An (overdue) Update

I feel as if I need to brush some cobwebs and dust of this blog. You may or may not have noticed that we haven't been posting much personal stuff on here at all. The truth is Jonathan and I have been under tremendous amounts of stress lately. Before you start to worry, we're both fine. No major health issues or anything (Praise Jesus!). To save you from an extended post full of boring details, I'll just sum up what's been going on like this:

For the past couple months, through various circumstances, we had every reason to believe that Jonathan was going to lose his job. It was a long process of questioning, worrying, crying and both of us being honestly stressed to the max. We knew that whatever happened, God would provide. We knew He wouldn't let us down. But that didn't keep the feelings of fear from circling and clawing all around at times. God was testing us, I'm sure of that. And He was also weaving evidence of His faithfulness throughout. We saw it in His claimed promises, the support and prayers of friends and family, and how Jesus provided everything we needed throughout. 

I'm humbled to say that God has had great mercy on us. Jonathan not only got to keep his job, but he got the position he's been working incredibly hard for the past two years! I don't know why our Heavenly Father loves us in the ways He does. It's so intimate and passionate and faithful. We don't deserve His graciousness in our lives. 

This was a trying time for our marriage. Me and Jonathan had to work through issues of trust and depending on one another. I have to say how incredibly proud I am of Jonathan. He pressed on in the face of failure and bravely did what he needed to do to be the provider for our family. I'm honored to be his wife. Our love and commitment to each other has been greatly increased through all this. We've found that there is always blessing and beauty. Yes, even in the barren. 

So there you are, an update (just in case anyone was wondering what was happening in our lives). We know that, in our lifetime, we will most likely face things much bigger and scarier than a job loss. We know that our troubles never really end this side of eternity. And furthermore, there are people we know who are, at this very moment, facing overwhelming and debilitating trials. We're not even remotely comparing what they're going through to our situation. But what we are doing is taking time to thank God today for pulling us up from the waves of this storm and bowing humbly amazed at how He works. 

To sum up, our days lately have been simple ones. We've been enjoying the Christmas season and all that Jesus is blessing us with through it. The Christmas tree is up, presents have been bought and we're so excited about the upcoming extra time with both sides of our family. We hope and pray you can do the same today, no matter what's going on. If your Father in Heaven can give you His Son, willingly with no withholding, He can also give you His grace to carry you through the coming storm. Trust in that for whatever lies ahead.