Keeping my Home a Haven

I need to start off by saying how overwhelmed I have been with the love, encouragement and prayers we've received since I mentioned Mike's lay off. Your notes and calls (my phone rang off the hook last week!) were such a blessing to me...each and every one. One friend immediately invited us over for dinner last weekend, another wanted to bring over groceries, many others have extended additional offers to help or babysit, Mike was taken out to lunch by a co-worker, and another friend of his even offered to teach him how to lay wood floors so he can bring him on jobs to bring in some $$$ until he gets hired somewhere. Seriously overwhelming - THANK YOU for everything!

Mike and I are in good spirits, though I'll admit that we trade off feeling anxious about the months ahead. I noticed something interesting this weekend: Mike is obviously concerned about providing for our family, taking care of our financial needs, things like that. While I'm hopeful that he'll find a job soon and that we won't exhaust our savings, that's not what has me rattled. I've suddenly become a little over-protective of our "family life" and keeping things healthy and on the right track with our marriage and parenting.

I remember before Mike took the position at our church a couple of years ago, he had about a week (maybe two?) between leaving his old job and starting his new one. It changed the dynamic of our family having him home so much. Toward the end of his "time off," he finally let me know that he was looking forward to those days being just that: time OFF. Yet, my expectations were not for him to goof off and relax all day while cleaned up after him and I ran my preggo-body all over the house after our very-active-two-year-old. It's a little hard to explain, but I can honestly say that I remember being very excited for him to go back to work and get out of my hair start his new job.

How horrible is that? I don't want to be in that place again. I am thinking of ways that we can intentionally and purposefully enjoy this time together and not get on each other's nerves. You know the old saying of "distance makes the heart grow fonder." It's true for us.

But that doesn't change the fact that in a couple of weeks, Mike will be home a lot more. His last day is November 14th, the day after his birthday. I'm the queen of efficiency, so I'm psyching myself up to relax my standards, get flexible and cheerfully welcome Mike into our Monday-Friday routine.

So please continue to keep us in prayer. If we're careful, we can last several months while Mike looks for employment. But personally, I'm praying for peace in our home. Oh yeah, and sleep. (I can't seem to shut my mind off at night!) We're a little on edge (and sleep deprived...) and the kids are starting to feel the tension. We need to concentrate on having a grace-filled home with joy and contentment, even though luxuries will be scarce. I also desperately want to stay on the same page with Mike, though I'm not sure that even HE knows what "page" he's on. He knows we could/should cut some things back in our lives, but I'm not sure he's ready/willing just yet. Its tough to support someone who's still trying to figure themselves out, you know???