Two Favorite Blogs...and Ramblings....

I've just been reading a few of my favorite blogs this morning. I'm not very "savvy" at this whole computer thing or I'd add a link to them. One of the very best blogs and one that encourages me is from "Tomato Soup Cake". This dear lady is wonderful. She has a great sense of humor and insight into MY life it seems! She always has something to say that adds encouragement, possibly a tear or two...or a big laugh.
Today she was talking about doing something "small" for the Lord and sometime she hopes to do something "BIG" for the Lord.
She's already doing that, in the way that she is leading her life...or rather, letting the LORD lead her life...and in the way she is raising her children. She is quite a testimony to me and to the others that she touches daily.
Isn't it like that, though, that we all think we have to do something BIG before we are really doing something for our Lord and Savior? I was thinking the other day about the many people in history and in biblical times that were "failures" or "nothings" to the people around them but we think of them as giant men and women of God. The authors of some of our hymns weren't anything special...just regular men and women of God that wrote what they believed and lived. Many (or MOST) of the Bible characters weren't "big" in the eyes of men.

Another blog that I read this morning is Coffee Tea Books and Me. She's also an awesome blogger. She writes from her heart as well, sometimes being so transparent that I feel like I've lived it too.
She reposted a post today from almost two years ago about finances. This is a good one for me today.
Last night my girls' dad called to tell me that he will be losing his job in a year. This is not good news for us. When Roger and I married, Roger added onto his house to make room for 4 more people. Perhaps it wasn't a wise move, who knows? We got halfway into the building process and discovered that it was actually going to cost much more than we were planning. Isn't that the way it seems to go??? Good Grief!
My husband works for a non profit organization (which seems like it means it's a "non pay" organization as well! hehe!!) He wasn't used to having a mortgage so I took over the mortgage payment with the little that I made and the child support that my girls' dad paid. It is still very very difficult to make those payments.
Now, with the prospect that he is not going to be employed, it is going to be extremely difficult to continue with these payments. He will have retirement but we have no idea how much he will pay in child support. We have a child in college, a child in high school, and two in 7th grade. We also have a son who was having his college loan (fairly small loan since he worked and got scholarships to pay for most of it...) paid by his dad. All these things are weighing heavily on me this morning. I know that I should leave it in God's hands. I try to do so but very often, I snatch it back from God!!
I've been praying that God will work some "miracle" and make it very easy to sell our house. It is going to be difficult since the recession hit. It has been estimated that we will lose close to $100,000 on our house now. That was supposed to have been OUR retirement and allow us to have a smaller house paid off.
I'd love to find a smaller house with a basement. OR maybe a house with an attic that we can make into bedrooms! We will still need to have several! I am hoping and praying that this doesn't change our plans to try to adopt. We will have less money and much less space. (I already have a bedroom all decorated for a small child....)
I've lived at both ends of the spectrum...in a shabby little trailer that I thought was a mansion...to living fairly well off. I think I'm happier with less...living with less, living on less, less expectations and much more appreciation for the things that we have.
This sounds so crazy, because I know how I was raised and how I feel, but I do sort of feel sorry for my kids. The girls are in such a different place in their lives that they REALLY don't want to share a bedroom. I understand...kind of...my sister is 6 years older than I am and she hated hated hated sharing a bedroom with me when we I was in Jr. High and she was in college. I liked it when we shared a room though! I keep thinking about families that have many children that share bedrooms and I think that my kids need a spankng....just kidding....yeah.........
Well, I'm rambling on and on. Sorry! Just thinking about things!
I know, I have to stop worrying and give it to God. (Who can do all things.) I have never looked back on my life and regretted what God had me go through and what He did in my life as a result!