Saturday, October 30, 2010

Heavy Hearts

Life at work has been difficult lately. Not the actual work, or caring for patients, but Satan has been attacking my friends and co-workers left and right. Their stories are not for me to share here, but our unit as a whole needs prayer. It has been a very hard time for everyone lately, some more than others, and makes my issues/problems feel not-quite-so-big. We're all trying to remember that God's plans are bigger than ours, and He can see down the road when we can't. I'm trusting that He's going to take care of us as a whole, and Mark and me as a family as well.

I've realized - sometimes I am a negative person. I'm not an unhappy person, and I don't stir up drama, but sometimes I don't try very hard to find the joy in things, even bad things. I want to start trying harder.

So, even though I'm stressed and things are bad and I'm worried about my friends, here is what I'm taking comfort in today:

I get to work an extra half-shift this week. I hate the reason why, but I am thankful for the money.

Work is terribly slow, but that is allowing the people who need to take off work to be off without causing the unit too much stress. Once again - God sees down the road where we can't.

While things are tight financially right now, we are being able to stick to our budget and still pay our bills. Things could be much, much worse.

A sweet, sweet puppy is sleeping in my lap right now. She is healthy, and growing, and she keeps me busy enough to keep my mind off of other things.

We are learning to manage our finances later than I wish we had, but still early in our lives. We're learning BEFORE Mark gets a job and our income increases, so we'll be better prepared to manage the extra money properly rather than wasting it. I'm very thankful for that.

We have families who help and support us when times are hard.

God has promised that He will never give us circumstances that we aren't able to stand up under. I'm trusting that His promise is true, and with His help, we will all come out of this time stronger, closer, and better for it.

What comforts you today?

4 comments:

  1. I love you, April, and I'm proud of you.

    Today, I take comfort in:
    My day off! This has been a really hard week, but I get to enjoy this day.
    The fact that I have family, friends, and a boy who all love me.
    The visit from Cassie, who I haven't seen in ages. She'll be here any minute :)
    The fact that I am provided for.
    The fact that I am creating... something I love.

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  2. The same as you.
    I take comfort in:
    the fact that even though I'm going through a bad time at work, at least I have a job (not a good one, but at least, it's a job).
    the fact that I'm loved.
    getting married in two weeks.
    having a family and friends.
    the fact that my pet loves me and I love him so much. And he's healthy and happy.
    the fact that we're not rich, but we can pay our bills.

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  3. i am also a typically glass half empty type. im convinced it has something to do with being an ICU nurse. we have to be critical of everything right? but still ive been doing the same thing... making a conscious, tough effort to be more positive and not complain as much. its hard but its paid off and i realize just how thankful i am that God has ordered my steps and protected me and most of all loves me so, so dearly. i'll say a prayer for you and the folks on your unit. great post.

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  4. Hey friend! What do you and Mark use to budget? We use this really great software called "Moneywell" that is like a digital version of "envelope" budgeting ... each category is a bucket, and your income empties into a bucket. The bucket goes down as you spend in that category and if you overspend, the next month that bucket starts off smaller by the amount you overspent! It's kind of mean that way, because you can't cheat and say "I'll start over next month and do better," because you're docked based on overspending the previous month. It's a really great system that Price and I would highly recommend!

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