The last few weeks, I have not been able to blog very much, but that will all change the next few weeks. Two weeks ago I found out that I will have to have surgery this coming week. While I always knew this problem could occur at sometime, I quite honestly expected it to be in my later 30s (not the year I turned 30). Because this came at an unexpected time and is happening very quickly, I have been very busy getting things in order around my house, on top of the normal business of family and church Christmas celebration and other activities that fill this time of year.
While I should be home within two days of having surgery, I will be on a very strict lifting and pushing/pulling restrictions and I am likely to have a significant amount of pain at least for the first few weeks. So, every extra bit of time since receiving the news, I have been trying to do all of the main house cleaning (scrubbing the shower and bathtub, mopping the floors, etc.) and stocked up the house with groceries so my husband can make simple meals for the kids if I'm not feeling up to it. I am also blessed with great friends and family! My husband is always a big help about keeping the house in order, so I know that he will be more than willing to pick up the slack in housekeeping duties, many of my friends have already called to see what would be "safe foods" to make due to my food allergies for our family, I've had offers for people to keep the baby for the first few days so I can get some rest, and my mother-in-law has offered to come do my vacuuming and any other tasks I'm not able to.
While I have spent the last few weeks preparing for this, God has been working things out for the past few months to make this an easier time for our family. If you read my previous post, you know that I truly believe that God works things out for our good, even when we can't see them. Let me share with you just a few ways God was looking to take care of us.
1. I currently teach for two schools and was planning to give up teaching for one of them. I received an email the week before Thanksgiving from the coordinator asking if I was planning to teach again for winter semester. I sent her an email back the next day with my intention to give up my position, but somehow, she never received it. The first week of December, she sent me another email asking me if I had received the first one and requested an answer from me. I immediately sent her back another email apologizing for the inconvenience of the missing email and again informed her that I was not planning to teach during winter semester. She replied with a message that said that would be fine. Then, a few days later another email followed that asked if I would consider teaching for one more semester since the switch to the new curriculum would be happening starting in the fall and it would help them not have to train someone for just one semester. I talked it over with my husband, prayed about it, and decided that I could in fact commit to one more semester. I signed my contract just a few days before I found out I would have to have surgery. My class to teach for the other school that I prefer teaching for was only a 6 week assignment this coming semester, so in order to be off for my recovery, I had to give up that job entirely. If it weren't for the job that I was trying so hard to quit, I wouldn't have any income at all while I am on my surgical leave of absence from all of my jobs.
2. My transmission in my vehicle that was just replaced in August began acting up again a few weeks ago. We had borrowed my grandparents' vehicle for me to get back in forth to work, but we only had that until December 21st. That also was my husband's last day of work until he had 10 days off over Christmas. I worked the day after Christmas, and I work New Years Eve and January 2nd. What we thought would be a transmission rebuild and take about a week, has now become us needing a completely new transmission, which will cost quite a bit more money, and means it will be a few more weeks until I have my vehicle back. There is no way that I would be able to commit to teaching 3 days a week without a vehicle, and I am not even allowed to drive for 2 weeks anyways, so as much as this is not going well, it is still probably the best time for it to happen.
3. My daughter is a very busy 18-month-old who loves to climb and jump on everything, including me. Especially for the first two weeks, the doctor said that I need to be extra careful about her so that my internal stitches don't get torn. In the middle of December, my mother-in-law, who works part-time, switched from a position on afternoon shift to day shift. She had had many opportunities to do so in the past and had passed them up but had decided that now might be a good time. With it, her schedule of which days she works was re-arranged. She works every Monday and Friday and every other weekend, but with the exception of one day each week has most week days off. My mother also works part-time and her days off each week are Mondays and Fridays. Since they both live within 5 miles, the only days I would have no help available with baby if I needed it would be the one day mid-week that my mother-in-law works each week and friends have offered to watch her on those days.
These are just a few examples of the many interesting ways I have seen God intervening in our lives recently. What about you? Do you have any personal stories to share about how awesome our God is?
No comments:
Post a Comment