Thoughts about Lay-Offs

Posted by My Heart Song

11/4/2013 

About a month ago my husband was laid-off. You can read more about that in the blog post found here.

The last month has been stressful. 

From a financial perspective, we've been alright because my husband received a severance package that covered his pay for the next few weeks. 

From an insurance perspective, we've had to quickly educate ourselves on our options and make some short-term decisions to be covered. 

From a home perspective, routines have been disrupted as my husband was suddenly at home more. "My time" on the computer has been much more limited as my husband has needed the computer for his job search (hence this blog has suffered from neglect... though the time away has been good for me, I think). 

BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS! 

Two weeks into the lay-off my husband got called in for an interview. The next day he was offered the job. He's now a cataloging librarian at our local public library. The position is for 30 hours per week but does offer benefits. It also offers many opportunities for advancement and professional development - something that was lacking at his previous employer. So we're excited and thankful for this new opportunity. And of course we're glad that it came fairly quickly into the period of unemployment. 

I also should give thanks to God for the other silver linings in this lay-off. My biggest prayer requests through this period of unemployment has been for God to reign in my emotions and my tongue. I am so happy to report that He helped me greatly in that area. I was able keep a positive, supportive attitude with my husband. I was able to keep any negative thoughts from becoming words or actions that would discourage him. 

My husband is naturally a hard-working, go-getter type and he brought that into the unemployment process as well. He dressed up each day and went somewhere (usually a public library) to spend some time, to look for jobs, to read up on literature in his field. He didn't allow himself to get depressed or dwell on what had happened. He moved forward in faith, believing that God had something better for him. I know that my actions and words could've poured water on that fire inside of him. 

So, we are thanking God for provision, for work, for His Spirit's strength, for faith to move forward to the unknown.