But finally.....we are finding ourselves at a spot where multiple things have fallen into place and appropriate for public sharing. And it's probably more than what most really need to know. But I am wordy and type fast. :)
Adam has been working carpentry/remodeling alongside of someone for the past several months. God led these two guys together. A friend texted me that her dental hygienist's husband was looking for someone to help him out with his business. She gave me his contact info and I thanked her for looking out for us. Annnddddd.....I'm pretty sure I never even thought to tell Adam about it. Seemed odd to cold-call a guy we didn't know when we weren't desperate for work yet. Adam was looking and applying for some other jobs. Then a few weeks later, a friend from high school reached out to me online based on the blog I shared. She had shared our story with her dad. Her dad wanted to reach out to Adam to encourage him and literally lived around the corner from us. They met up and talked. He wanted to introduce Adam to a friend of his who was looking for some help. They meet. Adam starts working. Come to find out, THIS IS THE SAME GUY MY OTHER FRIEND HAD TEXTED ME ABOUT! I know we don't live in New York City or any place super big, but we were blown away at how these 2 different people who did not know each other or are in any way connected were both trying to get Adam and this guy connected. Once we discovered that, we knew God's hand was at work providing an opportunity for Adam to work. And physically, Adam is a stubborn beast, and he has handled it extremely well. He enjoys the guy he's working with and he feels like he's really been able to lend his skills to help.
The big decision we felt weighing on us was whether or not we stay in this area or head back to Grand Rapids....or someplace else....once the boys finished the school year. We knew we had a housing option in GR because a family member had a rental house we could get into easily and Adam had way more contacts in GR to help find work. And if I wasn't ready for us to be in another church ministry position (which I wasn't) that just meant we had to "bide our time" somewhere for awhile if Adam still felt called to it. Being a girl who grew up in the same small community her entire life until she went away to college, I was feeling conflicted on what multiple moves for our boys would do to them. Honestly, it seemed much, much easier to heal if we moved away. But our boys were doing well and had enjoyed their school for the past 2 years. And this is the closest we've ever lived to my parents and they are not getting any younger. Yet, we wanted to go where God wanted us....it just wasn't seeming real clear on where that was. So....we looked for a house in this area. We really didn't want to rent. The housing market is pretty crazy for buyers just about anywhere you go. We had been looking at houses for well over a year, but we weren't desperate then. Now, we had a definite timetable to work with to find something. A friend told us of some people selling in her neighborhood - a neighborhood that is in our elementary school's boundary lines (which honestly is not all that big). They were hoping to sell by owner, rather than list it. I think we were the only ones that had even walked through it. We decided to agree to buy it. Wasn't our "dream" home....but it was in a good neighborhood and it had a large basement we could finish ourselves. Now the tricky part of obtaining a mortgage when you are currently technically self-employed (mortgage companies want 2 years worth of tax statements when you are self-employed, likely to prove that you have a stable income to pay them back....uh, we've been doing this for less than 2 months). There was waiting. Requests for more documentation of various things. And even an agreement with God that if this didn't go through, we would willingly head back to Grand Rapids. But, it all went through. We closed smoothly and have been moving in over the past month. I did lots of painting, but otherwise it was a fairly new, gently-lived in home that didn't need any immediate work.
And then we had to figure out health insurance. With Adam's job, we no longer had access to health benefits. There are some good affordable options out there for Medi-Share, Liberty, etc. and I received mostly favorable reviews from people on them. The boys probably could have qualified for discounted coverage through Medicaid type programs based on our income, but again, the self-employed aspect made all of that super tricky to apply for and report on every month. So, being a responsible person like I am....I decided it was possibly time for me to consider working full-time somewhere so we could have health insurance through my job. I didn't go crazy applying at multiple things, but I did apply for a full-time position at the University of Notre Dame (I've been working at ND for 10 hours/week in a different department). The position I applied for was full-time, but only 10 months of the year. I could still have June/July off to be home with the boys. Seemed appealing to me. Made it to the final round of interviewing, but they chose they other candidate. The relief I felt in not being offered the position far outweighed the disappointment! It wasn't that I didn't like the job....I was so NOT ready to get home at 5:30+pm every day. My heart was still very much in nurturing and being as present as possible with these boys of ours. They need a whole lot of guidance still! The process of seriously considering working full-time showed me that I'm not ready. I'm willing if it became absolutely essential, but I'd rather live frugally for a few more years if it means I can be more present at home. So, when out-of-the-blue another department called me the next week asking me to interview for their open position because my name had been passed along to them, it felt fairly easy to turn down the opportunity. But.....we still needed health insurance.
And well, God was working and we just had to be patient and trust Him. Adam was now in multiple rounds of interviewing for a full-time High School Bible teaching position at a local Christian school. And we're super happy to share that he has been offered the position and will begin August 1! This is a K-12 school that is growing and has been established for 45 years. He still gets to work in the lives of students! Being in an academic setting will be a new thing for him, but I don't doubt for a second that he will thrive and be well utilized in this school. He has so many giftings and capabilities that he will certainly be an asset for them to have (I might be biased...but in this case, I'm right).
We've found our way to a church that has been really great for us (and coincidentally, it is connected to and supports the Christian school where Adam got a job....which has nothing to do with why we started going there). Smaller than where we had been, which we probably prefer. We basically chose it from a list of churches that we created. We decided we didn't want to "shop" around since we didn't even know if we were even staying in the area. We at least wanted to give our boys a consistent place to worship on Sunday mornings during this interim time. Our only initial criteria for our first week of testing was if they preached God's Word well. And they easily passed. They also had men's and women's Bible studies starting up that next week with childcare provided. They took place on Wednesday nights which we figured would be a great way for us to spend our Wednesday nights rather than watching out the house windows as cars came and went from church student ministry activities that we were no longer a part of. We're slowly getting more connected and eager to be a part of this community. We're both helping out with VBS this week. Adam is driving the bus to take their mission team to the airport in a few weeks. And we're considering what other ways we can serve and be involved moving forward.
Plus, I came across another opportunity that piqued my interest. With no longer being so involved with student ministry at church, I knew I would start to get antsy for doing something regular that was "people-y" and purposeful. I applied for a position as a relief House Mom at a local faith-based maternity home. It was only slated for two 24-hour shifts a month with potential opportunity to cover some other shifts. I knew they received a lot of responses of interest in this position, but very recently God has opened the doors for me to serve in it! I'll start next month! I'm excited! (This will be in addition to my current position at ND) (Plus, a few months ago, I did quite a few hours of transcription work for interviews about entrepreneurial Christians in business) (Why, yes. Yes, I am a girl that has worked a number of random side jobs over the years....I prefer to look at it as being a true Renaissance woman....able-bodied, interested in, and gifted at a wide variety of things) (And more so, God provides).
So....with that lengthy update....the conclusion of this post is that:
God is good. He is faithful. He loves us and has His hand on us. Always has and always will.
We strive to keep our eyes and hearts fixed on Him which enables us to live each day in step with Him as we grow in our faith and in our capacity to love others.
