Twice in one day!

So here I am writing twice in one day. You all are probably sick of me but hey you're the one reading this ;o) Anyway I am writing to say that God always has a way of humbling us. Pat had an interview this morning and was offered the job. They asked him to come in tonight and I was doing childcare at church tonight so he told them that he couldn't come in until 9:30 because we only have one car. Normally this wouldn't be a problem except I do childcare until about 9. So as I am thinking about this position that Pat has been offered, I was thinking of all the negative things about it. The hours aren't ideal, the pay isn't that great, blah blah blah. When a friend came in, gave me a hug and said that she was just glad that we have a house. It 1. made me take a step back and think, what am I worried about? We have a roof over our head, food to eat, and clothes to wear. This friend and I had gone out a while back ago and I told her that I was looking forward to having a house because at the time we lived on the third story of an apartment building and I couldn't wait to have a garage and a yard for the kids to play it. It really humbled me because it wasn't that long ago that it was something that I desired. In Psalms 37:4 it says "be happy with the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

After reading that verse it became very clear to me. I've heard it a million times before and we try to live our life by it but sometimes the problems in life seem to overshadow the blessings. Put God first and he will take care of everything else. This job that Pat was just offered is for a Human Resource position which is a field that he's wanting to get into. Even if this isn't permanent, this could be a major stepping stone to where God is leading him in the future. The place is only about 15 minutes from our house, so that's a blessing. So many times people get mad at God for not giving them exactly what they want, but that's not the way to go about it. Maybe God is trying to teach us something, or lead us somewhere else but we have to take this step first. Pat was a little torn when he was offered this job because as I mentioned in the last posting, he has wanted to play soccer for so long and he finally got the opportunity, was signed up to do it and all the details were worked out and this job came along. He knew that we needed it, but was sad that once again his dream was put on hold. It reminded me of a time whenever Declan was about 3 months old. We had very little money, Pat was unemployed and was desperately wanting to be a painter. He had always told me that he would NEVER work in fast food. We have learned never to say never because when we do, God has a funny way of proving us wrong. So anyway, we were in need of money and there was a Dairy Queen across the street from where we were living at the time. Pat finally gave in, applied at Dairy Queen and got hired. He worked one day and got a call from a painting company that he had been trying to work for for months. When Pat finally gave in and humbled himself enough to do something he didn't want to do, God turned around and blessed him/us in a HUGE way. We were living with our Pastor and his family at the time and when he got this painting job we were able to get our own place! I know that God has something great planned for our family even if we don't see it at the moment.

Something I feel that God has laid on my heart lately is to just be content with what we have. We would often catch ourselves saying: when we get good jobs we're going to buy this, or go here, or take a vacation, or whatever it may have been. Whenever we'd catch ourselves talking like that we'd remember that God wants us to be content with what we have. We shouldn't be thinking about all the ways we can spend HIS money, we should be thinking about how to be good stewards with his money. One of our ultimate goals has always been that if we made "x" amount of dollars or more per year we wanted to be able to annonomously help people in need. If someone called up to the church or something and asked if they could pay their electric bill or whatever it is, we want to be able to help them and not tell them it was from us. We have been blessed with some amazing people in our lives that have helped us every step of the way and without them we wouldn't have made it financially. We want to be able to do the same for someone else because we know how hard it can be sometimes to make ends meet. I am just rambling on, but this is me being completely transparent, which doesn't happen too often.

I will end with this verse. This is what I try to live my life by, to always be content no matter what the circumstances. I know there are times when it seems so overwhelming and Satan is trying to trick us into believing that God isn't going to come through this time but we know that is not the truth.

This is what Paul has to say about being content:
Philippians 4:11-13
The Message (MSG)
Content Whatever the Circumstances

10-14I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

Thank you to everyone that has been praying and continues to pray for us. I know that God is always watching out for us and for now, we are content just where we are!