WOW! So much has been happening recently!! Some can be perceived as good news and some as bad, but we prefer to look at everything as simply the Lord's will in our lives....
Where do I begin?
Let's start with Susan. Most of you who will be reading this know Susan Goldberg. You will also recall that she has never been married, though she would like to be. Well, a few months ago, we had some special meetings at our church. Dr. Hughes preached, and his wife was with him for all the services. They happened to be at another church last week, and Mrs. Hughes mentioned to someone that she knew Sue and told them a little about her, etc., and one thing led to another, and a 26-yr old daughter said, "I wonder if she'd like to meet my widowed father." Well, Sue and this man met Saturday. He's a pastor of a very tiny church near Columbia, SC (about two hours from where we live) and they are getting along fabulously! I'm so happy for her!! Perhaps we'll be hearing wedding bells by the end of the year....
Next.....
A few days ago, Curt received word that he qualified for some educational grants that do not have to be repaid!! He has been going back to school at night to get his B.S. He has earned several sought-after computer certifications, but he never actually got his degree. So, he has been working on that. We qualified for student loans, which are really nice because you don't have to start paying them back until after you finish your schooling and they are very willing to make workable payment arrangements. But we were thrilled that the Lord allowed us to qualify for some of the grants - that reduces the amount we will be responsible to pay back. I'm thankful when once in a while our tax dollars come back to us in a small way!
And then...
Yesterday, my niece Marlee came over and told me her sister Carla was at the hospital getting an MRI. Of course, I was surprised and Marlee told me that last weekend, Carla was down for the count with a terrible headache for several hours. When the headache left, she had lost part of her vision out of one eye. They are trying to determine now what happened and what this may be a pre-cursor of, if anything. The vision loss has a strong chance of being permanent. I'm thrilled to say Carla's testimony in all of this was, "It's all in God's hands. I'm not going to worry over it." Praise the Lord she is trusting Him! Our families, of course, appreciate your prayers for her at this time.
Also.....
Some of my readers may know that for quite a while, Curt has had periodic conflicts with the guy at work who is the "middleman/supervisor" for the technicians. Sometimes things have gone well; other times, Curt has been very stressed by the situation.
A job opportunity arose at the district in which Curt could move up and out from under this gentleman. He interviewed for the position last week, and has been waiting word for the outcome. Well, he was brought into a consultation yesterday......and was asked to resign from the district! This supervisor was present. It is apparent to Curt that after he discovered Curt was trying to get out from under him, he simply didn't want Curt working for him any longer.
Personally - I'm glad. Curt has tried so hard to do a good job for this district, and in recent months, it seems in vain. His closed calls were almost always higher than anyone else's, yet they never praised him for it; his supervisor sought only to find fault with him, and I believe that has put a lot of stress on Curt. Because he has all of us at home, I think maybe he didn't feel he had the freedom to quit and look for a less stressful work environment. Well - now he can!!
SO, praise the Lord - God is good, He is in control, and yes, we are still trusting the Lord to provide so we can take the children on the vacation we have been planning. This may even be the Lord's way to provide extra funds for us - if Curt gets employed again quickly, even if it's through a temp agency, we will actually be ahead for awhile, because the district has to pay him all his unused vacation days to date, and the district is three weeks in arrears when it comes to cutting paychecks. So, terminated or retired employees continue to receive paychecks covering three weeks after their last work week. All total, Curt should be receiving a regular check for the next month or so. We appreciate your prayers in God's leading! We are very excited to see what God has in store for Curt - I hope he gets a job he really loves and where there will be little or no stress for him.
Well - guess that's it for this posting - thanks for stopping by!
