The Lord God is Good!

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“For the Lord is good” Psalm 100:5

I have been reminded of God’s goodness, mercy and kindness over and over this past week. Malachi’s last day at GeoEngineers was this past Friday, and his entire office took us to lunch. They were all so very kind, and spoke so highly of my husband and how much they would miss him, and how upset they are about the lay off. I am always proud of my husband, but hearing other people speaking so highly of him, well, just made me prouder! The Lord has truly blessed us, even in Malachi being laid off.

I was anxious and worried for about a day, and then the Lord chastised me greatly yet encouraged me even more greatly. It seems every time I turn around Matthew chapter 6 pops up; in the new edition of the Homeschooling Today! Magazine, Ligonier Ministries Tabletalk magazine, this new book I have been reading by Dietrich Bonhoeffer “The Cost of Discipleship”. The reminder that God will provide for His children has given me great comfort and peace.

Malachi has been diligent about putting his resume in to every place he can think of. He has applied for about 25 different jobs, mostly D.O.D. (Department of Defense) jobs; although he did apply with two different companies in North Texas. We are willing to move anywhere at this point for Malachi to get a good job. We would prefer Texas because of the Homeschool laws; and my best friend lives there and I would LOVE to live close to her and her family. We also have other close friends that we love dearly who live in Texas, so it would give us an opportunity to be closer to them as well (win win for everyone).

My recovery from the miscarriage and the D&C was rough, but praise God for His unmerited grace towards me. My Hcg levels are FINALLY at zero; it only took about a month. My follow-up appointment with my OB went extremely well. I was more worried that he may not continue seeing me since we will have no insurance coverage after the 30^th; but he assured me that I will always be his patient and that we could pay $5 a month if need be. He did prescribe the Clomid, which we will try when I have a full cycle…so we wait. My OB was just so stinking sweet and understanding of our situation and promised me that he would never send me away. He does not accept Medicaid, nor will I put myself or my children on that government funded program, and the OB understood that and actually encouraged me not to put us on it. Given the current political climate with Obama care, I cannot be guaranteed that I won’t be forced to remain on it. I was on Medicaid when I was pregnant with Sofia and the care was horrible. It reminded me of hearing my mother’s woes about Tricare (dependant military coverage), which also stunk. Sofia was on Medicaid up until she had surgery on her nose after she was a year old. We then became aware of exactly how Medicaid works and how doctors DO NOT get paid what they should get paid, which in turn raises the doctor’s costs and the cost of private insurance. We will stick with paying out of pocket until Malachi get s a job that either offers benefits or pays him enough where we can purchase our own private coverage.

We took the girls in for their check up with the pediatrician, and Charlotte has finally made it into the 5^th percentile for her weight! She will have all the blood work she had done last year, redone this month, but because she is finally on the growth chart it indicates that all is well; not that we ever were worried since all the blood work was excellent last year! Charlotte only got two vaccines (ethical) and Sofia needed none. Both girls were well behaved and received a book from the doctor as a prize! My girls LOVE books like their parents. Sofia did end up getting sick the day after the doctor’s visit and came down with a fever of 103 F°, and with her red dye allergy I was frantic to find some dye free CHILDREN’S Tylenol to no avail. No one carries it nor can the pharmacies order it because it is not in their order form book. So I had to order it online. I just gave her Motrin and brought her back to the doctor for a strep test, which came back negative. So it was just a virus that ran its course and she is all better now, thanks be to God! The girls’ pediatrician also does not accept Medicaid but assured us that she would still see the girls and we could pay out of pocket if need be. The Lord is faithful!

We are not destitute, and the Lord continues to provide for us. We are going to be using the Angel Food Ministries food program for a while, and I have cut our budget down to the bare bones (the essentials). We will be cutting our house phone off this week (keeping our cell phones) and we have cut the cable off (which was a luxury for a time) and have put a hold on the different ministries we were faithfully giving to monthly (we expect to restart that once Malachi gets a job). I receive the G.I. Bill each month while I am in school working on my Bachelors (online of course), which pays for our rent, praise be to God! We won’t feel the pinch of Malachi’s lay off for about 4 weeks or so. He is getting paid for the entire month of April, and we have a bit of a buffer in our bank that will allow us to be comfortable for about a month or so.

At the zoo with the girls for the members only first viewing of the new Big Cats exhibit

The Lord has blessed me with a best friend that has been such an encouragement to me, and many new and old friends who have come along side to support and pray for us during this time; but we are not sad or down. We are rejoicing in the Lord always, and He can do with our lives as He wills, for He is ALL Sovereign and our lives are about glorifying Him. We are not moping around like wounded puppies, and we fully trust in the Lord’s decisions with our lives. We are looking at this as an even greater opportunity to bring glory to the Lord and testify of His faithfulness. We lack nothing and want for nothing.

We don’t want anyone’s pity. We want those who hear about our situation to come along side us and get excited about what the Lord is doing and is going to do with our lives. We realize we are not entitled to a thing in this life, not even salvation; so anything the Lord gives is a blessing that He gives as He pleases for His glory alone.

This has been another lesson for me to totally rely on God alone and no one else. While I love my husband dearly, he is not God, and any provision he acquires comes directly from God. So we both wait on the Lord, but rejoice in Him contently! He has been so good to us, and we have no right to complain or fret. We are leaning on God’s word and our faith forces us to trust Him for everything.

I pray that all my readers are doing well and remembering that this life is not about you, it is about God. We were created by Him for His glory, so go glorify Him!

Books I am currently reading:

“The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Chosen By God” by R.C. Sproul

“Bondage to the Will” by Martin Luther

“The Freedom of the Will” by Jonathan Edwards

“The Essential Edwards Collection: Jonathan Edwards on True Christianity” by Owen Strachan and Dough Sweeny, Foreward by John Piper

The Reformation Study Bible (ESV) from Ligonier Ministries (iPhone app)

Serving God and My Family,

Crystal <>< (SAHM)