As a said before in the last post, our first year of homeschooling was during an extremely tough year, for many reasons. But our finances, or lack thereof, played a huge role in the stress of that year. There were many times when I wondered why I had felt called to start homeschooling that year, of all years! But God was with us . . .
He was with us when we my hubby had no job for six months, and then found one finally that paid a lot less then jobs he’d had before, but it was income . . . just before the unemployment ran out.
He was there when we went to a real estate office to talk to a financial service representative about getting out of our big monthly payment, and moving to a home with a smaller one. And He was there when the man at the office gently told us that he thought that bankruptcy was a better option for us, and he gave us the name and recommendation of a bankruptcy attorney to talk to.
He was there as my husband and I sat outside our house, in the car, and cried together. He was there as we dried the tears of our humiliation and shame over the situation, and geared up to walk in the house and face our children and the babysitter.
He was there at the attorney’s office and in bankruptcy court, as time and time again our financial situation was laid bare and spoken about in front of strangers. He was with us when so many others in the trustee’s office that day had attorneys that were unprepared, and ours was prepared for anything. He was there as I felt compelled to pray over the ones that were caused extra pain by the incompetence of their legal representation.
And he was there as we prepared to move away from our first home as a married couple, and the only home our children had ever known. He was there when we thoroughly cleaned our house and leased van in preparation to give them back to the bank, and we tried to show our children how to be honorable in bad situations.
And he was there when Lewis came to our door . . .
We had been working frantically to move everything that we could before the van had to go back. We didn’t have the money to rent a moving van, and we were already working against time to get out of the home before the bank took possession. We only needed to move a few more loads of belongings that wouldn’t fit in a car. It was a Wednesday or Thursday when Lewis came to our door and knocked.
My hubby had taken the van to work, and was away as I answered the door.
Lewis was a kind looking man, probably about the age of my father. He looked at me and asked gently about the van.
“My husband has it and isn’t here now.”
“Are you willing to give the van back?”
“Yes, we are more than willing to give it back. We understand that it is not ours to keep.”
Handing me his card with his name and cell phone number on it. “Then call me, and we can set a time to meet. I can meet you here on Saturday.”
“Oh, thank you! We will be calling you later today to set that up.”
I said good-bye and closed the door with relief. And here was God’s grace and mercy again, in this man named Lewis.
My husband called later to set up an “appointment” for the next day, and I sighed. Now we had just enough time to move what we couldn’t move without the van. There would be no removal of the van in the night, no surprise. We had the grace and mercy of a little more time to move.
We made many trips between the two houses the next couple days, but once again God had provided for us . . . through a man named Lewis. Praise God!
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As many of you know from my blog, we have since gone through another period of unemployment. This time we were already at a point of living on less of an income, and we were able to live off of the unemployment income and pay our bills. My hubby has again found a job . . . just as he would be set to lose unemployment insurance with so many right now. Please pray with me now for them.
Lord, there are so many that are hurting financially right now. And worse than that, there are many that can not find a job right now, and are losing their unemployment . . . the only income that they have. We could have very easily been one of them. There are so many whose hearts are breaking. Please watch over those in need, and continue to provide employment opportunities and provision for them during this time. And thank you for all of the blessings that you offer us every day. Lord we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen
You and I have always seemed to live parallel lives LOL. As you know we have went through bankruptcy too. Hubby after over two and half years of unemployment (God was with us I tell you because they would continue to extend his unemployment even while others were losing theirs) and now he has a job. It is a lot less than what he was making and even less than his unemployment. We struggle but we know God has gotten us this far so we have no worries that He will get us through this as well. God is great all the time! :).... It is so nice to read about someone going through (or has gone through) the same things we have. God bless you :).
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