From my heart...

A year ago yesterday, September 12, 2011, Russell started his new job. That new job allowed us to move back to Northwest Arkansas later that month. We have, of course, been here ever since. I wanted to share my heart with you tonight. Maybe it will help some of you who have been through or are going through a similar situation.
After we had been married a year and a half, Russell lost his job due to a layoff. We lived in NWA then, which was three years ago. We stayed here for 10 months then moved to Camden and lived with my mom for 6 months. Russell still had to commute every day, but it was not a huge problem. Then, we moved into a rent house in June 2010, so we could meet friends in El Dorado and Russell would not have to commute. We were so very grateful for his job. I worked for a few months there, but I was really hurting a whole lot due to everything else that happened before the job loss. You can find out more about that, here. Anyway, I could have worked more than I did, but I was seriously scarred from everything that happened. I also felt guilty for not working at that time and worried about what people thought about me. I should not have felt that way, I now realize. Still I trusted the Lord to lead us where we needed to be. I knew His plan was and always is perfect. I remember one day in November 2010, I started crying and told Russell, "I'm not happy here!" I think I felt God talking to me and telling me to PRAY about where God wanted us to be next. So Russell and I both prayed fervently about the whole situation. I soon felt a strong peace from the Lord that made me believe that we were going to be back in NWA. Of course, there were a plethora of questions that I had, but still the peace was stronger every day. After all, we did not sell our house, we rented it out to tenants. We still owned the house! We prayed.....and prayed! And had FAITH!
Russell had an interview with AIS early in 2011 and we again, knew it was the right thing. We finally heard in August that Russell got the job for them in NWA! Oh my goodness gracious, we were extremely giddy! We were ecstatic about our prayers being answered!
We moved back to NWA, an apartment, on September 23, 2011. And then, moved back in our house in May 2012!
Okay, so this is the slight curveball, where most people assume that everything financially is hunky dorey and all sunshine and rainbows, right? Wrong! HA! I guess I just want to let people know that it takes time to recover from a financial burden like this, or any hard financial struggle because of other various reasons. Those of you who read this blog know that we are extremely happy and so so very thankful for all the blessings we have! Seriously! I am still learning about faith in God and faith in His timing. We as Christians all are! I also want to encourage you to pray for everything, including finances. Just remember to not give up and to keep going!
I have been working at Noah's Ark for almost a month now and have never had a better job. We are both happy. I love it and Russell loves his job! I just wanted to get back to reality a little bit and remind people that life is not always rainbows and sprinkles. Ha! We all have to work hard to earn what we have, but most of all give it all back to God! It will eventually work out! So if you have had a similar situation, maybe this post helped you (maybe not, it was long! ha!). It was on my heart today and needed to be shared. If you feel alone, remember that God loves you, if nothing else!

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay. Habakkuk 2:3