Maybe

I'll admit that I wasn't really looking forward to the ball dropping and ringing in 2009. The new year meant more unknowns and an extended waiting game. Starting in January, we officially begin tapping into our savings that we have from the sale of our home in Colorado. That money is like sand dripping through a monthly hourglass. (Can you have one of those?) We have to use it to pay for rent, bills and food. A seasonal position with UPS, helped decrease the dent we have to make in savings for January, but we don't know about February... or March... or April.

I didn't want January to come. It meant facing the harsher part of unemployment. So far, we have been somewhat immune to it.

Not anymore.

When my husband lost his job and we had to sell our home and move, we looked at what we made off the sale of our home and were excited that it might allow us to have some significant savings to build on and pursue some dreams for our family. By moving to Oregon, we've significantly cut our cost of living, and that was a potential open door to save even more.

But as we look at 2009, we're not sure when there will be steady income. We're not sure if we will be able to pursue the things that we have wanted to.

Now these thoughts are daunting, and a little disappointing- but not really for those who believe in a sovereign God who always gives us the best. Maybe, having the money to easily adopt is not the best for us. Maybe, living tightly and using our resources very carefully and wisely is needed training in discipline. Maybe seeing the savings account balance diminish is not bad, but good. Maybe God is doing a mighty work preparing us for further good works.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

Maybe our Father is training us for deeper faith, greater grace, and higher joy. Maybe that's what 2009 will bring. Maybe if I remember the Sovereign One and believe the promises of the Word, then that's exactly what 2009 will bring.