Here we go again....

    When I was about 4 years old I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I was sure of it and never changed my mind.  I wanted to be a mommy.  Now, more than thirty years later, I am a mommy.  I am still sure this is what I am supposed to be and I would not change it for the world.  Tim was a little less sure about his future growing up.  When he and I started dating he had just left the seminary, after spending most of his college years there studying to be a priest.   He wasn’t quite sure which direction to go in.  He felt sure that God was not calling him to the priesthood but he wasn’t sure where God might be calling him instead.  He wasn’t sure either, where he, himself, wanted to go.  He got a job at a music store and changed majors a few times as he continued his college education without a clear goal in mind.  As he finished school, finally settling on a major in literature, he worked his way up to management in the music store and later in a book store.  We married and had our first child.  He continued to work at the book store and go to school and finally graduated with his bachelor’s degree in literature a few months before our second child was born.  With a growing family to support though, and no real literature-related jobs presenting themselves, he just kept on working in retail stores for years.  He never loved it but it paid the bills.  Finally, he had had enough and decided to try something new.  He took a  job as a financial advisor.  For 2 ½ years he worked hard trying to establish a name for himself and build a client base but, try as he might he was not a salesman, and in October 2007 they let him go.  We found ourselves facing unemployment.  It was a long, scary time but God saw us through and amazingly led Tim back to where he started, in a sense, for he was offered a job in ministry and he took it.  He became the youth minister for three local churches.  He would work for all three churches but lead one joint youth group for them all.  After one year, one of the three churches pulled out of the program, citing rising expenses and declining donations as the reason.  The other two churches agreed to make up the difference in Tim’s salary and keep the program going.  That was two years ago.  We found out this week that a second church has decided to end the program and pull out their involvement and their money. 
    So, here we are!   Facing, not unemployment exactly, but certainly under-employment and in the worst job market we have ever seen.  We are, of course, in good company.  Quite a few of our friends are also struggling in this economy and we know men who have been out of work for years.  While misery does love company and it is good to know we are not alone, it is not a comforting thought to know there are so many others looking for work as well.  Oh well.  We really are at peace.  We have our faith, we have our health, and we have each other.  And now, we have yet another opportunity to trust completely in God and see where He will take us on our next adventure in life.