Changes

Wow, where does one start?  So much has been going on this past week, my head still spins sometimes.  First an update on my shoulder.  It’s doing better.  I have mobility with it, though there are still certain things I do that hurts.  But it’s more of an achy pain now.  So I’m still trying to stretch and exercise it.  It’s just going to take time I guess.

I just need to be consistent with my exercises, which I haven’t been able to do the past few days.  I’ve been very tired the past week, and figured it was mainly my shoulder that was causing it.  Paulie kept telling me all week he was tired too, I never put it together.  Then on Tuesday night both Paulie and I started having stomach pains.  Thankfully it didn’t go much further than pain, but we didn’t sleep well that night.  Then on Wednesday we both had that tired, shaky feeling like we got over the flu.  We both got a good nights sleep last night, and feel better today.  Now that it’s nighttime, I’m starting to feel more tired and my stomach a little blah.  But I’m thankful that overall it didn’t last long.

I’ve also been taking Sarah to our church’s school every morning for her yearly tests, the Stanford test.  It’s not required by our state to take the test, but with her finishing up 8th grade and starting high school soon, we wanted her to get the experience.  I’m not really looking at the scores that much, just wanted her to get the feel of what standardized tests are.  She’s never taken yearly tests before so she was real nervous at first, plus being in a school setting with kids she didn’t know.  But it’s been great.  She’s made a couple of friends, and the test themselves are going ok.  I did ask her though what she thought about a school setting like that.  She just looked at me and said, “Glad we homeschool.”

So with all these things going on, we’ve also got a huge change for our family.  Paul has quit his current job as the janitor of our church and has been hired in the deli department of a local grocery store chain out here.   This whole thing has been from the Lord.  We tried to get into this particular store for the past 6 months.  We almost got in a few months back, but they were only offering a part time position.  At that time Paul said what he would really like is to work in the deli or meat department.  We figured that the Lord had closed the door on this particular store.  We were bummed at the time, because this store has lots of great benefits.  But I was a bit nervous because the store is opened 24 hours, and I really didn’t like the idea of Paul working mid-night shifts.  But I gave it to the Lord, and when only a part-time was offered, I was relieved that the door was closed.

Then a week ago Tuesday night, the 30th, I get a call from a dear friend of mine late in the evening.  She had been in a bible study for weeks and one of the ladies she met there was the manager of the deli department at the store we wanted Paul to work at.  And she was desperate for full-time help.  So the next day Paul went there after work, filled out the application and handed right to the deli-manager.  They talked and Paul really like the sound of the job, but there would be a major pay cut to start there.  He left figuring there was no way to take the job.  But the job was practically everything we were looking for.  The position he wanted, the benefits (too many to mention) and selfishly for me, no midnight shifts.

But what to do about the pay?  We just prayed and talked and prayed and talked, and finally the Lord blessed us with a way we could do it.  It will be tighter than we’ve been lately, but it’s so worth it.  We are truly trying to look to the future, and know that this place should be a good fit for Paul.  We are excited, but nervous.  One of the biggest issue for us is the fact of the retail schedule he will now be working.  I’ve never been a retail type person.  I’m way to scheduled and like my routines for that.  But I married a man that excels in retail  Customer service is truly his strong point.  He is such a people person, and really likes helping people.  Plus, when he worked at the little grocery store in the small town we use to live in, he really enjoyed the meat and deli department.

So now we are embarking on a new season in our lives.  He will work most weekends, and our ‘weekends’ will be different days off during the week.  I was a bit bummed to find out it won’t always be two days in a row, but it’s a season.  I know this is what Paul wants to do, and I’m so happy for him.  And I’m totally blessed that we homeschool so we can change our schedule around as needed to have our days off the same as Paul’s.  Tonight is his first night at the new job, and unfortunately until Tuesday he needs to work both jobs.  He really wanted to give our church at least a weeks notice before leaving, but the store really needed him right away.  So he’s working a few hours tonight, then again on Saturday.  We’ll know more of his schedule when he gets home tonight.  Oh, and even though he’ll be working most weekends, he’s normal hours will be daytime, 9:30-6:00 most of the time.  I am very excited and blessed by that.

So even though I’m not a retail person, and I prefer my schedules, we are looking at this as an adventure.  The kids need to get use to the idea of schooling on the weekends, even though we’ll have other days off.  Plus, Paul will have to get use to the work schedule too.  I’m thankful we only have about 6 weeks left of school.  We’ll get through these next few weeks, then have the summer off and that will give us all time to get use to things.  Then start back up again in the fall with more of a schedule like ‘Day 1, Day 2 etc..’ instead of ‘Mondays, Tuesday…’  But like I said right now, my head is still spinning a lot.  It’s all happened so fast, and so unexpectedly.  But I’m thankful that the Lord is my strength and peace during this time.  And I’m thankful for the blessing of this new job.  I know it’s been all the Lord, and that He’ll be with us during this transition time.

Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to put a good update out there.  I’m getting tired now, and Paul is due home, so I’ll end this now.  I’ll update more when I can, and of course, I’ll leave you with some pics.