Miracles

Last May, a week before my birthday, my husband was fired from his job without written or verbal explanation.

If you'd have asked me a week before this happening how long we could survive without his paycheck, I would have said maybe one month.

This upcoming week will mark the six month "anniversary" of this life-changing event. When I say "life-changing," I don't mean it in a victimized way, but actually in a positive way.

My husband is, without question, the pillar of faith in our family. He's had some major tough times early in his life that have helped to solidify that faith. I am still on the learning curve... faith doesn't always come naturally to me. I often try to control outcomes, and my meddling rarely yields positive results. It is when I just let go that miracles start to happen in my life.

And so it has been. Let me explain.

Two weeks prior to my husband losing his job, I flew in to Canada to be there for my dad's surgery. It also happened to be my grandfather's 90th birthday and Jorryn and I got to spend an afternoon with him and my grandmother. If my husband would have lost his job earlier that month, it is very possible that I wouldn't have made that trip. That afternoon with my grandfather was the last time I saw him alive (he passed away this October).

My husband had remaining sick time with his job, and so he received a full paycheck June 1st for the work he did in May. Sometime in June, they also sent him a check for his vacation time, which ended up being about 75% of a full paycheck. We also received a refund on our taxes this year and were lucky to have the stimulus payment right before his layoff. This all combined, got us off to a good start.

During the summer, my husband managed to book three weddings, plus he started working as a roofing contractor, bringing in a little extra here and there. I also picked up some extra hours at my childcare job, plus got a promotion and was asked to do more work at my bookkeeping job.

Now, while this all sounds like a lot of money, I have to confess that our bills amount to a lot every month. Two car payments, several credit cards, plus all the normal stuff amounts to a lot going out the door every month. I've thought of every way imagineable to get out of these payments, but we're pretty much stuck with them. I'm determined to honor all of our financial obligations for as long as I possibly can.

In September, things were starting to look grim. The money was running out - fast. John ended up booking two weddings for October. Unfortunately, one bride ended up changing her wedding date at the last minute, and changed it to the exact same date as the other booked wedding. Then another bride called to book a wedding and it was also on that very same date. How frustrating! Then something wonderful happened. Someone knocked on our door one day to ask if the truck sitting in our driveway was for sale. We ended up selling it two days later. This truck had been sitting in our driveway, inoperable, for almost a year and a half. We were covered through most of October.

In October, John shot the wedding he'd booked and sold a wedding package, which was enough to get us through mid-November. He then was called in to work temporarily in the computer field and ended up working for a whole month. This was enough to get us through November.

The other day, I was sitting around the house, wondering if we were going to have enough for December. I was also moping about the fact that for the third year in a row, we wouldn't be able to make it to Canada for Christmas. John and I had talked about it and we just didn't see how it could be done. It would take a miracle of some kind.

Then one night, I was talking to my sister on the phone, telling her about how frustrated I was that I wouldn't be able to spend time with my Canadian family. We talked about different ways that I might be able to generate extra money, but despite everything, I didn't know how my January bills would get paid. The very next day, my mom called me from her work, completly unaware of my thoughts or my conversation with my sister. She told me that one of my savings bonds had come due, something I had purchased well over ten years ago, and that she'd deposited it in my bank account. The amount? Just exactly enough to pay all of my January bills plus gas, food, baby and pets. I mean, like almost exactly the amount, right down to the penny. Coincidence? I think not.

And so, this holiday season, I feel overwhelmed by miracles. I don't know what the future holds. It's still too much for me to even try to think too far ahead. The fear and 'what ifs' often come close to surfacing in my mind, but right now I am holding steadfast to my faith. One day at a time. All is well.