Stretching Our Faith

I have the gift of faith. (I even believed in Santa for way, way too long; I felt so sorry for the other kids who believed the lies that their older siblings and other kids told them.) My faith is rarely tested...I know with 100% confidence that God is in control of every aspect of my life, whether or not things are going the way I think they should.

But this week, we were blindsided.

Mike was laid off. It's no surprise in this economy that people are losing their jobs, and I'm convinced it will only get worse. But for some reason, this really caught me off guard.

Yes, giving at our church has decreased this year. (To my Christian readers - please continue to tithe, even through the tough times. The church still has a staff to support and bills to pay!) Yes, our church is very large with an equally large staff. But Mike is a great employee - works smarter rather than harder, doesn't chit chat around the water cooler all day, he is a man of integrity, and he's very knowledgeable in his field. But I suppose the majority of the people on staff at our church are all of the things on that list, too.

Somehow, I just thought my husband's job was more secure. He was a part of the meetings where they tried to trim any and every area in an attempt to not have to let people go. I thought that if they had to make cuts, it would be the lower men on the totem pole. But his job is being dissolved and the group remaining in his department will now have to share his duties.

Isn't that always how it goes? It's great to be one of the people still on the payroll, but when there are layoffs, everyone suffers. The people left with their same jobs end up with more responsibilities and longer hours. All because of this horrible, stupid economy. Ugh, don't get me started.

As for me? I'm doing fine. I should say that I'm doing better. Last night, I wasn't doing so hot. I tried to hide my tears from Mike and the kids, realizing all that will be changing in the coming months. We've had a pretty sweet deal these last couple of years. Mike leaves for work at 8:25 and arrives at 8:30. He comes home every day for lunch and has to drive through 3 stop lights to get back home in the evening. The only employers between our house and our church are in a grocery store strip mall.

Now I'm wondering where God will take him next? I know He has a plan. And just like a friend said: I know this happened for a reason, I know I'm not given more than I can handle, I know many people are going through much worse, I know we will survive this and I know I will come out of it a stronger person. It's just tough, you know? It hurts my heart that Mike has to go through this again.

The last time he was laid off was just weeks after I found out I was pregnant with Ryan. His department was being transferred to California and he was given 6 months to find a new job. That was a scary time. And, of course, God provided a great position for him. I am confident that will happen again, it's just a bit unnerving.

It's also frustrating to know that in recent months, I've tightened up our spending quite a bit. What will we have to do to scale back now? Will we have to pull Ryan out of school? Sell a car? Sell a house for thousands less than it's worth? We're locked into certain commitments like our cell phones and we have pre-paid discount plans with places like our gym. So our lifestyle may not appear to change much at first...especially because we've lived very frugally for quite a while! Or so I thought. I just learned the definition of a "spending freeze."

I am proud to say that I took some time this afternoon to plan our meals for the entire month of November using only what we have in the house at the moment! I will still get the produce co-op every other week and will need to buy milk and eggs, but I think that's the extent of our grocery needs this month. We'll see if it works out.

So girlfriends (and the few gentlemen readers out there) - I need your prayers. WE need your prayers. Men put so much stock in having the ability to put food on the table and to support their families. It encompasses such a huge part of who they are as a human being and a member of society. I don't want this to get my man down. He stresses out way too easily and I want this to be a time where we pull together as a family and look back with thankfulness. I want this to stretch our faith and deepen our relationship with each other and with Christ.

And a quick, shameless plug: if my local Phoenix friends have any leads or connections to Accounting or Finance jobs (preferably in our area of town) - please let me know!

Thank you for your support and prayers. I'll keep you posted.