the new oven, which has rocked my world. It is so great to be able to cook eggs and boil water for veggies and pasta and even cook a large Papa Murphy's pizza without having to bug one of my neighbors. The countertops were delivered yesterday and will be installed tomorrow morning, Lord willing. And if all goes right, by the end of this week I should have a new sink, faucet, and dishwasher.

I've been learning through this process that things often don't go the way they're supposed to. I can't tell you how many times we've discovered a problem, a mistake, or had dates pushed back for one reason or another. But happily, I've noticed my stress-reaction diminishing as time has gone on. Dare I say I may have learned a bit more patience from this trial? Maybe. I guess I've come to expect the unexpected and know that if there's nothing I can do about it, then there's nothing I can do about it. Best just to be thankful for what I've got and let the other things come. God be praised if he has used this horrendously stressful three months to work in me a little more of his fruit of the Spirit!

So, pictures are coming. I'll probably wait until we've got the floor in and all the paint completed. Then I can post some great before and after shots!

Laundry Love

Sent this note to Mom tonight:

Help! I don't know what to do! All my laundry is done--DONE--all except a few things that need to be soaked in Oxy Clean. I've washed blankets, blankies, the girls' filthy coats...everything comes out smelling so good and looking really nice. There must be something else I can wash!

Too bad I can't put the kids in there. Or the couch.

Your laundry lovin' daughter,
Jen

The First Big Step Back to Normalcy

B gave the green light today to have my beautiful steam machine front-loaders delivered as soon as we pass the electrical and plumbing inspection scheduled for tomorrow. Can I get a great big "WOOT"?! After more than six weeks without laundry, over a dozen loads done at friends' or neighbor's or mom's house, and one trip to the laundromat with the girls which I swore I would NOT repeat...I will finally be able to wash our clothes in my own home again. Never thought I'd be so excited to do laundry! Maybe there will be life after this project, afterall.

Karinisms

Karin continues to make us smile with her four-year-old thoughts and words. Here are a few that have cracked me up or warmed my heart lately...

• After ordering and listening to the worker announce our total through the speaker of the Taco Johns drive-through, Karin's voice came from the back: "why does she live in that box (referring to the attendant)?"
• At a recent dinnertime the conversation turned to what our bodies will be like when Jesus returns and takes us home with him. Of primary concern for the three kids was what color we will be. Jay hopes to be golden. Ethan said he wants a golden head, but a normal everything else. And then Karin weighed in: "I want to have a dark brown body, just like Eva (her best friend, recently adopted from India)!"
• Christmas morning, as Karin enjoyed her new wooden kitchen from Mom and Dad, she suddenly informed/asked me, "I've been thinking about if God likes bacon."
• Karin's understanding of the intangible has been growing everyday, especially since she asked Jesus to be her savior earlier this fall. The other day, as I was leaving her to take her usual rest time in an unfamiliar place (we were staying with friends while our house was being worked on), I attempted to reassure her by letting her know that she would be in the room alone but I would be nearby. "But God will be with me," she replied.

In a book lent to me by a friend recently, God's Whisper in a Mother's Chaos, the author says that God "most often... uses the people around us to guide us and teach us," usually the ones we are with the most.

For me that would be my kids, and of the ones that are home all day and that talk intelligibly, that would be Karin.

I think I'll be listening a little closer...she says great stuff!