Life is as reliable as the weather

For those of us luckly enough to live in Southern California, we understand that part of the cost of living here is paying for "good weather." Limited rain, temperate climate, plenty of sun. However, there are those few times when the weather does not cooperate despite the amount of mortgage or rent you pay. This weekend was a perfect example of this. Sunday, it was 100 degrees at 10am! Talk about toasty!


Well, life is a lot like the weather. You never quite know what you are going to get. Lately, life has been cooperative with Eric and I - we are truly blessed. Since getting married, we have both almost finished our master's degrees, both have good jobs allowing us to live comfortably in our beloved Southern California, and last fall - God blessed us with a little Addie Jean - soon to be born in 10 weeks. However, this past week, the weather changed. Monday, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes - scarier than it sounds, but nonetheless something that has to be dealt with and that is not fun. Tuesday, we discovered that someone had stolen my credit card number and was purchasing weird software from companies in Germany. And the lowest day of all was when Eric was told at 4pm on Wednesday that he was laid off from his job at Concordia. At first, it seemed like quite a blow - he had put over 2 years at this school working WAY more than 40 hours a week. But the school is millions of dollars in the hole - and Eric was a casualty of other people's bad financial decisions. With our little one only 10 weeks away from being born, it seemed cruel and scary. But after much consideration, we realized that God had been preparing us for this for quite some time. We have been diligently praying for a way for us to afford for one of us to stay at home with our little one, and Eric had already been looking for another job. He got a decent package from the school so that we are taken care of in full until end of June with both pay and benefits - and he qualifies for unemployment after that. We are actually relieved to know that we don't have to worry about who will stay at home for Addie when she comes, and looking forward to what God brings us next. Whatever happens, we know that God is working in our lives. That is the best feeling ever - knowing that God is still working on us - molding us - shaping us - and guiding us into a new life. So not only will we get to discover a new life as parents, but a new career life as well.

Bring on the weather patterns - We are up for the challenge, and we face it head on with courage, hope, and most importantly faith.