Jehovah Jireh

"And my God shall meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 19

So Bob retired from active duty on 1 August, and he was already engaged in job-hunting at that time. He learned quite a bit about resume-formatting and searching for jobs on the internet! Finally just a week or two ago, things started to come together. He received an offer from one company, for a job down at the Pentagon. He decided not to take this offer because 2 other jobs looked very promising. One had given him a contingent offer, and another one had told him twice on the phone to expect an offer. Unexpectedly the first compnay came back last week, after telling Bob they were moving on if he didn't sign their offer, and they increased their offer! After we talked about it for awhile Thursday night, Bob felt like the Lord was leading him to take that offer. So he faxed in the paperwork Friday morning--about 30 minutes before the contigent offer company emailed to say someone thought they needed a guy with more hands-on experience with some program, so that didn't think Bob was the right guy after all! And we never did get the offer from that 3rd company. It could come sometime, sure, but I don't think either of us would really have any confidence in the company or their word at that point! This first company really wanted Bob, and they wanted him to start work today. It seems like this is the job God has provided for right now.

Bob did have an interesting point to make about the job search last week. He told me he had been approaching it with sort of a "marriage model" mindset, but really that wasn't the case. He doesn't need to find the one true perfect job that he can commit to for the rest of his working life (or even 23 years, which is how long he served on active duty!). But he does need a job right now, and this job seems like a good fit. He liked the people with whom he'll be working. The one big drawback is the commute. Today was his first day (just inprocessing stuff right now), and it took him a long time to get down there. He's still working on the best route to take and time to go in (early!). So we'll see how it goes, and we are very thankful to the Lord for providing a job in this uncertain economy!

This time without a job has helped both of us reflect on how it really is the Lord who provides for our needs. I know for me it has always just been the thought of "the Air Force" as the one supplying us. Taking that away, with nothing in its place for a few months really helped me see the hand of the Lord in our lives, and he takes care of the family he has given us.

We really cut back spending, starting in July to just bare neccessities. That is always a good thing to do! We even started doing things like make our own pizza, which was fun and something we will definitely continue doing. But even in little things, God was providing things for us. For example, as a sort of frivolous thing, we had already signed Nathan up for football several months before Bob retired, not having any idea of how long it would take to find a job. In July we realized he would need some Underarmour type shirts to go under his pads. When we visited my parents in Ohio, we found a long-sleeved one and a short-sleeved one at Once Upon a Child for just a few dollars each! What a savings! And when I went to see what sort of fall/winter clothes I had for Anna in the tub of clothes that various people had given us, I realized we don't need one. single. thing for her this winter. We have everything we need from all our friends' generosity! And Nathan hasn't grown a ton, so he should be okay too. First boy and first girl--that's really all I need to worry about, clothing-wise, LOL. Everyone else gets hand-me-downs. But our neighbors down the street, after their garage sale a few weeks ago, gave us all their boy clothes that didn't sell--a whole bunch of shirts that fit Caleb and Jonathan. So now I can be done with any shirts from Nathan and Luke that are just too ratty! How exciting!

It also has been a refreshing time to have Bob not work. He and I have gone on walks many mornings after the kids got started with their school. We would often run errands together--cheap date! He was able to take some of the kids riding on the bike path sometimes, which was a special treat. And he got a lot of things taken care of around the house. Which brings me to another thing the Lord provided--that 40 foot ladder we found by the curb, waiting for the trashman back in July. We have certainly gotten a lot of use out of that, as Bob has repaired a lot of trim, and unfortunately has a lot more to do. (And by "we", I mean "Bob", since I have only set foot on the bottom rung of the thing to steady it, LOL.)

I know a lot of you have been praying for Bob's job search, and we are so thankful for your prayers. We don't take this job for granted. We have friends who have been out of work for a year or so. It's sobering to even think about. Hopefully Bob will be a blessing in this new job, and we are thankful to the Lord for providing for us in this way.

Problem Solved!

Here's our problem: a lot of kids who like to play outside, even in the summer, and who wear things like rollerblades. Well, okay, that in and of itself is not really a problem. But they need lots of water, and we don't want them skating on inside. Bringing cups outside is also not an ideal solution because rarely do all of them make it back inside, plus they invariably spill or get bugs in them or whatever.

So Bob had to do some deep, heavy thinking to solve this problem. He came up with a Waterdog Pet Fountain.

It's a water fountain that attaches to your faucet with a Y connector, so you can still hook up your hose! It has ultrasonic sensing technology, so when it senses movement in front of it, water starts up, and when it doesn't sense any more movement, it shuts off. Here's a closer view of this wonderful little device.
Obviously it is supposed to be for dogs, LOL. Bob installed it upside down so the water shoots up in an arc, instead of down, where it would go into a dog's mouth. Also, he got a piece of PVC pipe to make it as tall as it could possibly be. It's perfect for Anna and Grace, and a little short for Nathan and Luke, but oh well. Water problem solved! Way to go, Bob, for thinking outside the box!

Retirement Ceremony

Yesterday afternoon we had Bob's retirement ceremony. Because of where he works, no cameras, cell phones, any electronic device pretty much, are allowed in the building, so we could not take any pictures. There was an official photographer, and someone from that office told Bob today that he would receive a disk of the pictures next week sometime. But right now, all I have is this picture of our family in our front hallway!

We were honored to have Bob's sister Ann and her daughter Christi come up from Richmond, as well as Bob's brother Paul and his son Brandon come down from PA. My parents were also here. It was so special to have family here to celebrate with us! We were so glad they came! Paul and Brandon spent 2 nights with us, and the kids were lobbying for them just to stay forever, LOL.

Our very good friend Ed L. was the emcee/presiding officer. He also was the one who led the ceremony when Bob pinned on Major back in Colorado. Bob wanted something less formal and more personal than some of the ceremonies he had seen recently, and Ed did such a fantastic job.

My dad gave the invocation at the beginning of the ceremony, and then we all sang the National Anthem. Ed introduced the family members, and then he recounted Bob's Air Force career. They called me up and gave me my certificates of appreciation. Then Bob got a bunch of certificates, medals, and other miscellaneous tokens, including a shovel signed by the people he worked with (the "Ground Component"). Then Ed read the retirement orders, and Bob said a few things, and that was that! Luke commented, "It was good . . . it wasn't too long, but nothing was left out." I was glad it wasn't too long because right as we were sitting down and getting started, Anna whispered that she needed to go potty. She had just had ample time to perform this function, but she refused all those opportunities. In the building, we couldn't go anywhere without Bob escorting us, and we couldn't very well leave the ceremony anyways, so I told her she just had to hold it. So brevity was indeed a very good thing!

Bob and I shook hands with everyone on the way out of the auditorium, and there was a nice reception in the atrium. There was pizza, as well as a chocolate fountain with fruit, and cake. It was nice!

Bob has to work a few days next week, and then he'll pretty much be done, even though his retirement orders are dated 1 August. He's been talking to some companies about jobs, so that will be his focus on these next few weeks. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition to retired life!

Happy Father's Day!!

We had a great Father's Day celebration here today! Although, now that I think about it, Bob didn't get much of a break--he was up early making French toast for everyone, and he grilled the chicken we ate for lunch! Well, we are definitely thankful for such a greast dad as Bob. He's so much fun, and he loves his kids well!

Luke and I found the best card for him when we were out a few weeks ago. It's a Star Wars one, with the Millenium Falcon on the front. There's a little bubble saying, "Shut the hatch!! We're not air-conditioning the whole galaxy, you know!" If you have spent any time at our house, you will know that Bob is always reminding the kids to shut the door!

We bought him a new mp3 player for a present. We had one, the one I planned on listening to while in labor in Faith, although I never needed it. Somehow the cord to charge it disappeared, so that one hasn't been useful for awhile, LOL. I didn't like it anyway--it wasn't very user-friendly. This one is a Sansa Clip, like the one Nathan bought for himself with his jerky money. He's been quite pleased with his, so hopefully bob will like this one too.

After church, we came home, and Bob grilled chicken for us. This was actually "mystery chicken", as I really have no idea where we got it. We have been eating down our freezer so I could defrost it (which I did this afternoon--woohoo!), and last week I noticed a gallon-sized Ziploc bag with a big lump of what looked to chicken in some kind of sauce. But I never buy name-brand Ziploc freezer bags, especially not the kind with the zipper, and this meat was double-bagged in them! There was no writing on the bag or anything. I got it out to thaw and determined it was bone-in chicken in some sort of barbeque sauce marinade. I have absolutely no clue where this chicken came from. My mom thought maybe it was a meal someone brought when Faith was born, but I really doubt it. I've cleaned out the freezer since then, and I'm also pretty sure we ate all the meals brought to us during that time! Beside that, Faith is 16 months old now--this chicken didn't taste that old or freezer-burned! (Maybe it was the double-bagging?) Well, wherever it came from, it was delicious! We enjoyed it! We also had roasted asparagus, white bean salad, pineapple and strawberries, and bread. We had leftover birthday cake and ice cream for dessert.

Then we had our small group meeting at our house this evening, so we had more great fellowship with friends from church. A very nice day all around!