The county job will be a little less salary, however, we would have more time with Hubby. He would have THREE weeks of vacation each year, as well as holidays and sick leave for the first time in his life. He has been working for 25 years, and never had sick leave or paid holidays. The kids and I often get holidays off from school and work, while he has to head off to the shop. There is also a retirement system. If he is healthy and does not get sick…he’s young enough to work another 20 years and collect retirement. But best of all, I think the sooner we can get him on better and more reliable health insurance the better. While I will be very grateful for him to have more time to spend with us, I am most excited about the health insurance. Plus, with a county job, it would most likely be easier to get him onto disability when and if he becomes unable to work.
I am a little scared of how well he will do at this job. He has been having a few issues at his current job. It makes me wonder - is his health failing at work? Will he be able to do the new job? But it seems like divine intervention and God's plan for him to change jobs.
I’ve made it no secret
that I am concerned about him. He does not see a need to get tested for
Huntington’s at this time. We feel that testing is unnecessary because we will accept the Lord's will for our
lives no matter what His plan is. For
now, we simply try to live each day that we do have to its fullest. We wonder – whether the tests come out
positive or negative - what good would come from knowing? While there would be a slight advantage in
knowing…we can see many negatives from knowing (positive or negative test
results) as well. So we lean on what we
do know.
We KNOW and truly believe that God has a
good and perfect plan for our lives.
This does not mean that we expect our lives to be easy and smooth
sailing – on the contrary – we expect the Lord to give us trials and rough patches
in order to perfect our faith and trust in him or to build new character, and develop
our spiritual growth. James 1:2-4 tells
us to: Consider
it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith
produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may
be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – so we know that when we face trials –
that God is there WITH US through them.
And we need not worry about them, for he continues with verse 5: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you
should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and
it will be given to you. ALL we need to do is ASK.
I feel the Lord
speaking the verse from Job to me right now...Job 2:10: "But
Job replied, "You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good
things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" So in all this,
Job said nothing wrong." Hubby and
I know the answer – of course not – we must always accept the bad and the good
together! And so we work every day to
accept God’s will. It is not always easy.
We don't want Hubby to be sick. We do feel scared and sad and anxious. But we also know with the greatest of confidence,
that if he is sick - that God is using it for our own good. God fills us with His peace and love and strength. I'm not sure Hubby notices the things that I
notice...but we have both verbalized our great desire not only to accept God's
plan - no matter what it brings, but to also seek His will in everything. Maybe he isn't sick - maybe we're just getting
old...but...I see things that concern me. However, I am learning to "cast
all my cares upon the Lord."
Psalm 55:22 tells us
to: Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He
will never let the righteous fall. and
1 Peter 5:7 says: cast your cares on the Lord because He cares for you.
What really strikes me
about these verses, is that they both emphasize that we should CAST our cares…CAST. The Greek word for cast, means to throw it
away. This is NOT to be confused with
the kind of casting we do as a fisherman.
When we go fishing, and we cast our flies or lures way out into the body
of water, we continue to hang on to them with our line. It might be a small, thin, nearly invisible line, but we are still
holding on. In these scriptures, however, to cast,
means to throw it away…as in…forever…which tells me that we MUST LET GO. If we continue to hang onto the line – we haven’t
fully cast our cares unto the Lord. We
need to throw away our heart aches, our broken dreams, our cares, our concerns,
our pain, our doubt, our disappointment by tossing it at the foot of the throne
of Jesus. We do not need to hold the
line. We don’t need to carry the burden
around any longer – dragging us down like a suitcase – everywhere we go. But we can CAST that burden upon the Lord and
be rid of it FOREVER. Is your burden too
heavy? Then simply ask the Lord to take
it from you. He will take your
load.
I cling to the many promises that God Himself will share my burdens. Come unto me all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11: 28 - 29
Isaiah
40: 29-31 He gives strength to
the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths that grow tired
and weary, and even young men stumble and fall; but those
who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not
grow faint.
I am also trying not
to worry, since Philippians 4:6 tells me:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
God is telling me that I should not worry about anything, and I should pray
about everything!
It's a daily struggle. The anxiety, doubt, worry, and normal
demand of life that are daily placed on us can be overwhelming. I have
physically felt this burden upon me, weighing me down at times. But, knowing that we serve a risen Savior and
that He truly cares for us is important and comforting. He TRULY loves us! Look at all HE has done to demonstrate that
great love! It is hard to understand
that God really does CARE for us (for you too!). He can handle our stresses, worries, anxieties, and pain when we can’t.
That is my
daily prayer for our families – Hubby’s sister and her family, and our family
as well. That the Lord comes and stands
beside us, and lifts us up, and gives us His strength and peace - and that we
can feel His presence upholding us, and feel the power and strength that He can
give us.
And, I
know He will, for He has made this promise to His children in Isaiah 41:10:
So do not fear, for I am with you; do
not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you; I
will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
These are
the promises I rely on. I praise and
thank my God for lifting my burdens, for strengthening us, for helping us, and
for upholding us.
We can CAST ALL of our
cares upon Him and He will SUSTAIN us, because of His great LOVE for us, and He
will not allow His children to fall.
