Tender mercies

In less than 24 hours, I had two tender mercies from the Lord. Reminding me that He knows best and that I need to trust Him.

The first you'll have to read about on my Daily Blog.

The second happened Monday. Trying to ignore the huge mess my kids had made and give myself a "timeout" to keep my cool about the mess, I checked my work email (I take Mondays off). I stumbled upon an email my boss had forwarded to me from her boss. Remember that dream job I turned down not once, not twice, but three times a few months ago? The one I agonized over thinking I had either missed the boat with any spiritual guidance or was being tempted again and again? Well, CDC lost funding for Year 2 of the grant. Somehow they have funding for the third and final year of the grant, but not this next year. While they don't expect any major personnel changes and should be able to stretch funding from this year to cover most of the next year, it's completely up in the air about what will really happen.

Had I taken that job, I would have been devastated. And a complete wreck wondering what might happen. I don't do well with funding cuts like that. I've been there once before, trying to figure out when to leave a "dying" program that I loved and poured my heart and soul into. It was agonizing.... way worse than trying to listen to the whisperings of the Spirit a few months ago. Even if I hadn't lost my job, cuts were so drastic that it would have hindered all the projects and ambitions I had for the position.

Something so simple to remind me that I'm not in charge here... God is and he knows what is best for me. My prayers are answered, even if I can't see it or don't understand why I get certain answers. I'm so grateful I listened to those promptings (all three times), despite the pressures, and that this small, tender mercy from the Lord was given to me.

From mild curiosity to sheer torment

Boys need haircuts a lot more often than girls! Cole usually ends up getting a trim when his hair is 4+ inches long on top and his ears and the back of his neck can't been seen anymore. It gets pricey to keep him looking somewhat respectable. So for Christmas I bought Fern (well, really Jeff) a clipper set. From the looks of these pictures, you'd think I'd bought him a pink bunny suit and forced him to wear it.

I think Cole was still hoping he was headed for a bath at this point. That, or he was happy to be half-naked. So we go from mild curiosity at the new clippers and combs....To a look of "I don't think I am going to like this, Mom"...To tears, screams, and drool....Followed by a moment of calm....But it didn't last long.Then panic set in when Cole realized he had tons of hair all over his fingers from touching the bathroom counter and clipper...Proceeded by the realization that the hair was now in his mouth and all over his face....He kept looking at me and crying, "Mamma! Mamma!" A couple of hugs later and all seemed calm...Never mind.Almost finished....The aftermath. A whole lot of hair all over the entire bathroom. Not to mention all over Jeff and Cole. Cole looked like a hairy monkey with all that furry hair on his shoulders and back.
I must say, Jeff did a good job considering he has no barber training and Cole was in no mood for a haircut.