Mama said there'd be days like this...

Boy you wake up one day and realize it has been 11 days since your last blog post.  Life goes pretty fast at times.

Although it has been a stressful couple weeks at our house we also got the chance to really see God at work in our lives in amazing ways.  Since John is self employed we are at the whim of his work schedule when it comes to our income.  Good sometimes, not so good other times.  Although he had lots of potential work in front of him this month began in limbo, completing one job without having yet signed a new job.  We had made the decision last fall to no longer rely on our credit line when this happened and so this was our first test of that resolve waiting and trusting God to bring us one of those jobs.  It turned out to be such a great 2-1/2 weeks of learning and growing.  Wondering at times if God really understood the situation and marveling at other times how perfectly he provides.

One thing that I really apprecited and learned about was saving, both money and stuff.  I have been sort of dabbling in stocking up on food the past month or two when I see something we eat on sale.  Although my pantry wasn't exactly bursting I did have several meats in the freezer to eat and a few other things.  In the course of 3 weeks I spent less than $100/week for our family of 4.  Imagine what I could do if I had been stocked up on other things like noodles and canned goods.  We are definately considering buying a freezer for the basement.  I could even stock up on bread if I had a freezer.  My resolve to continue learning to be a savy shopper has definately grown through this experience.

I also am thankful for the emergency fund we created being good students of Dave Ramsey.  It allowed us to keep going and keep current on most of our bills.  What we did learn is that being self employed we probably need more than the $1000 that Dave suggests before we begin paying off debt so as we begin rebuilding we are changing our focus to boosting that fund instead of paying down debt.  I love it when we have a plan. :-)

Tuesday afternoon in the midst of a crazy and slightly stressful day John called to tell me one of his jobs went through and he would he would be picking up a check in the morning.  Relief to know that we will continue to pay our bills, send our son on that youth group retreat, and save for the spring break trip we hope to take.  Thankful to God for all he taught us, how he provided and the people around us that supported and encouraged us in our time of need.

What is funny about self employment is that John has so gotten so many calls and so much interest for the spring that I may not see him again until summer!  Self employment seems to be about feast and famine.  My plan is that by the time the next famine hits I will be prepared, money saved, pantry full.  It reminds me of Joseph in the bible who told the Pharaoh of the upcoming famine and then helped the Egyptians set aside food during the good years so they would be not be in need during the famine.  Or like the woman for Proverbs 31, "when it snows, she has no fear for her household", "her lamp does not go out at night". Hey, most people in the bible were in fact self employed.  Not many got a paycheck every other week come rain or shine.  We are certainly in good company.