Sooooooo much to be thankful for!

Well, this holiday season finds us (hubby and me) with less $$$ than I can remember at Christmas time... we are both unemployed yet still have so much to be thankful for... as always, God's PERFECT timing is one of the biggest things we have to be thankful for...

I left the best paying job I'd had in my working career in mid-2007 in order to be available to help our two daughters with our first granddaughters who arrived 7 weeks apart later that year... A decision I will never regret... Particularly when our younger daughter Meredith and her family had moved from St Louis area (where all of her in laws are) to Seattle WA where there was no family or friends. I was able to spend the entire month of November with them when Morgan arrived... I loved it... I loved Seattle... it was such a special time...

My plan was to then find another job after the first of the year (2008)... well... as you know it proved to be next to impossible with the economy tanking as it has... However, God has provided for us in the past three years in ways that we could never have foreseen... I had several contract assignments in 2008... some paid very well (no benefits so they pay a much inflated hourly rate)... I edit/proof proposals for defense and civil engineering firms (such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin)...

In March of 2009, Lockheed brought me onboard (still as a subconsultant) to work a particular proposal and when that one went to print, they moved me into the Proposal Center in the main plant where I continued for an entire year... into March 2010... where I worked several proposals. The powers that be decided they wanted to cut back on the use of subconsultants... and chose to send those of us who had been there a year "away" for six months... well... there was no work to bring me back on board after six months which then turned into almost a year before they called me back early this year...

In the meantime (between March 2010 and February of this year), God provided several other contracted assignments ... they were not steady, but they kept us afloat... It was so amazing to see His timing and caring provision so evident in my work opportunities! And although I had an out-of-town assignment last December that ran into January... I was able to be in Orlando when our sweet little Mackenzie (#6) arrived on 1/13... she's such a delight and I'm so thankful we have Claudia and her family here and get to see the kids several times a week... ; )

I had not had any work in months, which was okay because Meredith, John and the kids came down in early July for a short vacation... (all six in photo above: Lane [21], Bailey [12], John V [5.5], Morgan [3.5, far left], Olivia [also 3.5, far right], and Mackenzie on Lane's knee [6 mos.]...we all enjoyed a great visit! AND we learned that Meredith and John are expecting our 7th (and most likely last) grandchild in January... I only hope and pray that I'll be able to afford and be available (not on a work assignment) to go there when this one arrives... I've not missed a single grandchild's birth... ; )  what a blessing to be there for all of their arrivals! It's killing me not to be able to go up for Morgan's and John's birthdays this year...

We had a great time celebrating Olivia's 4th birthday in September... here's my favorite picture from her party... taken with my iPhone...  (she's the Princess in the middle of course) ... ; )

In early October I had the opportunity to work a proposal for 10 days at Lockheed Martin which was very good $$ including some overtime...

Then in late October, Steve was laid off from the only company he's ever worked for... his entire working career of 41 years in the civil engineering field ... the last 18 of which he has been in the position of utility coordinator... his department was about 5-6 people a few years ago and had dwindled down to just him and his boss the last couple of years. Several months this year, he was on "loan" to the Cocoa FL office of the FDOT (Flordia Dept of Transportation)... filling a position where someone had retired and they were in the process of advertising the position, receiving applications, and interviewing, etc. This was a 45-min commute each way (3 days a week) but he was compensated for mileage... plus it allowed him to go back to working 5 days a week (he had been working 4 days for probably the past two years)... The layoff was due to lack of work for his department... even his boss (who is salaried management) was cut back to 20 hrs a week... they say they will call him back if they win some work.

All of this to say that God's timing is SO PERFECT with regard to his layoff because he turned 62 in September! Praise the Lord! So.... beginning next month he will start receiving his Social Security benefits... of course, he had planned on working til 66 and not starting those benefits until then... but God had other plans... you know they say that when we make plans, God laughs... ; )

Both of us qualified for unemployment and are actively seeking full- or part-time employment but there is nothing to be had... for every legitimate job opening there are thousands of applicants! (And there are so many scams out there it's unbelieveable... and very sad.) My unemployment will run out before his since I collected some last year and earlier this year...

But Steve was able to jump right into some volunteer work at our church three days last week helping with the Samaritan's Purse shoe box collection... our church is one of the drop-off sites for others to bring their boxes... He has also been a great help with mom... taking her to the grocery store and to get her hair done, drs appts., etc.

Here's a pic of our daughter Claudia and her family taken yesterday after a filling Thanksgiving dinner with 30 or so family members... husband Rob, Lane, Bailey, Olivia, and Mackenzie... ; )

I pray you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have much to be thankful for also.

Blessings!