This is funny. I wrote that whole post on being content about being home and happy about the way vacations look for our family. Then, out of the blue, on the same day, we got a letter in the mail from the beach house in Outer Banks! The letter said, and I paraphrase, "Hey, you should really book with us soon! We've got a good deal for you!" It included all these great pictures of the house on the beach, the ocean, the pool, the sand.....I couldn't believe it! I took it as a sign! I immediately texted my husband and said, "I think we're supposed to go away!" He laughed. The truth is, it was probably just a test of my resolve. We haven't heard from the owners of the house for two years! Why now!? I'm pretty sure it was just to try and knock me off my feet. It worked...for a couple seconds anyway. Anyway, I just thought it was very interesting timing.....It doesn't look like we're booking any time soon.....sigh!
We continue to marvel at God's provision for us though. This past couple of weeks has seen every single hay machine break down, leaving us with some hay uncut, waiting and waiting for the machines to get fixed. We knew we would have to spend money to fix them, but how to do it for the lowest price. It is always easier and faster to order new parts, but RM got super creative and went around the property taking old parts off of other broken down machines and used them to "Macgyver" a solution to fix the haybine. To my amazement, he was able to do this, saving us hundreds of dollars. I'm always in awe of his mechanical abilities. When I asked him how he was able to do this and what made him think of it, he said, "God just puts these thoughts into my head!" He doesn't even know himself how he comes up with the solutions. He's never fixed these types of machines before. He's never had to deal with these types of problems. It's incredible.
The other parts he was able to get new part off of ebay for less or he was able to get used parts. Everytime he uses the credit card to order off the internet he's paid it off immediately so we aren't carrying any debt month to month. All that to say, we should be back up and running soon.
Recently, his contract with the college came to an end, but funding came in to be hired again for an 18 month period. Ironically, however, his salary will be significantly lower because they allow for benefits. This, of course, is good and bad. Good because we will definitely use the benefits for orthodontics, teething cleanings, eye wear, etc., but not so good because you can't buy groceries with benefits. But we're grateful for the job. He'll be able to make up the difference by teaching at the college in the fall as well. All I know is this time last year we didn't have work and now we do. I will never complain about that.
I told someone, "God knows if we need more money and if He thinks that is enough money for us, than it is." Simple as that. We are grateful for the work, grateful for the benefits which we haven't had in many many years, and grateful for God's provision in so many ways. Interestingly, he will get paid vacation which we also haven't had in years. Will that mean that we go away? I don't know. Anytime that we've gone away before has meant unpaid leave. This will be the first time in a very long time that we'll actually get paid while on "vacation"! That just seems unheard of to me! I suppose it is normal for other families who are used to getting that, but I can hardly get my head around it! So who knows, maybe we will do something next summer....More likely we'll finally get the work done on the house that has been taking a very long time to do. Either way, it's exciting to think about.
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