New Beginnings

My husband lost his job today.

I came home after having a horrific day at work. Actually, it could have been a worse work day, but it was not a good one just the same. My husband, being the very practical sort, told me he needed to talk to me and then informed me that he had been "let go" today. Let go. Just two days ago, they were told that one site was being shut down and that every person except one at that site would be losing their jobs. His site thought they were safe for a few months at least.

Instead of getting all panicky, I really felt a tremendous sense of peace. I hugged him and told him that I was sorry it happened to him. Then I said, "God never closes one door without opening another, and you didn't like that job anyway."

Where had that come from?

He had worked for the company for almost 9 years, but he did not like it. It was not his passion by any stretch of the imagination. It was just a job, really. A job that he kept because the insurance benefits were very good. They completely covered so many things that many other plans would not dream of covering. It paid for all of the tests and procedures I underwent to finally have my babies. It paid for my high risk prenatal care and biweekly ultrasounds, my long hospital bedrest stay, and the outrageous NICU bill once the girls were born prematurely. It paid for the $1000 each RSV shots the twins got every month after they came home. It also paid for my oral surgery and for my once-a-year designer sunglasses with the polarized lenses. All at 100%. For that, he stayed and I am grateful.

Still, it was just a job. One that was a tremendous blessing at the time when a tremendous blessing was needed; but it was also a place where he was not truly happy and had become a chore to go to.

You see, I think we get so caught up in the business of day-to-day living that we fail to recognize when God has released us from something (or someone!) and moved our blessing somewhere else. There has to be very little worse than that. Now, my man has got to get with God and find where he is really supposed to be.

Instead of dread about how we're going to pay the bills, I feel as if a weight is lifted for some reason. We may have to eventually move into a smaller house or even a condo. That's okay with me. (Besides, when I mentioned this to our son, Ryan, he simply shrugged his shoulders and informed me that he doesn't really like this house anymore since the break-in). We'll have to really tighten our belts and cut out a lot of extras. Okay. We can do that. Maybe we won't be able to go on the trip I've had my eye on. Whatever.

Maybe now my husband can return to school (a dream that he gladly deferred when I voiced my own desire to return to school several years ago). Maybe this is his turn to finally follow his dreams.

The sky is the limit, really. I know the economy is pretty crappy right now. I realize that he might have to find another "job" in the interim. Maybe I'll pick up a private tutoring gig a couple evenings a week or for a couple of hours on Saturdays. The point is that whatever we need to do, WE will do because we're a team. We rise, we fall, we sink, and we swim TOGETHER. That's just how we roll...

And I wouldn't have it any other way.