Our Newest Hurdle...

Our prayer for today...

Lord, our faith is in You and You alone. Apart from you, we can do nothing; with you, we can do all things. We choose to walk by faith and not by sight. We will not be afraid of man or anxious about the future; for you are going with us throughout this day. Whatever we encounter, Your grace will be sufficient. You have promised victory to those who walk in agreement with Your word and purpose.

We have had a rough few days here. I can't tell you how tired I am of having to say those words. At times, it feels like we are still trying to get back on our feet with everything that we continue to go through with Abbey. And here we are, facing another huge hurdle in front of us. It would be very easy for me to sit here and complain about what's going on now. BUT, we are choosing to have faith and to stand in what we know to be true.

This past Friday, Jim got a layoff notice and his last day will be this Friday, May 7th. After several proposals from the city, each one being voted down by the majority of officers, the city made it's decision to lay off the 5 lowest guys, Jim being 4th from the bottom.

So we now enter this new unknown. I would be lying if I didn't say that this is a huge blow to us. I laid awake much of last night, dwelling on the fact that I truly feel that Jim is being wronged in this whole situation. For 8 years, he has been committed to being an outstanding Police Officer while risking his life daily to serve and protect. Yet, as of Saturday he will have no job. Due to the cities irresponsibility with their money, and the decisions of some of Jim's co-workers, we are put in this position. Some of his closest "friends" have decided that making more money is much more important than saving 5 guys jobs and for that I am sick.

But, this morning I woke up and filled myself with what I know to be true and I can't begin to tell you how much better I feel. It is a constant battle, but minute by minute, hour by hour, we are choosing to give God freedom to do with us and through us anything that will bring honor and glory to Him.

Would you walk with us as we get past this newest hurdle set before us? Would you please pray for Jim? Please pray for some good news today. He is in the "running" for some other police jobs in the area, but the process is long, hard and very competitive. Please pray for some opportunities to arise quickly and that God would put him exactly where he wants him. Last time Jim was looking for a job was right after we got married. Here we are, four kids later and one with cancer. Jim has great responsibility in providing for our family and the most important thing to him is to provide for us well. We are confident that God has something great in store for him. Would you pray for Jim to be encouraged by something good today.

Our health insurance will be stopping as of Friday so we will most likely be forced to go through COBRA which is very expensive. There are a couple other options that we are looking into. Please pray that one of these other options would work out so we aren't paying an arm and a leg to keep our family insured. As Abbey continues to be in active chemotherapy treatment for another year, our insurance is probably the biggest concern in all of this.

On a good note, we are so blessed to have an amazing support system. We know we are not going through this alone and the people that God has put around us are the best! From our families to our friends to our Pastor to our church family to all of you, we are blessed. So thank you for loving us through this and praying for my Jim.