The same month my husband moved back home, he quit his second job because that is where many of the issues multiplied. Then his best friend died in a vehicle accident on an icy road. It was heartbreaking for him, but it didn’t push him away from me like it could of. He stayed close to me and to the kids and made the effort to begin the repairs on what had been broken.
As the days, weeks and months went on, so did my pregnancy and our marriage. We went to marriage counselling regularly which helped with communication some but mostly it was the effort made by him to make the changes necessary to keep his family that kept me believing in him and trusting God that he could and would change.
About 2 months before our youngest was due, my husband lost his job. I was still dispatching but my due date was getting close and I knew I couldn’t keep doing it with a newborn very well. My husband went on unemployment and it took time before we got any payments to pay the bills. I don’t know how exactly but God got us through but He always comes through.
I had wonderful parents and grandparents who would often bring out their “extra” groceries from the garden or canning shelves, plus a few things they’d pick up for us on their way out to see us. I remember searching vehicles and couches to find enough change to buy a jug of milk. We were BROKE! BUT we weren’t poor. We had God and we had family.
In the midst of unemployment I gave birth to our third child, a little boy. Things started off fairly well for the first couple weeks but by week three he was having issues. His stools were a fluorescent green and I was told it was “normal”! I was frustrated. By 6 weeks old, at our first doctor’s appointment, I explained about his stools and about how he was becoming more and more fussy. All I was told is it was normal. I knew it wasn’t but couldn’t get anyone to listen to me. So I started researching for myself and we had to put him on formula.
In the midst of this plus unemployment, we managed to make it through it all by God’s provision. My husband was then hired on by my parents company. We didn’t want any hand outs, but we knew we had to accept help because there was just no way we could do it on our own. He was very capable to do the jobs required of him and they forgave him as well and were able to work with him to help him be better for himself and his family.
The job with my parents paid enough to be able to get my husband what we called a “blow box” in his truck. He would have to blow in it to be able to start the truck. If he had any alcohol on his breath, it wouldn’t start. It wasn’t a cheap thing to have but it saved me traveling twice a day with three kids 3 and under to get him to work, so we were very, very grateful for it.
Philippians 4:19 “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”