Whew....when I think about 2011...that's what comes to mind..."Whew" with a dramatic fall into a comfy sofa. I don't think I have ever said this before...but I am SO glad that 2011 is over!
By far, it was the most stressful and difficult year of our lives - however, much was learned through it, our knees are calloused by it (not literally because I don't often kneel when I pray, but you get the point...we prayed a lot), our hearts were broken by it, and we labored heavily through it.
I want to share the story, primarily for our own record keeping, but there is so much I just can't share on the internet (because you never really know who is reading, or who could be reading). So, I will be vague enough to not get in trouble, but detailed enough that we can look back on Two Thousand and Eleven and set it as a stone of remembrance of God's provision in our lives, just as the Israelites did when they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised land.
Although the year started out joyous with the sale of the company and the weight of non-ownership off our extended family's shoulders, reality quickly tackled that joy and wrestled the next 12 months with it. An incredible amount of stress and difficult decisions became Jeremy's daily life. Even while on our "dream" vacation in Colorado, nearly 2 days was spent off the slopes and on the phone dealing with issues. The stress-free vacation we had been saving for was taken.
A few weeks later, we found out we were pregnant, unexpectedly and couldn't even share it with our family for another month. During that time, the stress continued to build as we both began to feel physical side effects because of it. Just as we had accepted and began to look forward to number 4 running around the house near Thanksgiving, it was taken. The loss was just as unexpected as the pregnancy.
The summer months are a blur to me. Jeremy was stressed, I was stressed, our kids were even stressed (looking back, I can completely connect the issues we were having, specifically with Nathan, to the stress levels in our lives). Each day, we counted it as one day closer to Jeremy's 3 year contract being over (it was not even a year yet)
September came and I started thinking about making one of those paper chains things...you know, like a countdown to Christmas...only it would be a countdown to December of 2013 (a pretty long chain, haha).
Near the beginning of October though, Jeremy was told he would take over a 40% cut in pay and benefits, or he could be released from his three year contract (but not released from his non compete). After much thought...A LOT of prayer...and legal counsel, Jeremy put his two weeks notice in.
This is where it gets good....and where we see God's hand in everything.
That very day, we got an accepted offer on our house. It had been on the market since the beginning of the year. We had thought about taking it off, selling for less than we could, we had even though about renting another house to let ours be vacant. But, NONE of that was God's plan...it was us, trying to make something happen. We are so grateful that the Lord sustained us through our desires to wander and that we did not do those other ideas.
All of a sudden, Jeremy had no job, and we were getting rid of our house (which meant we would soon be homeless). What does a family do? Take a vacation to TN of course ;) A much needed...Stress free vacation (Ok, not for me...I was dealing with buying a house somewhere else
(to remain mostly un-named, because you know...this is a public blog, and you never know whose reading ;) It was a great vacation and visit with Jeremy's sister and her family.
We returned to difficult - not stressful- just difficult situations. Jeremy was working out of town and coming home on weekends. I was packing boxes and moved into Jeremy's parent's parent's house Thanksgiving weekend. We expected to close on our house in Naples on Dec. 9th.
Nope...not gonna happen. I learned a few things during the month of December...
1. I NEVER want to be a realtor
2. The Government is always slow
3. It's important to find a good realtor (our Naples realtor was very good....or realtor here was not. It would take much restraint from me not to kick him in the shins if I saw him at Target. haha - don't worry...I won't...but I will probably be thinking about it)
December was full of lots of ups and down, seeing my dear husband only on weekends, spending Christmas without our own home, staying with family and at friend's homes who were out of town. We even spent a few days in a hotel.
But finally, on one of the final days of 2011...we close on our house in Naples, and our one here a few days earlier...and on...December 31, 2011....we closed a chapter in our lives...We Moved out of Naples. The move would have been more difficult if circumstances were different, I am sure...but I couldn't have been happier to finish the year in a new home, with my husband by my side, and my children playing in the street with all of the neighborhood kids.
Good bye 2011....Hello 2012. I realize this year could be even harder than last year...but for now, it has been incredible. We do miss our family, but so far we've seen someone every weekend ;) Our lives in Naples have changed, at least for now. We are nearly settled where we are now. We are looking for a church and hoping to make friends. We are playing kickball in our back yard with a bunch of 9-12 year olds who fight over who gets to play with our preschoolers (haha). We have a bigger house to host our friends and family and Jeremy has a job he enjoys and a boss who appreciate him. His commute is rather long, but hopefully that will change. For now, the first 9 days of 2012 have been far better than almost any day in the previous year.
We are thankful to the Lord for leading us through the difficulties of the past 12 months...and trust he has used that time to prepare us for what lies ahead.
