Weekend of Love
How was your weekend of love? Did you do anything special on Valentine’s Day with your sweetheart? Flowers, chocolates, candlelight dinners … they are all so nice! What a way to show your special someone how much you care! But, you know what? They shouldn’t just be “celebrated” one day a year just because that day has been set aside as a lover’s holiday. You should be striving to show your husband or wife DAILY how much they mean to you.
Do you share anything in common with your spouse? Besides children, do you have any thing that you do together? Or, does your spouse have a hobby that is different from your own? If possible, just try something your spouse likes. It will make a difference to them that you’ve shown an interest and are alongside them in their favorite sport or hobby.
For me and my husband, I am thankful to say that we share several of the same interests. From horseback riding, fishing, camping, and things of that nature, we enjoy doing things together side by side. I hear of a lot of couples that go their own way in this area. Some times it works out fine if there is a group of guys that go golfing. However, if there is a lady in the mix that shares the same interests as your husband and ends up spending more time with him than you do, trouble will soon begin to brew. The same can happen if a man shares an interest in an activity that your wife is involved in. You would be surprised to learn the number of affairs that begin with something so simple as a desire to work out, get fit, and become healthier. If you go to the gym alone, you might develop wandering eyes while you’re there. It’s just better to go with your spouse, in my opinion. Find something that the two of you can do together to keep the interest and adventure alive. It will matter if you take an interest in something your spouse enjoys. Think of how you’d feel if your husband took a sudden interest in something you love to do, too. It works both ways.
Our weekend of love was spent together by having dinner and a movie out just the two of us on Friday night. Then Saturday we went horseback riding with our youngest daughter. We all three share the love of horses, and the faster my daughter gets to go on her horse, the more smiles, laughter, and giggles you will get out of her. At one point, we three lined our horses up as if we were going to race, and we had the best time loping across an open field together. With the wind in our hair, feeling as if we were riding the magic carpet each time our horses went into a full gallop, with smiles plastered across all three of our faces.
In between trail riding and galloping our horses, my daughter enjoyed playing on the monkey bars, sliding on the curvy slides, and swinging together on the swing set at the park by the pond.
Later, my daughter’s only request was Subway for dinner. She was easy to please! And so, we had Subway before we headed back home.
Sunday we spent a leisurely day together at home with both daughters. I’m thankful that my 18 year old daughter still likes to hang out with the family. We made potato soup and stayed inside as much as possible since the high was only 37 degrees here in the South!
We enjoyed our weekend of love together as a family. We hope you took time for your family as well this weekend.
As we go forward, make sure to do something daily to let your spouse and your children know that you are thinking of them and love them. Don’t just celebrate them one day a year because you feel obligated to do so. They deserve to be shown your love daily!
Saving Valentine’s Day
Thursday afternoon my husband attempted to surprise me by picking me up in his classic 1989 Camaro Iroc-Z. This black beauty of a car has always held a special place in his heart. It is the first car that he purchased with his money “back in the day.”
He held my office door open for me and then escorted me to the passenger side of the car. As he opened the door, I saw a balloon that said “I love you” along with a large box of chocolates and a card! How sweet!
Once inside the sports car, he leaned in to kiss me. This was going to be THE greatest start to Valentine’s Day EVER!
Until …
The roaring thunder of the engine quieted as we began losing power. My husband was embarrassed as his plans, in his mind, were ruined. We coasted into the nearest parking lot which just happened to be by the bank’s ATM machine across the street from my place of employment.
He got out of the car and attempted to find the problem. Although we had just recently put a fuel pump on the car, we feared this was where the problem was stemming from. Since it is a classic, this isn’t a car that we drive every day. Sitting up did not help this car, and unfortunately, this was the result.
My husband became more red faced by the minute as his embarrassment turned to anger. His best laid plans were falling apart at the seams. I tried to reassure him that it still hadn’t ruined what he planned and we just had to make the best of it. Easy for me to say, right? But, it was true. Getting mad wouldn’t do a single thing to solve the situation we were in.
People were waiting in line behind our car, and he waved them past at this point. I was surprised by the lack of people that actually cared and tried to help. There was NO one at first. Then, as he tried to push the heaviest car in the universe out of the exit lane of the bank and into a parking space, someone got out of their vehicle and came running over to try to help him push it. I volunteered, too, but he insisted that I stay inside the vehicle since the car was so heavy. Another gentleman got out of his car at that time and helped push, too. My faith in humanity was restored at that point when those two people tried to help us! The first one worked at a part’s store and suggested what might be the problem, which was the same as my husband suspected; the fuel pump! They suggested that he could beat on it to loosening up any “junk” that had gotten trapped in the fuel pump, so my husband went to the hatchback and pulled out his tools. Nothing seemed to work, so he went to put the tools back in the hatchback only to discover that the hatchback would not close now! Frustration was mounting as he attempted several times to close the hatchback. I tried, in between slams, to ask him to come sit beside me in the car. He would have none of that as he continuously slammed, slammed, and slammed some more with each time feeling as if my ear drums were going to burst as I was still sitting inside the car!
Finally I just yelled over the slams in my sweetest voice ever … “HONEY … we have AAA!”
A look of bewilderment swept over his face as he didn’t seem to really grasp what I said. He paused for a moment, then slammed some more. The hatchback just was not going to close that day!
I took out my cell phone, nervously noticing that the battery was dying! Ugh! Of all days NOT to charge my phone while at work … ah, but I would use it until it stopped working completely.
I dialed the number for AAA roadside assistance, told them of our location, what car we were in, and they reassured me that someone would be there within the hour. I was dreading telling my husband that we would have to wait an hour, but knowing that it was an hour we were together was all that truly mattered! I finally got him to sit down beside me in the car. I hugged him, and despite temperatures in the 40s, I joked that he had worked up quite a sweat! We laughed at that, and then he looked at me almost in disbelief again and asked, “We have AAA?” To which I replied, “Yes, remember I told you that I signed us up last year? It won’t cost us anything to have the Camaro towed.” The look of relief on his face was priceless as he teased, “Why didn’t you just SAY so?!” Um, I TRIED!! We got a good laugh out of this, and within a few minutes my dying cell phone rang. It was the wrecker service calling. They were right down the street from where we were stranded at the bank ATM parking lot. It wouldn’t be an hour after all. Instead, they were going to rescue us in just a few minutes. GREAT NEWS, which I immediately passed on to my husband who was smiling by now.
When the wrecker service arrived we were actually smiling and joking with each other. As they were loading the Camaro on the roll back, I got inside the cab of the wrecker. My husband immediately took a picture of me, and I was quite impressed that my phone hadn’t completely died yet! It was still hanging in there, just like us! My husband later joked that this was my white limousine.
Within 20 minutes we were home, and I, of course, had to take a picture to mark the occasion as well. Notice his lip poking out in this picture as his precious Camaro is being lowered off of the roll back.
And that, ladies and gentleman, is what you call SAVING VALENTINE’S DAY!
Thank God for AAA!
God’s Favor
Last week my husband walked into his office a career man. Six hours later, he was overcome with emotion as he was told that his employer of 17 years was laying him off. Imagine the shock, disbelief, and feelings of betrayal that swept over him in waves as he tried to grasp what they were saying to him. He had been a huge part of the company, a key employee, for the better part of 17 years, and this is the thanks he gets? Laid off?
Oh sure, they reassured him that there wasn’t anything he’d done wrong. It came down to money issues at the company. Although my husband made the company a million dollars in the year 2014, another coworker and project manager lost the company a significant amount of money on another project. Yet, my husband was the one to take the fall for this. No, they didn’t blame it on him as they knew full well who was over that project. But, being as this guy was the vice-president, they certainly weren’t going to can him. Instead, they decided to lay my husband off.
Years ago I told my husband NOT to idolize his job. I remember times that he seemed to put his job before his family. That wasn’t right, and he has since corrected that way of thinking. But, he did love his job so much and enjoyed what he was doing. He served that company well for 17 years! However, one should never put their job so high up on the pedestal thinking that they are untouchable or that they have security in that position. One would think that after 17 years of hard work, loyalty, dedication, and devotion that it would matter a great deal to the company, but in this case, we can all see that, sadly, it did not. My husband was slammed with feelings of betrayal as he gave so much to this company, and yet now he’s being told that his employment has come to an end. He felt stripped of his position, as well as his company truck, and other perks that came along with his job.
I received a text prior to my husband’s meeting with the executives of that company. I could tell he was nervous as any one would be upon getting called into a meeting like this that wasn’t the norm for their line of work. Trying to reassure my husband, I wrote back these words:
God is already there. He knows the outcome of this meeting,
and He is in control. We just have to trust him.
When my husband called shortly thereafter and told me the news last week, I still had peace in my heart as I said:
Oh baby, I’m so sorry. But, I know that God is going to take care of us!
We just have to have faith, even faith as small as a mustard seed.
He responded that he had that, and I reassured him that everything was going to be okay.
Upon arriving home that evening, I hugged my husband and held him close to me. He was wracked with fear and worry. I just looked into his grief stricken eyes and told him again that God is going to take care of us.
We had to go in to his former employer last Friday to clean out his office. As you can imagine, he had a lot of things he accumulated in the past 17 years. His former boss came into his office not expecting to see me there with him, and when he did, the man became visibly nervous stuttering his speech and hands shaking right where he stood. He should have been nervous and shaking because he wasn’t only doing this to my husband, but he was doing this to our entire family. We have two children to provide for! He knew that, too. It didn’t seem to matter until he came face to face with me in that office. He needed to look into my eyes as well to see how this was affecting me, too, as my husband and I are a team. He wasn’t the only one going through this. We all were.
We drove away with the fear of the unknown riding right along with us weighing us down.
And so the job search began. Thankfully, my husband had contacts that he built a friendly working relationship with through the years. They started calling him as they heard the news of his lay off. As the calls started coming in, it was a mixture of disbelief and great sympathy for what our family was now facing. They had a great outpouring of support for my husband, and it touched our hearts and brought tears to our eyes on several occasions. One in particular spoke to me, and he truly felt for us in this situation. This individual gave my husband several job leads, which we greatly appreciated. Several others called him with job leads as well. My husband began contacting the people as suggested but wasn’t sure if there truly was a job need there at these places that were mentioned.
This week was especially difficult as we hadn’t heard anything from the leads from last week. I reminded my husband that it had only been a few days, and it would just take time. In the meantime, he signed up for unemployment benefits.
Along with losing his job, we were losing our health benefits. Sure, they offered COBRA, but no one can afford $1200 a month. Yes, that is per MONTH! How in the world do they expect us to pay that kind of money when he just lost his job? So, that was out of the question. We then had to go in search of affordable health insurance, which was no small task I’ll have you know!
To add to the stress we were all feeling, my oldest daughter went to take a placement test at a technical college, all that we will be able to afford now for sure, and failed that test. She had so much anxiety from everything going on that she got too nervous and just went blank. She felt just terrible afterwards, too, but there is an opportunity to take the test again in the future.
Also at that time, our youngest daughter came down with a 102 degree fever. To say we were stressed to the max is the understatement of the year! We took her to the doctor, and THANK GOD she did NOT have the flu! Whew!
After all of this, my husband finally just lost it. He went out into the yard and vented a little. No one can blame him, really, considering everything that has just happened. The man lost his job of 17 years. He’s entitled to let his feelings out.
He felt like he was hitting rock bottom, but you know what? God was right there at the bottom when he hit, and God lifted him right up. He scooped my husband up into His strong arms and allowed my husband to rest his weary head upon His shoulders.
Later, I told him that his former employer had already taken so much from us. We can’t let them do this to him … to us. We can’t let them dissolve our faith and leave us in a puddle of tears.
He got out his Joel Osteen daily devotional, and it talked of how doors were going to open for him. It was ironic that the message for that day said those words. The words he needed to hear right at that moment!
And what happened next floors us!
He got a call to come in to just talk to see if something could be worked out with a competitor. This guy had a working relationship with my husband in years past, but when he became a competitor, they were then competing against each other in the same line of work. They kept things friendly, but they could no longer speak at length since they were bidding on the same projects!
This call couldn’t have come at a better time! My husband was starting to lose hope very early on in this situation even though I told him repeatedly to cling to Jeremiah 29:11. I even prayed:
Dear Father, we KNOW that you have plans to prosper him and not to harm him. We KNOW that you have plans to give him a hope and a future. We CLAIM this right now in Your Holy Name! Amen
My husband did set up a meeting that afternoon, and he went in to speak at length with them to see how he could help them. He waited on pins and needles for a call back. The very next day, the phone rang, and it was this company saying that although they did not presently have a position open, they would MAKE ONE for him!
Again, we were overcome with shock and disbelief, but in a GOOD way!!!
They offered my husband a position that they are creating to help get caught up on a few projects. If, after a few months, my husband really likes the job and they like him, they will renegotiate for a more permanent position.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this was our GOD at work!
There is no other explanation for things to have transpired the way they did! From my husband being distraught last Wednesday to a week later … A WEEK … receiving a call that they were going to create a temporary position for him. We’ll take it!!! Oh thank you GOD!!!
The guy said that he could imagine the feelings of getting laid off were similar to that of going through a divorce. He said he wanted to help my husband and our family out, and I told my husband that I would hug that man right that minute if I could! 🙂
Immediately upon hearing the news, tears filled my eyes and spilled out all over my face as I praised God and thanked him repeatedly for what he had done for my husband and for our family! My husband said he dropped to his knees to thank God also!
My God answered prayer in lightning speed! And we are SO grateful!
God’s favor. That’s what it was.
God’s favor!
