it's been quite the week. matt has been out of work for exactly a week, but we're seeing God provide in little ways every few days that just add up so quickly... everything from an easy refinance on his car loan, to a request for additional web design work for an old client, to an unexpected blessing from some dear friends. it's still not the situation i would choose for myself, but He's teaching us something - total dependence on Him.

this weekend, we'll celebrate my grandparents' 50th anniversary with a family reunion. several family members are in town for the whole weekend, others will visit just for the sunday-afternoon party. we've put so much thought and planning into this weekend... must go charge camera batteries...

still finding time to enjoy my hobbies, which provide a cathartic relief i so need right now. getting ready for a craft fair in december, and i just added a few more things to my etsy shop. i've been exploring some christmas present ideas that i'd really like to post, but i can't risk recipient readership... maybe i'll post it covertly.

i'm back.

hello, ol' blog. i've missed you, really. please accept my most profound apologies for leaving you. i've thought of you often and today i know, returning to you was the right thing to do... if you'll have me...

blogging got put on hold a bit after i left Groupee last march for full-time ministry. i love my "job", but don't often find myself with time to look for things "to do", so blogging took a backseat.

but lately i've been longing to record the events of life, if not for posterity, then simply just for myself. this week has brought me to a full realization of how therapeutic journaling is for me - and i need it now.

about four weeks ago, matt was offered the job opportunity of a lifetime - via a friend of a friend, he became an electrical apprentice. it seemed like God's will - what a blessing. he worked for three weeks when the company that had contracted them cut the project. suddenly, there was no work and matt, being the apprentice with the least amount of experience, got cut first.

we're in shock. he struggled to admit that he was unemployed at first, and i feel the pressure of all of our expenses riding on my paycheck. but most of all, i felt myself reeling, with the question "am i even able to discern God's will at all?" looming in my mind.

so we're two days into it now. filed for unemployment - thankful it's there, yet disappointed that we have to use it. matt's searching, but our concern is that his lack of experience will exclude him from being considered for any apprentice positions. the big catch22.

the most ironic part of the whole circumstance is that we've been working through the story of Joseph (Gen. 37-50) at church, in both "big church" and kids church. this sunday, we wrap it up with our final lesson: God uses everything for good... it's just amazing how God chooses to teach us even as we teach. sometimes i want to tell Him i'm not in the mood for His sense of humor...

so i'm just trying to wear my "brave" face and let this be a crisis i face with faith. i know that God has a greater plan in all of this, because God uses everything for good.