God is Good and This is why...

Now that we are getting settled into life here in Alabama, I figured now is a good time to update everyone.  It's been a bumpy road since Eric pulled into Alabama the end of April.  His diesel truck started showing signs of mechanical issues about half way between Rapid City and Alabama.  Yeah, we spent around $5,000 in February to fix this truck and still having issues and it looks like it needs another $5,000 in work.  To me it is God's way of saying I want you to stay put, because if it were running, the family drama with extended family would have sent us running away to Rapid City, and that is the truth.  God really does know what he is doing.

Within a week of getting here, Eric had job interviews lined up and is now working full time at Lowe's.  He is working in the merchandising department, which is awesome because it is a Monday thru Friday job, so he has weekends off.  The downside is he has to be there at 5am...for those of you who know Eric, know why this is comical.  For the record, he does it, everyday without complaint.  I am so proud of him.  

I am continuing to work at a daycare in Loxley.  My schedule varies and it is minimum wage, but I get free childcare for the boys so it evens out.  I am enjoying it, and love caring for kids and babies, but by the end of the day I am exhausted.

As I mentioned, we have no running vehicles of our own at the moment.  Eric's is broken down, and we haven’t owned a second vehicle since moving to Alaska.  So how are we getting to work?  Borrowed cars.  I have been borrowing my grandmother's since the boys and I got to Alabama in March, which to be honest, I think she is wanting it back.  Eric is borrowing a car his brother had laying around and it is starting to have mechanical issues.

On top of this struggle, we were bouncing back and forth between my mom's house and Eric's mom's house.  We needed to be in our own space desperately, but lacked the finances to get our camper into a park with hookups.

So here is our praise report.  Two weeks ago, as we approached Eric's first paycheck, and after very frugal living for the last couple of months,  I was looking at our situation and feeling very discouraged.  Eric had a bad attitude also.  We were behind on things, and I did not see how his paycheck and my little one were going to be enough to cover all that we needed to cover.  I was upset.  Eric was upset.  He through his hands up and said, "I am tired of hearing what God can do, I want to see Him do it!"  That day, I found an encouraging verse on the Bible App and shared it on Facebook.  I did not share the details of how bad it really was, just "keep us in your prayers."

It started with a friend I had been sharing my struggles with periodically in Rapid City, and she sent me $25.  This was just enough to cover an $85 check we had written my brother-in-law for the use of his car.  I was so relieved, though we had $60 left in savings, I did not want to touch it.  Then my request for prayer triggered a message from a long lost friend, who relocated to this area a couple years back.  She asked for my specific needs.  I laughed and gave her the long laundry list.  The car situation, the money issues and not knowing how we are going to get caught up, the situation with wanting to get into our camper and not having the money to do it.  That friend sent us $600 to use how we saw fit and to keep her posted on the vehicle situation, she has a vehicle for sell and may be able to lend it to me.  I bawled.  Eric said "Ok, God, I see it!"  A day or two later, I posted a "Praise God for his Provision" post, which triggered a comment from a friend in Rapid City, asking what's been going on lately.  I messaged her all that was going on and what had transpired.  I was so thankful that God provided enough to help us get caught up.  She immediately sent me $200.  I was like WHAT?!?!  More bawling!  

THEN, Eric got a message from a pastor friend of ours that we had reconnected with.  He asked Eric, "If I can get you guys into an RV park for a couple months, would that help you?"  The awesome thing, is we really had not shared much on our struggle, other than we had a camper we wanted to get back into and that we were currently living with family.  I am blessed and thankful to report that we moved back into our camper a week ago, and will be staying at a RV Resort at no cost to us for TWO months!!!  I am in awe of the goodness of God.

Fast forward to this past Saturday.  I got a call from my mom, who was calling on behalf of my grandmother.  My aunt and uncle were coming to town and they needed grandma's car for the week.  I needed to bring it back to them the next day.  When I got off the phone was crying, shocked and upset.  All I could think was, "God, I am scheduled to work all 5 days next week!  Eric and I can't carpool, because we work in opposite directions and I go to work hours after him and he gets off hours before I do!"  I messaged my friend who had offered her car if needed.  I held my breath and said a prayer.  Without hesitation, she let us borrow it for the week.  Praise God, I have transportation for work this week.  Meanwhile, Eric's borrowed vehicle stalled on the way to pick up the new borrowed car, but has not stalled since.  It got him to work today, but running a little rough.  I am praying and believing that this part will be resolved soon.  We need his broke down truck to sell as is for a reasonable price and to get vehicles of our own.  

The point is God is a good God and I love how he works everything out, in the most amazing ways sometimes.