Seeking Wisdom for Life's Trials

Well, for all of you who sent the congratulations messages within the last 24 hours, thank you, but hold your applause!! We have certainly experienced our fair share of job losses, new jobs, and relocations as a result, however, this may by far be the fastest turn around time yet!! It certainly does make for great blog material since so many of you seem to look forward to "following" our life's shananigans (and hopefully learning a few lessons from us along the way, as we make ourselves transparent for the sake of ministry)!

So here's the update as wacky as it all seems, well it IS...it's the Fox Family after all! Is anything about us ordinary?! :) So as you know (and if you don't, read my Principles vs. Preferences post to get the overview as to how we got to this point), Harry lost his Project Manager position with his company on September 8th, due to his decision to stand by his principles rather than preferences and not participate in some activities that his boss was requiring him to participate in.

So, for the past near 2 months now, we have struggled to make ends meet as we were just coming to the recovery point of being downsized the year prior to taking that job and relocating our lives to do so. I could give numerous illustrations of God's faithfulness to us throughout this process and creative ways that He has allowed us to get by without skipping a beat. However over the last week as the bank accounts decrease and the opportunities to do odds and ends around the neighborhood fade, bills are due, vehicles desperately need tune ups, etc., and dozens of resumes are sent out daily to no avail in this economy in a career industry that has been hard hit by it, things were looking bleak, and our faith was definitely being tested.

As we yet again did the role reversal yesterday morning and I left for work at 5:30 am and Harry stayed behind and started his to do list which consisted of getting the 2 little girls up, dressed, groomed, fed breakfast, lunches made, backpacks packed, waiting in the carpool line, homeschooling the 11th grader, teaching Chemistry and Geometry, going grocery shopping and cleaning the house, all while aggressively job searching, his self esteem and manhood continued to take a decline as I left him about in tears. For ME, the pessimist, to be running low on gas in my faith tank, would be completely normal, but Harry NEVER loses hope, so for HIM to say, "I need to read this book on breakthrough prayer and spend some time in prayer this morning because I am seriously running out of faith," is a HUGE statement! Understandable when you've just endured extreme persecution for the past 14 months of your life and stood strong by the "right" thing to do and lost your career because of it, only to seemingly watch the "bad guy" win while you suffer and justice doesn't seem to come. Easy to begin to rely on those good ole feelings and what we see, rather than the truth of God's promises and hope despite the unseen, in the thick of testing.

 So back to leaving a discouraged husband as I went to work yesterday morning...within the next couple of hours, answered prayer. The recruiting agency calls to inform Harry that the interview he had last week had resulted in that company wanting to hire him however, there were some negotiations to go back and forth to come up with a deal. That happened, it was a done deal, he was officially hired as a Senior Project Manager (which would have been a promotion) and told to report to the office at 8am today for work. This morning, he got dressed in his business clothes and reported to his new company's main office at 8 as instructed only to find the office locked and no other employees there for work yet. He waited until 8:30 when a Project Engineer showed up for work and saw him there waiting and seemed to know nothing about him starting work today. She called the owner of the company who told her to inform Harry to call his recruiter. He did so, very confused, and was told that the owner of the company emailed her (the recruiter) late last night (which she just received when reporting to the office this morning), that they were pulling back from their decision, and going to re-group and make a final decision at the end of the week.

To back up, we were unsure about taking a position with this company from the beginning after doing some research and finding it was owned and operated primarily by Muslims and as Christians, we were unsure as to how that would all work out and if that was in fact God's desire for Harry. After much prayer and outside counsel, we felt like it was an opportunity on many levels and were excited about it where we had been reluctant. However, we did pray, that if this was not God's will, that He would SLAM the door shut and open another! Well, when Harry called discouraged with the news, my response (after my initial crying and carrying on hysteria of we are doomed subsided), was, "Well, the door can't be slammed shut any further! I prayed God would slam the door shut if He didn't want you there and I guess he slammed it...literally!!"

So, here's my relationship with God...I hung up and said in a pretty "I mean it Mr." voice, "Ok God, are you slamming this door shut? Cuz it seems like you're slamming this door shut! And I'm running out of faith here and after a year of one trial after another, I'm ready to pack it in here, so if you didn't slam that door completely shut and this is just a little kink in the process, I need you to open some sort of door and quickly cuz I'm starting to think that it just aint in your will for us to stay here and throw in the towel and start packin!" :) I'm totally not even kidding! That's honestly the conversation I had in my bathroom this morning!! :) It blows my mind, that He continues to grace me with His patience cuz I'm out of patience with myself!! :)

So there we sat, Harry and I, back at the computer screen, sending more resumes, in tears, discouraged, dumbfounded, angry, confused, every emotion common to man. After ranting and raving about his prior company and how wrong what they did was and how I suspect they are somehow involved in this and how they've ruined our lives, :) a thought came to my irrational mind. And here's the background behind this thought...last year when Harry was offered the job here, another offer was made at the same time for a friend in Richmond. At the time, after much prayer and counsel, and considering ALL factors, it appeared as though we were to take what was behind door # 1! :) However, Harry has remained in touch with that friend over the last year, and there has continued to be mutual interest in a business partnership however the timing just never seemed to be right. So my thought was, what if now is the time? Harry had just talked with the man a few weeks ago and the timing wasn't right then so it was understandable that Harry would have looked at me strange when I said, "Just give him a call!"

Harry did and within 2 hours, conversations went back and forth and he called and said, "Harry, can you start work here in Richmond for me on Monday at 8am?!" Wow! I guess when I told God He better open and close some doors quickly as I was ready to throw in the towel, that was definitely quick! So this is the best 360 life turn yet...all within a few hours, Harry reported to a new job, to find he actually didn't have a new job, to get home and be offered a different new job by the same company he should have gone to work for last year, and decisions were made that we were going home!! Well, technically we are not going home, home, as in back to our house because we are finalizing the closing on that any hour now! But it's totally fine. We're just gonna start completely over with no old baggage and not even reconsidering the contract at this point.

I DO however have clarity on one important question I've had for the past 6 weeks...what to do with these boxes that I just packed and haven't finished unpacking yet since I didn't plan on our entire life turning upside down days after unloading the moving truck and needing to go back to work and not knowing for sure if we would even be able to stay here without Harry's income!! Looks like there was a very good reason I have lived in complete frustration about something ALWAYS changing my plans on the days I had it scheduled to unpack, organize, decorate, and settle into our new home! God knew in advance that it would be a complete waste of my time! :)

Hey, I bet Harry and I could enter some world records in 2 categories (at least) on this one...the record for starting and finishing a new job all in a matter of minutes!!!! And, the record for FOUR address changes at the Post Office in 14 MONTHS!!!! No worries...if anyone wants the title or crown on this one, we are more than happy to pass it on!! Here's to hoping for Walking in Victory over a very, very, very LONG stay at our new office and home address...and going HOME...for GOOD!!! :)

I leave you with this...as YOU seek wisdom for life's trials today...what decision are you facing? Are you at a crossroad in life? Are you facing job loss? Home loss? Marriage crisis? Rebelling child? Don't know how you'll meet the budget? Attack? Persecution? Injustice? Suffering? Depressed? Weary? Battling Addiction? What thoughts and emotions do you need to take captive and make obedient to the truth and promises of God's Word regardless of feelings and circumstances? What do you need to walk in victory over?

Don't lose hope! There is NO situation too big for God! He can change things in a matter of minutes! We are living proof of that! And we are also living proof that sometimes, it means looooong seasons of intense testing as well. This life is a journey, a story, with many chapters, twists and turns, some predictable, some unexpected. Your story is still being written! Some will be more colorful than others. THOSE are the one's that will impact lives, including your own! When seeking wisdom for life's trials no matter what those trials are? Always remember my bathroom conversation with God on 10/26/11..."What He opens, no one can shut, and what He shuts, no one can open..." Revelation 3:8 What open and closed doors are before YOU?

Kid's Halloween Party Ideas!

Just sharing a letter I sent out to the parents of my daughter's class for her upcoming class Halloween Party that I have been asked to plan. Whether you are a student, parent, teacher, employer, church leader, or just want to throw a festive party at home for your friends, thought I'd share with my readers to give you some ideas to help you Walk In Victory over your upcoming festivities. Feel free to use any of the mentioned ideas and feel free to share other creative ideas that I just may publish in future postings!! :)

Hi Parents! Mrs.    mentioned that each of you have expressed an interest in helping with the upcoming Halloween Party and some of you have contacted me personally to see how you can help! Thanks so much for your offer to help! It is much appreciated! We have an exciting party planned for the children so let me give you some of the details of what that looks like and then I'm open to how each of you feel led to serve within that capacity! :)

We'll start off by dividing the class into equal groups and have several stations set up in which the children will rotate stations about every 10 minutes so that everyone will have a chance to participate in all of the activities, hopefully in 10 minute increments to get everything in within our 1 hr time frame and keeping the classroom broken into smaller groups that can be more easily supervised and managed by 1 parent at each station. We want it to be tons of fun but "organized chaos," if you will! :) The stations are comprised of a large motor skill type group game, a fine motor skill game/activity, and a craft, followed by food and treats and ending the day with a class game intended to encourage team building in a way that is going to be a blast! All in an atmosphere with fun and festive decor and party music, I'm hoping it will be a party that the kids will remember for years to come! :) We're keeping it fun and festive, yet using classic and neutral Fall Harvest type games and crafts to give as many children from all different backgrounds as possible an opportunity to participate!

We'll start off with 3 stations:

(1) The 1st station will be intended to use their large motor skills with the Classic Bobbing for Apples game!! No worries! We're revising this classic game to make it more germ savy. To do so, the children will each get a small bucket and will hold the handle as they use their buckets to "Bob for Apples!" Here's what we'll need for this game: a large steel or plastic tub, a dozen or 2 of apples, and 5-6 small buckets with handles (just large enough to fit an apple, but small enough to allow for 5-6 children to be able to get their buckets all in the tub at one time! I will purchase the apples and I'm hoping to find 5-6 buckets that will work at the Dollar Tree or party section of Walmart or Target for a good price out of the $2 donations the children have been bringing in for the party. What I need is the large tub! Do any of you have or know someone who has a large tub that we could borrow for the afternoon?! :)

(2) The 2nd station will be the fine motor skill activities which will be a table of several activities including Halloween Bingo, Halloween Word Scrambles and Crossword Puzzles, and a Halloween Candy Guessing Jar! I can print the bingo cards and activity sheets online for free, I thought we'd use candy corn for the bingo markers and a jar FULL of Halloween treats that they will each place a guess on a piece of paper as to how much candy they estimate is in the jar and the child who guesses closest without going over, wins the entire jar of candy!! I will purchase the candy for both Bingo and the candy jar from the class donations and I have a jar I can use from home which I'll decorate really fun and festive!

(3) The 3rd station will be the craft! We will be making Paper Bag Pumpkins which are intended to be neutral and fun for any age level and will give the children something tangible to take home from the party that they can keep for themselves or I will show them how to turn it into a fun centerpiece for their Thanksgiving Tables or as a elegant fall decoration for their homes that mom will be sure to love!! :) Here's what we need for supplies for this craft: Brown Paper Lunch Bags (2 per child), Newspapers, Rubber Bands (5 per child), Orange Paint, Green Construction Paper or Card Stock, and Paintbrushes. I can likely get all of these supplies at the Dollar Tree cheaply out of our class budget, however what I will need is LOTS of newspaper donations so start collecting and sending them into class! :) Of course if anyone has an abundance of paper bags, rubberbands, green paper, or paint brushes that they would like to get rid of and donate to the class party, that will give us more money out of our budget to spend on creating a festive atmosphere, treats, and prizes! :)

(4) After completing all 3 stations, the kids will be tuckered out and ready for a break to sit with friends and share yummy treats! Mrs.     has sent out a sign up sheet for parents to sign up to bring in treats so that should all be covered. If you haven't and would like to, please feel free to sign up for a treat on that sign up sheet. I think we have a great variety of things coming in for the children to share.

(5) After the food, the highlight of our party will begin as we end our time together! The children will do this activity altogether as a class to promote team building and help them bond relationally as a class! :) We'll be having a "Mummy Wrap!" :) We did this in my daughter's class last year and it was a blast! Definitely a favorite highlight of the party! We'll break the kids into teams and they will designate as a team who they would like to be the "Mummy!" We'll turn on fun music (maybe Monster Mash or something fun and festive like that - Mrs.     will be taking care of the music and bringing in a CD she has)! We'll give each team lots of rolls of TOILET PAPER and then let them have a blast by actually giving them permission to wrap their friend in toilet paper however they desire! As time permits, we can do this several times to give others on the team each a chance to be the "Mummy" if they desire! At the end, we make it a race - Boys vs. Girls! :) They LOVE that! 2 parents will each hold a large trash bag, we seperate the boys from the girls and each team races against the clock to fill their bag with all the toilet paper first! Basically a fun and sneaky way of getting it all cleaned up!!! :) All we need for this activity is LOTS of toilet paper! :) I will be buying that out of the class donations as well, however if you feel inclined to send in an extra roll, feel free!! :)

That's about it! I'll purchase all of the decorations out of the class budget and will be arriving at about 1:00 to decorate and set up and will need helpers for that if any of you are able. I'll be checking in with Chick Fila to see if we can get a few FREE Kids Meal cards donated as prizes for the games! Other than that, the only predictament that I have is that my Kindergartener has a Halloween Parade and Class Party at the very same time as our class party so I'll be needing to double duty and split my time up somehow, so if I could just get a few parents who would be available to make sure everything is covered while I sneak out for a 1/2 hr or so to go watch my other daughter's parade and just stop by her class, that would be great!! :)

So if you could just each let me know that you received this, and whether or not you have any of the items we need to be donated and how you may be available to help in anyway, that would be great! Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday!! Thanks so much!

Paper Bag Pumpkins

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Paper Bag Pumpkin Craft I found online! It's simple and fun for any age, there's only a few supplies needed to make it (all of which you can likely find around the house or at the Dollar Tree), and it's a craft that you can make at home with your children, with your Mommy and Me group get togethers, with your girlfriends over hot cider, or like us, for a class party (and for the class party, pumpkin crafts are a "safe" activity for those who are oppose to allowing their children to participate in anything "gouhls and gobblins related).

Here's what the finished product looks like when complete...isn't it VICTORIOUS??!! :) Or as my Belle would say, "Isn't it FABULOUS?!" To Belle, everything is FABULOUS!! :) Ok, this child wants a tea cup poodle named "Purr-fect," and wants it to wear pink nail "pawlish," a doggie tiarra, and a pink sash which reads, "FABULOUS!" If you KNOW Belle, there's your laugh for the day! :)



Here's what you'll need:

Paper Bags
Newspaper
Green Construction Paper (Card stock is even better)
Orange paint (or mix red and yellow if that's what you have on hand)
Rubberbands (keep away from that put everything in their mouth little one)

Here's what you do:

Cut or tear newspaper into strips. Stuff the paper bag with newspaper until it is full and circular shaped. Then place the paper bag stuffed with newspaper in a 2nd paper bag (to make it sturdier and in case it tears). Gather the paper bags at the top and secure with a rubberband. Then cut the rubberbanded, gathered part to shorten a bit for the stem. Wrap green construction paper or green card stock around the gathered part (the stem) and cut a leaf shape and glue that to the stem. Wrap 4 rubberbands around the diameter or the circle vertically, to give your "pumpkin" real looking ridges. Paint the entire "pumpkin" orange. Allow to dry and the kids can keep it or to make it double duty victorious, it can be used as home decor! Of course, I think of ALL things as Home Decor!! Make 1 or 3 and place them on the center of a plate or decorative serving tray and throw a few fall leaves (from the craft store or from your yard) around the plate or serving tray, so that the pumpkins are sitting on the leaves and wah-lah...you have a fall centerpiece for your dining table or coffee table that can be used from now through Thanksgiving!! :) Now that's what I call a Walking In Victory Triple Play!! :)

To "do" Halloween, or not to "do" Halloween? THAT is the question!

Belle's teacher asked me if I would spearhead the class Halloween Party and I agreed and in researching for ideas and planning the party out today, I thought it would be nice to share a few ideas for upcoming Fall Festivities with my Walking in Victory Readers! But before I post some fun craft and game activities you can do at home, do as part of your Mommy and Me get togethers, or for your class parties, I thought I'd share my thoughts on this controversial matter, because, well this is MY blog :) (and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry-ee-ii if I want to - oops, sorry for the diversion, got carried away - you're laughing, you KNOW you are, and now you have that song stuck in your head too! He he he!!!)! Anyhoo, back to ME, I mean MY blog, JK :) allow me to share with you MY family's way of handling this topic. That and because as I pursue my certification to become YOUR personal Certified Life Coach (which is just a fancy way of saying, I'm pursuing something on paper to do what I'm doing now, only as a profession, walking alongside, mentoring, and training up others to Walk In Victory in this journey called life, I just know I'll get this question from a reader, client, parent, etc., in the future. So if like us, you've been torn about this "holiday" and how to handle it, this is what we have done....

For us, we don't necessarily celebrate the meaning behind Halloween, celebrating the dark, underworld of witchcraft and sorcery. But we never want to be the parents that make our kids go sit in the office during the class Halloween party. Anyone who knows our family closely knows that we aren't really much into "religion," and formalities or lack thereof. Our perspective is that God doesn't care about all that! It's about a relationship with Him through a personal, saving relationship with His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, that was given up for us as a ransom so that we could be free from sin and the eternal penalty of our sin. He cares about our hearts. It's the attitude and posture of our hearts that He is jealous for, not what "religious" activities we participate in. Of course with that, if our hearts are truly in line with His, then we naturally will have convictions about activities we participate in or don't and will desire to do what is pleasing to the Lord, knowing that that is where our very own protection and blessing lie.

We will never win souls for Christ so long as we are causing others to view Christians as judgemental and snicketty people (is snicketty even a word?! I don't know, it's just what came to me!)!! :) You know what I'm trying to say...you KNOW you do! Anyway, for US, we live in a very diverse area and we'll never win souls to Christ without taking genuine interest in the same people their very Creator is very interested in! We have to be open to genuine relationship with them. Not just shoving Christianity down their throats. It's when the kids and I have developed GENUINE relationships with our Hindu neighbors for example, allowing them to invite us into their culture, cooking and eating foods together with them from their culture, that we get to know them and they get to know us as well. And they eventually ask questions and become curious about the joy we seem to have and the fruit in our lives, because it becomes desireable. Trust me, not that we have it all together (refer to my Walking In Victory Over Keeping Your Pants Pulled Up post if you would like further illustration of that fact)! :) We don't. But to a hurting world, what very little fruit they see in our lives, is HUGE to them.

Anyway, that's my sermon for the day. We are not to conform to the world by any means. We are a true testament to that stance. We just gave up our very livlihood (and may I add, swallowing our pride and being humbled DAILY - some day when this season is over, I'll share more when I'm sure it will be funny by then) because we would NOT conform to standards that put our core values, convictions, marriage, and family in jeopardy. I'm just saying, let your kids celebrate the new season Fall, a season of Harvest, (heck, use that concept and tie it into the gospel)! :) I'm just saying, don't be snicketty (there's that word again, well, ok, so I don't know if it was, but NOW snicketty is officially a word, so walk in victory using it - and if someone looks at you strange when you tell them they are being snicketty and therefore NOT walking in victory, just tell them, "MY soon to be Certified Life Coach said it's a word and I'm saying it and you can cry if you want to, cry if you want to, cry-ee-ii if you want to - make sure you put a whole lot of attitude into the cry-EE-II part!")

Get involved. Spearhead the class party and have a say in what types of activities the class chooses. Surprisingly, you'll find that the teacher and other parents will be on board and even agree! :) And never teach your kids to be snicketty! :) Or worse yet, allow them to think that YOU are! Be released of all that stuff! Walk In Victory and go decorate a pumpkin with your kids!! :) It's totally ok. In fact, plan a trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend! A ride in the back of a hay wagon in the middle of nowhere with a cup of hot cider is down right chicken soup for the soul!!

Principles vs. Preferences...Which Choice Will You Live By?

I've posted below a message from one of my favorite Pastors, Charles Stanley, this morning because as many of you know, this message hits so close to home in this particular season. My husband recently lost his job precisely because he chose to stand firm in his convictions, to follow principles rather than preferences, approval, and even his very career. I make this statement humbly only to make a point that this was a prestigious and high paying position lost so the cost was great, however the true cost was sacrificed by the One who made the ultimate sacrifice and so we count it all but loss and stand by the principles of the One who truly sacrificed it ALL!

Along with that stature and salary/benefits package came the following: keeping hours that allowed him to be home and participate in his children's lives at an extremely limited level, 3-4+ hours of commuting to and from Washington, D.C. everyday, in addition to keeping extravagant hours, and worst of all, he was being placed in compromising positions that caused him to have to chose between standing by his principles or putting his career on the line. There are too many illustrations of daily and weekly expectations of compromise over the last year with this company to discuss in this particular post, however, I do want to be specific with a few examples because as I hear reports from others in similar situations, I believe that this is how many companies are choosing to operate in current times for the sake of "team building," in essence sacrificing the "home team," and there are men and women right now as I write, being placed in similar circumstances and I would strongly encourage you to live by example!

Harry from the very beginning of accepting his new career opportunity, was placed in a position where the other Project Manager of the project he was managing was a woman in her mid-30's. Although MY personal preferences in my insecure mind would have been otherwise, that in and of itself is to be expected in current times. Men and women have to work together. That's unavoidable and just part of life. Where it became a little problematic was when they were expected to work long hours together, in an on-site office, meaning the lack of other personnel or accountability, lunch or dinner depending on the hour being brought in for them as they sat in meetings or worked on a project together for hours upon hours, and finally, Harry returning home most nights too late to have any marriage or family time together only to receive phone calls and emails on his Blackberry from her and others at all hours of the night and weekends. Of course when working so closely with someone in this type of setting most waking hours of your life, regardless of the boundaries Harry tried to put in place, unless he was outright rude to her, it became difficult to avoid the conversations that she often attempted to take beyond the scope of business. I grew concerned when we attended a black tie company gala in January and noticed that she felt very comfortable rubbing my husband's back with her hand as we entered the event.

Then in April, Harry was informed that he was being assigned a 21 year old female intern from Purdue University for the summer. He was directly assigned to be her mentor and responsibilities listed in the Memo from Human Resources included training her up within the company, as well as in the industry as a whole, assigning, monitoring, grading, etc., "meaningful" assignments, keeping track of her time and records required with the internship program, allowing her to shadow him at all times, including taking her in his personal vehicle to all job site visits, inspections, meetings, etc.

Here's where we get to standing firm in principles: the memo further instructed that a live web cam meeting had been scheduled for them for the initial introduction from where she was at Purdue University. He was expected to begin building a relationship with her over web cam until her arrival on May 16th, when a formal Mentor/Intern luncheon was scheduled for their in person meeting, followed by a series of orientations that he was to attend with her, followed by weekly formal Mentor/Intern luncheons and dinners he would be required to attend with her, and a Mentor/Intern Happy Hour scheduled for every Friday after work at various locations. The memo stated that a White Water Rafting Team Building Adventure had been scheduled for Mentors and their Interns on June 24th that he was expected to attend with his intern. Now I may be naive, but I am not so naive as to believe that there is a difference in the attire one might wear to the office and what one may where rafting in the river and further, Harry and I were both quite uncomfortable with a 21 year old girl in a bikini holding on for dear life to my husband's waist in a raft as they braved the raging white waters. As the summer progressed there were limousine rides scheduled and going away parties, project parties, staff meetings at Dave and Busters as well as other restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, and even the National Zoo!

Needless to say, Harry and I were both equally uncomfortable with all of the above and he was forced with no choice but to go to his boss and voice his concerns, that he was a married man of faith with children, that he was a leader in his church, that his wife was also on the Women's Leadership Team at church, as well as pursuing ministry, and that he simply was not going to be "dating" his intern at work. Unfortunately, after taking his concerns to 2 different levels of management, he was basically advised that he needed to separate his work from his personal life and that if he couldn't do so, he would receive poor job performance evaluations and ultimately his job would be at risk. His response and following actions were that he was going to stand by his convictions and if it cost him his job, then so be it, he would not waver.

After 5 months of fulfilling his obligations to his intern on a professional level, which was not easy on our marriage (Harry and I will blog together more in depth on this in the near future in a marriage segment) even at that level of this 21 year old girl spending 12 hours a day, everyday with my husband, lunches and dinners being brought in for hours and hours worth of meetings, and then after spending all day together, calling and emailing him on his Blackberry as early as 6:30 am and as late as 11:30 at night and all weekend long, he did not waver on the "team building" social engagements scheduled. The result was that every time Harry found a more suitable replacement for himself to attend a scheduled outside event like the rafting trip or he didn't show up at a scheduled outside event at a bar room, his boss would faithfully call him into his office the next day interrogating him as to his reasons for his absence. The situation grew more intense as Harry stood firm and his boss became visibly hostile with Harry, barely speaking to him most days, and when he did, it was in an angry, demeaning manner, even at one point, THROWING papers across the desk AT Harry. All I can say to that behavior is that his boss should have been thankful Harry was a man of faith in that moment because 15 years ago, well, lets just say, those poor innocent papers would have found themselves down the esophagus of a man pleading for an extension of his existence on this planet! :)

Nonetheless, sadly the end result was this: Harry succeeded in meeting the substantial completion of a fast track project at the National Cathedral (despite setbacks of interns, earthquakes, and hurricanes), on 9/6/11. On 9/7/11, yet another after hours "project party" was scheduled at a nearby pub, an establishment that had already been frequented by the same "project team" on a weekly basis for the past several weeks. As usual, Harry chose to attend his daughter's "Back To School Night" at her school that evening rather than attend the project party and subsequently, the very following day on 9/8/11, he was met in his office by his boss, the Executive Director of the Business Development Unit, and Vice President of Human Resources to perform his "exit interview," where he was falsely and viciously accused by his direct boss and basically escorted from the premises as though he were some sort of criminal.

Where are we today, 1 month later? Well, we certainly didn't go down without a fight. We fought for Harry's job and we fought for justice, meeting with other executives within the company, writing a letter to the President, CEO, and Owner of the company, and even consulting with multiple attorneys to no avail. As with other life circumstances, we have come to accept that this is yet another injustice and trust that a Sovereign, just, loving, righteous God who controls the outcome of the universe will work this out for our good and His glory. Right now, we've lost our income, our livelihood, our 401K, our health insurance, etc. Harry has lost out on 2 project bonuses owed to him for completion of 2 projects that this same boss will now receive his portion along with Harry's, along with 3 weeks paid vacation and other benefits. Harry is left to attempt to find employment in this economy in an industry that has been directly hit hard by this particular economy, at his age where he is almost not even marketable in this particular industry and now with a termination on his record (a termination without cause, but nonetheless, what the record shows, is termination). In addition to those limitations as far as our future livelihood, Harry doesn't even know that he wants to return to an industry where this type of "team building" is the norm. For lack of a better description, the hours, commute, stress, expectations, compromising positions, etc., over the last year with this company has left him completely burnt out.  

In OUR limited view, the future is bleak. We have barely recovered from being downsized a yr and 1/2 ago, leaving us without income for 4-5 months of job searching and finally needing to pack up everything, start over, and relocate our lives, leaving behind a house in VA worth nearly $100K less than what we paid for just a few years ago. Just 3 weeks before being terminated, we had just signed a year lease on a house closer to work for Harry to help with the toll the commute was taking on him. We're sort of left scratching our heads with boxes still packed as to whether or not its wisdom to even unpack them. We literally are on the brink of financial ruin. That is in our limited perspective. But we serve a God that can do anything. He can make what seems impossible, possible. My testimony is evidence of that alone. If the consequence for standing firm in our principles is that we lose everything, so be it. For what does a man gain if he gains the whole world, yet loses his soul. Yet, if the consequence for standing firm in our principles is blessing, so be it. The best job Harry has ever had could be right around the corner. Who knows what the future holds. We have to rely on our manna for today and not be anxious for the future. Every need has been met so far, and we are full of faith that every need will continue to be met.

It's challenging, there's no doubt. Most days I have to preach this to myself as I wrestle. But I very timely awoke to this message on my TV this morning as I went to bed discouraged. I would encourage you to watch the message I've posted below from Dr. Stanley with our story in mind. Particularly, I love the illustration he provides at the end of his message, and I'm paraphrasing, but he gives an example that preference is an unmarked road traveled, weaving side to side vs. principle where the road traveled has a white center line for us to follow which would represent following the safety of God's principles and suppose you were traveling 75mph down a road with no white line and banks on each side. Would you consider that to be dangerous? What road would you travel? The unmarked road where the potential dangers are unknown or the marked road where the the white line protects you from danger? I don't know what you are facing today. But I do know, despite what it looks like from the outside, stand by your principles, no matter the cost and walk in the victory of knowing you did not compromise!

This Week on TV

This Week on TV

Hillsong United - Here In My Life - With Subtitles/Lyrics

Dancing in the Rain (and splashing in a few puddles along the way)!

Well, since I spoke on the topic "Dancing In The Rain" at a Spring Women's Ministry event in March, I have certainly had more than ample opportunity to put into practice what I preached! We'll talk more in detail about some specific life illustrations in very near future posts, however for now, I wanted to share with you a song that ministered to me in my personal devotional time this morning. It was very heavy on my heart that I needed to share this today. From personal experience in being compelled to share something and doing so in obedience only to hear a future report of how someone needed that particular message in that given moment, I am confident in this: that someone this morning, like me, needs to be inspired, spurred on, compelled forward, strengthened, comforted, empowered, loved, and encouraged to keep "Dancing in the Rain!"

My prayer is that you receive this song as your "umbrella" and go forth dancing in the rain remembering what you have heard me say before; that the purpose of rain is growth!! For me, I'm not at all surprised by the fiery storms that have come in my own life since I ministered to others about how to perservere through and overcome in the midst of the storms of this journey called life! I am surprised at how I have been knocked down a bit. I still declare that I will not be moved and even though the fierce winds of the storm blow, tossing the branches to and fro, even when the flood waters rise over the roof tops, I KNOW that the roots of my tree are firmly planted and rooted in fertile soil and that my house is built and stands on a solid foundation. Although some branches have been broken and a few windows have shattered, as the storm clouds have passed over, the tree of the broken branch is still rooted in fertile soil and the house of the shattered windows still stands on a solid foundation.

So I have had to run for shelter from the storm surge, raging flood waters, hurricane force winds, tornadoes that have spun from favorable storm conditions, the rumbling of thunder and the bolt of lightning. As I look back at my outline I used in my Dancing in the Rain workshop, I've had to do exactly what I told so many of you needs to be done. I've had to run and seek shelter, I've had to rest in that source of shelter, I've had to even pull back and just take refuge for a little while, I've had to examine and determine what has been broken and in need of repair from storm "damage," life has taken some twists and turns and definitely looks a little different than what I would have planned for. Some of the repairs have required different tools to be employed from my tool belt buckled firmly around my waste. Some of those tools put to use have been a crow bar, to peel back every layer and examine meticulously any weaknesses, a few nails of humility in needing to just do what needs to be done regardless of what that looks like, a vice grip holding and standing firm regardless of every outside force that would attempt to cause it to loosen its grip, and a hammer of perseverance, fighting the good fight for what is right even when the end result doesn't look like what we had hoped for.

Those repairs take time and rebuilding anything is a process, but in the end, there have been a few rescue boats deployed, many evidences of grace, mercy, protection, and the sovereign hand of God recognized, and life has to move forward. I can sit in the "darkness" of the storm clouds overhead and cry woe is me, feeling sorry for myself, blaming others, questioning, doubting or even cursing God or I can count it all joy in my suffering, not looking back but persevering forward stronger and wiser with lessons learned and shared with others. So what do I ultimately need to do? The same thing I told so many of you to do 6 months ago: put on your rain boots, grab your umbrella, and go out and splash in the puddles and dance in the rain!

What an amazing picture exists as I draft this post! I'm facing the windows of my home; it is raining outside, I can see the branches of the trees outside the windows blowing, I can hear the wind howling and some objects rattling, but I find it strange that the sun is actually brightly shining over it all! What a beautiful illustration that God is in control! I can't help but be encouraged by an amazing sense of hope, serenity, and peace, that even in the midst of a storm that is still very much overhead, everything is going to be ok. When all else fails, His Word stands true, that this is ALL for my good and His glory!!! Romans 8:28 - Grandma Daley's favorite verse!!

That is our hope! I've said it before and I'll say it again; THE PURPOSE OF RAIN IS GROWTH!! So push the play arrow on the song I've shared below, declare the lyrics with confidence over your circumstances, upload a few others to get you moving in your "dance party," don't worry about what your neighbors think, they probably need a dance party of their own, :) put on your rain boots, grab your umbrella, and go out and DABCE IN THE RAIN (and splash in a few puddles along the way)!!

Hillsong - At the Cross

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