After writing the last post, I was thinking back to that time.
How did I get up? How did I breathe? How was I a mom to my children, a wife to my husband, etc.? How did I work? Seriously, how did I breathe?
God was there. He was with me the ENTIRE time. He never left my side. And, when I could no longer breathe, He breathed for me.
What I completely forgot to mention about that time was that I was offered a new position. I was in the mix for two roles, both of which I was either the top or one of the top candidates. I had the ability to choose which one I truly wanted. Within hours of the first position being offered, I found out about our pregnancy, and right away knew what I was to do.
See, one job would require our moving across the country – and with a new baby on the way, that didn’t seem to be a good choice. The other job would require more travel, but we wouldn’t have to move – or so I thought.
After accepting the job, I started working the new market. I had an entire state to work. And, my biggest market was 2+ hours away, plus a time change making it a 3+ hour differential. I tried to schedule my appointments in a way that required less travel, but that meant more overnights. A LOT OF OVERNIGHTS.
Within the first six months of 2010, I had spent 50+ nights in hotels. Plus, when I would get home, I was so exhausted from traveling, being pregnant, the new job, etc. I wasn’t there for my husband, our little guy, and I knew that meant I wouldn’t be there for our newest addition.
I accepted the job in December. By February, I realized the travel commitment and asked for a moving package (which I negotiated in the offer to be available any time within the first 12 months of taking the role). The challenge was that I didn’t negotiate what kind of moving package I was eligible for. The new package covered the physical move with a little extra money for other moving costs not covered in the physical move. And, for many people, this seems like a great deal – and, it was. But, at that time, it was more than I should have taken on.
With everything else going on, we put our house on the market. Try keeping a house clean with a 2 year old. Seriously, that is a full-time job in and of itself.
We needed to find a new house about 2 hours away. I did some looking when I was there on business, but it was difficult to do. As soon as I could, I wanted to get back to my family. So, after a few weeks of looking, we decided we would build a house.
WHAT??? DID YOU SAY BUILD??? AREN’T YOU GOING THROUGH ENOUGH???
Yes, I said build. And, yes, we were going through a ton. But, that’s kind of how I do things, I guess.
So, our current house was on the market, our new house was being built (to be completed by the end of September). We didn’t have a contract on our house before or during much of that build time. Our little guy came weeks early. We had a family wedding the day after we brought him home from the NICU. We had a family member going through a BMT to help stave off the cancer.
Even thinking of all of it, I still am surprised at all that happened at the same time.
To close out this time – we did eventually get an offer on the house. It was less than what we bought the house for, but it was worth it to stop traveling so much and being able to be there for our family. We were able to close on the homes on back to back days – which I am so grateful for. And, we moved into our new home with about 2 weeks to get settled before my maternity leave was over.
I know it was a lot. I still don’t think I fully can put myself back there because there was just so much. But, I do know this. I am grateful each and every day that God was there with me – every step of the way. He took more of the steps than I did. And, it was a heavy load. But, without Him, I could not have made it.
I was looking through 1 Corinthians for another passage when I came across this one.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (Message): No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; He’ll always be there to help you come through it.
Amen!
