Anyone who has been with me long enough here, knows the last several months have been full of ups and downs. My husband lost his job, we pushed through Hurricane Sandy and a power outage for almost two weeks, and so forth.

God has brought us through many experiences, and many different places these past several months. And not one single second of it was for naught or for harm. Ever. It was all God working for good.

I don’t know that I could adequately describe all the variants of emotions that have rained down on us. Yet the things that I do know astound me. They all fall in line with what we have been studying in our school this year. I know without a shadow of a doubt, that God put us in His Word studying the exact things we were, for this time in our lives.

He is the Master Teacher. 

Truly.

 

• Like Abraham with Isaac, we are called to have faith in things so unseen. Even when the Lord bring us to a place of true testing where we think we can’t go on a single second in this state, He shows up to relieve us.
• Like Joseph, the things we thought would be for harm, God works for good.
• Like Abraham, we hang on to the promises of God and cling tight knowing He will not forsake us.
• Like the Israelites at times- oh we forget, oh we forget what God has done, and we quickly complain again or lose hope. Yet He redeems.

There is so much more, but these are the things I can articulate now.

So now I will share what God has done for us through this. When my husband lost his full-time job in October, he also at the time had his own business on the side, FarmHaus Studios. He was able to bring in freelance jobs during this time, and actually in the last month or so, was given an abundant amount of jobs. Deep down in our souls, we both knew that ultimately some day my husband would want to make his freelance business his full-time job. Yet we were afraid. Would it be enough to sustain us?

I won’t go into all the details, but there are so many pieces of the puzzle that lined up these past few weeks….from job offers that wouldn’t work to more freelance jobs being offered.

We prayed for clarity. While away at the Real Refreshment Retreat I begged God in prayer time for relief from this situation. The uncertainty of the future was becoming so hard.

Then He answered. 

He delivered.

 

One day later, we had complete clarity. A situation arose where we knew with certainty that God was calling my husband to pursue his freelance business.

And then there’s Exodus. Oh, my goodness. God is teaching us in His Word exactly what we are learning in life these days. Exactly.

 

We read in Exodus this morning… (bold and italics are mine)

Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.  Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.  I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

 

Just last week, I was there. I was faced with the sea in front of me and the armies pursuing behind. I saw only was here and now. Temporal. I felt trapped. There was no clear answer. That is in human terms.

Then God provided a way. An unseen way. Or even a way that was there all along, but was now so clear.

And I felt relief. Relief beyond anything I felt lately. I can hardly type without trembling because God is so ever present and making himself known.

All of these things happen, so God can gain glory through it. I told my kids…If the Israelites escaped Egypt easily, would God’s power have been seen? If there was no struggle, would they have known God’s power? If Daddy had gotten a job the next day after he lost it, would God have been able to show Himself? Would we be as close to Him now? Would God have received so much glory for what He does?

No. We need to go through these trials so He can gain glory. Done. End of story. It is ALL for Him. Not for my comfort, or my relief. For Him. So the world can see HIM through us.

So, now to tell you…my husband’s company, FarmHaus Studios will be our family business. We have prayed over this as a family, and are committed to keeping our eyes on Him as a family, that He will provide for us each step of the way. God doesn’t call you to something and then leave you there.  He will equip us as long as we look to Him. 

We have committed as a family to praying together for his company weekly, and to look to the Lord in every decision and detail. He is ultimately in charge of all if this. I know He wants us to do this, so we will have to rely on Him that much more. It would be too easy to get a “secure” job, and quickly forget our True Provider. This will keep us relying on Him for each job and for each provision. Exactly where we need to be.

We are so excited at the opportunities for us that will be opened up through having a family business. We have desired to be involved in ministry more, and we see more doors opening this way than if he had taken a full-time job. God is magnificent. I can hardly express how much closer I have grown to Him through all of this.

Finally, if you are interested in visiting my husband over at FarmHaus Studios click here. He is talented in all aspects of design, video, multimedia, and web. (He’s also done my eBook publishing and design) You can see an amazing example of his video production here.

Most of all my husband loves the Lord and desires to glorify Him in all. You can also like him on facebook here. Tell him I sent you over- He’ll be thrilled with the support.

May God be glorified in all for my family’s future. All Glory to HIM!

Listen to these related Podcast episodes–>

How a Job Loss Changed Our Life

Our Life as a Work-at-Home Family

MAINTAINING A HOUSEHOLD, HOMESCHOOL, BUSINESS, AND LIFE: THE SIMPLE WAY