The Struggles and Praises of 2011

Our family has had some pretty intense struggles from the beginning. Right before we found out we were pregnant with Timmy, Tim had lost his current job, and we were living on unemployment and love for a long time. As a matter of fact, during my pregnancy, Tim went for his CDL and even then, didn't find a job until November 2010, and it wasn't even a driving job. We continued to struggle to meet our financial needs. We were using government assistance to heat our home in the winter, and to pay for groceries, and luckily had the help of many friends and family as we did our best to provide for our son and work through the struggle. 
Fast forward, May 2011, Tim is still working in a grocery store, and we are so strapped, I decide it's time for me to get a part time job that I can work around his schedule. We just had no luck, and we kept praying, knowing God wasn't far away, and seeing us struggle. "Lord we don't know how much more we can handle" Our wedding was 4 months away, we had nothing at all for it, and no money coming in anytime in the near future that wasn't already going towards our essentials. The bills got backed up, we had our cable shut off a few times, and fell behind on just about everything else. Tim had been trying to find a driving job that he wouldn't be away for weeks at a time, but to no avail. 
He had applied and interviewed at GFS about three or four times. Just kept going up, not giving up. Then, at the very end of may in 2011, one of Tim's interviews lands him a job driving for GFS! It's time to get cracking on this wedding stuff.
By the time we were caught up with bills we had less than three months to pay for this wedding. So of course, money was still tight, despite the major increase in salary. I had quit my job after only working about a month. We still had only one car and I wouldn't have been able to drive to work. Plus I would have only been paying for day care anyway. 
We bought our second car, a minivan, at the end of June. We hadn't had two cars since I got pregnant. I had to sell my s 10 to the junkyard for some extra cash. It was so nice, if Tim was at work, and I needed to take Timmy somewhere, or go somewhere, I could go. 
So, we had a fabulous and amazing wedding!

On our wedding day.

We are finally getting to see the pictures from it. I'll do a special blog about it when I get them all back :)

Anyway, as I look under our tree, and see all the amazing toys and fun stuff we have wrapped for Timmy to open Christmas morning, it really makes me look back at last year, when if it weren't for the organization Nurse Family Partnership, we wouldn't have had any gifts for him at all. We have been off government assistance since June, and despite the slightly tight financial situation we're in due to Christmas, its nothing like it used to be, and we are so grateful to God for seeing when we'd had enough, and providing for in the way we needed.

I'm also thinking about the fact that for other family members and friends of ours, there is a current struggle in their lives. I'll keep them anonymous, but you know who you are, and I'm praying SO hard for you right now. It's hard not to feel guilty about the things in my life, but I have to remember to always be grateful to God, and praise him no matter what. We don't always understand his plan, but we're not supposed to. There is always going to be some sort of tragedy or heartache in someone's life out there, and for my family, we're experiencing that now. I will keep my faith, and keep praying for everyone who needs it. And anyone who is reading this, if you need a prayer also, let me know, I'd be happy to say one for you!