Since this is part 2 let's jump right in especially since I can hardly wait to share with you...boy, have I missed this!!!
So, there we were without a job for the first time in 34 years and again on the front lines of "God, what do you want for our lives!" This is a place, that for us is not very comfortable...we find it hard to trust. Not that we don't believe...we do believe that God can and will take care of our every need but we get confused that we are not listening or following correctly so we agonize over everything.
So, for the first month or so Russell went to everyone that knew his name and asked for a job. At first, he was very positive and had alot of interviews. One thing that God revealed to us was what a great reputation Russell had. Over and over God showed us that the life Russell had led, being set apart from alot of what the world thinks business should be, had become a blessing in a well-though of reputation. But many great interviews and still no job offers! As each day passed, I became more and more convicted that this had alot more to do with a plan that God had for us and alot less with employment and paying bills. "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect...He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down and make me great. You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn." Psalm 18:32, 34-36. Oh, yes...this was not just a bad break in life...God had a plan for us and for our future!
There is a story in 1 Samuel that tells about Saul's father Kisk asking Saul to go out and look for Kisk's lost donkeys. Saul takes a servant with him and out they go. After searching for three days and having no luck in finding his father's donkeys the servant suggests that they talk to Samuel, the great seer. Of course, going to see Samuel was all part of God's plan for Saul. The great prophet Samuel was expecting Saul and was waiting on him. Samuel had been told by God that Saul was the man that was going to be annointed as king. "I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart." 1 Samuel 9:19.
God was using the loss of the family's donkeys to bring Saul into his destiny. If it had not been important to Saul to find those donkeys he would have never gone to Samuel. As for us, we were motivated to seek God for our future because of the loss of something we valued...our livelihod. We were driven to seek God, knowing that we had a desire for something we could not get on our own. We knew we needed to seek God for direction, healing and provision.
Don't let me misled you...we are not the Billy Graham family! We are just regular people, thrown into one of those situations in which you realize how much you need God and how little you can do on your own. We did not spend our days smiling and talking about how great life is...we were not confident in our future and we had to keep repeating to ourselves and each other to "Trust God....HE WILL TAKE CARE OF US!" Most of the talks with our family (Mom and Dad) started out with a postive note,"Oh, we are fine...Russell had another interview today and it looked really good." and about halfway through it was, "We know God has something out there for us...I mean don't you think that too! I mean he does have something for us..I least we hope he has something for us...okay, yes, He has something for us don't you think?" As I said, we are not the Billy Graham family!!!
And we did pray...I would go with Russell to job interviews and sit in the car, on more than 1/2 dozen occasions for 3-4 hours... read my bible and pray. I was brought to the place that the only part I was able to play was encourager and prayer warrior. And pray I did...not that he would get one job or another but we had been brought to the place that I was able to pray that God would protect my husband and bring him the job that would glorify our King the most. Bring Russell the job that was the place that God wanted us in. In my heart I knew that it was be a long journey...that God had allowed this to happen to us for a reason and the job was going to come in His time, when the work He wanted to complete in us was finished. God had shown me that there was a restlessness in my husband...a big part of him was tied up and bound in always doing what was right for the family but Russell wanted to see what else there was for him in life...wasn't there something bigger, better, more exciting he could be doing with ten hours a day every day of the week? Yes, after 34 years of working he definetly wanted or so he thought something different.
Well, it seems this is going to turn into a novel....this is what happens when you don't write for three months. I guess I will stop here and Monday pick up with part 3. I have so much more that I think the Lord wants me to say...there I go again...am I sure I am hearing Him or it is just that I like to write? Does He want me to share all of this or it is just important to me because I lived it? You see what I mean...God wants me to share this journey and share is what I am going to do!!!
Peace to you all and have a wonderful weekend full of God's blessings...
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4
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