Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The Storm

First, let me apologize for shirking my blogging responsibilities lately. Whoops.

Second, the kids are doing well and are growing like weeds. Maezie is starting to use phrases when she talks, and Kyleigh is telling stories and creating "plays" with her Little People toys.

Third, let me just say that when it rains, it pours, and it's been raining cats and dogs at our house lately. First, Matt's job is killing us. Financially, emotionally, and every other -ally you can think of. So we've been looking for a new one. Keep getting put off, asked to wait. (We trust You, Lord.) Got several jobs looking at Matt, hopefully we'll score an interview with Wal-Mart next week.

So we're all confused - do we stay in Farmington? Do we move to Cortez to save money so Matt doesn't have to commute 75 miles each way every day? (And yes, we realize that he could get a hotel room there, but he wants to see his girls as often as he can, so he makes the drive.)

Tuesday morning, Kyleigh took a bottle of Lysol Disinfectant Spray and "cleaned" the tv. It got up inside the inner components of the tv and now it doesn't work anymore, and the part of the screen that does work flashes "not available" because it thinks that the channel-down button is being pressed constantly. Fabulous. Matt even took it apart and cleaned and dried it, but it still doesn't work. We'll try again in a few days, I guess.

Matt's drive to Cortez every day has killed two of our cars. One day on his way to work, our gas-friendly car, the little Honda Civic, blew a timing belt and got internal engine damage. Would have cost easily two times or more what the car is worth to fix it. So we scrapped it. Then he was using the "winter car", our old Chevy Blazer 4x4. One night on the way home from work, it somehow blew a piston and messed up the radiator while it was at it. In order for that car to run again, we'll need a whole new engine, new radiator, and also new ball joints and new tires (uneven tread wear, almost-bald tires -- two things I didn't notice until the broken-down car was parked in front of our house) so that car will be getting scrapped too.

So, we are down to one vehicle - our dear Dodge minivan. ... And, yes, you guessed it ... Tonight, on Matt's way home from work at 1:45am, a deer ran out in front of him. He tried to swerve, but was unable to miss it completely, and so the right front part of our car clipped the deer. We are sad about the car, but more sad about the deer. :( Anyhow, part of the car hood is actually MISSING, and the light is busted out. It will need a new hood, bumper, light, and right front quarter panel. In addition, the radiator got some damage, so Matt drove the 30 miles home with the windows down and the heat on full blast (to pull heat away from the engine and into the car) to try and keep the engine from heating up as much as possible. The car made it home, leaking radiator fluid like crazy, and probably wouldn't have made it much farther than our house, honestly. Praise God, Matt wasn't hurt at all!! But we are sorry, Lord, that our car killed one of Your creatures.

The BAD things about this : There's always the off-chance that the insurance company will total the car. In which case, we'd be in big trouble. This was our last car, and now we don't have any way to get to and from work/church/groceries/doctors/etc.

The GOOD things about this : Now Matt gets to spend some extra time at home. He can't go to work, obviously, so he'll get some extra time here with the family. :) Our insurance will pick up the tab for this one, minus a $250 deductible from us.

I am pretty sure that I should be more upset than I am. But I feel strangely peaceful about the whole thing. I feel like we're caught up in some nasty storm, but we know Who is in control, ultimately. It's a hard thing to lose your tv, only car, and not get a job, all in the same day. (We were expecting a "here's a job offer" call from Wal-Mart, and instead got a "you're in the pool of applicants and we'll set up an interview and call you on Monday" call.)

But ... we have a loving family. And Matt still has a job. And we have two beautiful, healthy children. And I just went grocery shopping, so other than needing to walk up to the local grocery store about 8 blocks away for milk, we're set for awhile. And we are happy. We don't have a lot of extras, we don't have a lot of money, and we don't have a lot of nice clothes/furniture/cars/insert-materialistic-object-here ... we're not earthly rich ... but we are RICH, my friends, I tell you we are RICH!! We have our faith, and no one can take that away from us. We have eachother, a strong marriage, delightful (albeit frustrating sometimes!) children, and a blessed home.

So, we might struggle for awhile. And normally, I would probably be in panic-mode right now. But I'm at peace. And I'm praising God that Matt didn't get hurt today in the deer accident, and that Kyleigh didn't electrocute herself messing with the TV, and that we are ALIVE and WELL and happy. But even in the midst of this storm and struggle -- still, we will follow!!

We thank Thee, O Lord, for Thy rich blessings. Even when all is crumbling around us, You are the Light that anchors, the Peace that renews, and the Love that strengthens. We Praise You, O Most High God.

5 comments:

Drew Winters said...

I'm thankful for your faith and for your peace. Your heart is, as always, a testimony to our Lord. Still, I pray things improve for yall very soon.

Shanna said...

Amen! Love you guys! I'm so glad that you know Who is in control and that He loves you and that you are worth more than many sparrows. As always, y'all are in my prayers.

Niecey said...

I'm happy to see you blogging again :) And your faith and peace through all that you're going through (wow you guys have had your fair share of it!) is inspirational.
I've been praying about his job. I hope something perfect comes along soon

Kim said...

You are right on track, my dear. Praying for your sweet family. Blessings are coming, I just know it! Keep your heads up...literally. He is with you all the way. Love you!

lots of love said...

I'm sorry to hear all these things are going on with yall right now! I hope the car thing works out for yall-whichever way the insurance co desides to go. I just hope it works out. And I hope Matt does get a great job offer soon! I'm really proud of yall for keeping it together throughout all this & not letting it get the best of yall!