Rosann knows from experience.  It's an experience no one wants, no one welcomes, and no one likes.  But it's a matter of fact that in these trying economic times, many of our husbands will find themselves unemployed.

As wives, what are we to do?  How should we respond?  As Christian wives, how can we honor our husbands and our God while we too suffer with fear and worry, stigmas, embarrassment and feelings of despair?

In her newly published ebook, Unemployed Faith, Rosann lays her heart bare as she walks the reader through this challenging and heart-breaking time in her life.  Right in the thick of it, she shares her family's struggles and pain, all while giving coping tips and structured action points to follow.  The book is laid out clearly and practically, and the reader finds true life moments written from the heart of someone mired in the trenches herself, amidst suggestions on how to support husbands in their darkest time as providers.

This is not a book on how to get your husband a job.  This is a book for wives.

How can you lift up your husband while feeling the stress yourself?  How do you release your own stress without overburdening your husband?  How do you tap into the divine power and strength available to you as you climb the mountain out of the valley?  Is it even possible to remain optimistic?  Is there anything to learn in this struggle?

Maybe you will see yourself in Rosann's scenario.  Maybe you have handled this time in your family's life with grace, or maybe you feel as if you have no grace left to give.  Either way, you will benefit from her experience and come away with a sense of hope, and active ideas to keep you on the road of unity and growth in your marriage and family life.

It's your turn to figure out where God wants you in this challenging time.  That place is right by His side, and by your husband's.  Rosann's book beautifully and gently hands you the tools to do just that.

I'm posting about wellness at The Homeschool Village today... (actually it was up yesterday but I forgot to mention it!)

I think that might have been the moment I knew he wasn't for me.

We were driving, though I don't remember where to or from, and I was at the wheel of my little wild-strawberry-metallic Ford Escort.  Sitting beside me was a handsome blue-eyed man, my new-ish college boyfriend, still an enigma to me, a few years older and seemingly so much wiser.  He had graduated, had a real job, and it all felt unbelievable to this girl who never dated very much to begin with- that he would want to be with me.  My heart flipped and flopped from the excitement of the idea that this relationship could mean something.

On the radio, Simon and Garfunkel, or maybe America or Crosby, Stills and Nash (I can't really remember), sang in their 70's acoustic way: tight chords, words that spoke to what was blooming in me as a young adult, simple guitar under it all.  And, as I always did, I took up singing at the top of my lungs with the harmony part.

"Why do you always sing the harmony?" he asked, with a hint of annoyance.

I laughed, and took it as a challenge to sing louder.

But the moment stuck.  And soon after, my boyfriend and I didn't anymore.

Could I ever really be with someone who wanted me to always be the melody?  Isn't the joy of relationship, and eventually of marriage, the blend of the inherently different but undeniably complementary?  I didn't want a boyfriend who wanted me to sing melody.  I found it boring, and a bit offensive then, but now I see how it's much more than that.  It's contrary to our design.

When we both, husband and wife, try to carry the melody, the music is shallow and we are more likely to find dissonance.  When one chooses instead to join with a harmony part, the music becomes a partnership, and creates depth, romances the ear.  I can't begin to describe, as a musician, what it feels like to join an existing melody part with my own voice, singing notes that aren't the same, but fit as snug pieces of a puzzle, creating a richer aural picture.  And in my marriage, I thrill to add to my husband's voice, finding ways to make him better, and myself better, by choosing something other than unison.

The music we make together is so much more beautiful when I do.

Looking back I wish I would have chosen to answer that boyfriend differently.  I wish I would have had the wisdom of two more decades of life lived and lessons learned.

I would have said, "Yes.  I'm a harmony girl.  And I always will be."

How do you complement your husband?  Looking at your marriage as music, what part do you usually like to play?

Photo Credit

So, the holidays and vacation have thrown me completely off-kilter, and since my home and my wonderful family are more important, and I can't share about fruit I'm not actually bearing, I'm taking the next couple of weeks to get schooling and the housework (seriously, you should see this place!) under control.  I've had lots of great learning experiences lately, so I'll be back on February 1st to get back to sharing with my words what God is growing in my life.

Speaking of February 1st, there's a wonderful community of women just chomping at the bit to share and encourage.  I'm so excited about the new site, Sisters in Bloom where so many of my friends will be meeting and writing.  Go visit and see the beautiful video to introduce and whet your appetite for what's to come.

I've been going through and trying to organize my old posts (I've been here for 5 years, can you believe it?) and so you don't miss me too much, I thought I'd post some of my favorites below.

See you soon!

I've been rather quiet here, and on Twitter and Facebook.  For good reason.

I've been enjoying my hubby on a small island off of Venezuela called Aruba.

It's been rough, I tell you.

Kids had tons of fun with grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins.  Getting spoiled rotten, I assume.  And we sat on sunny beaches, wind whipping our hair, tiki hut and 50 spf keeping us from sunburn.  We read a lot, dozed, snorkled, and spent time reconnecting with each other and God.

For someone who experiences God's voice through images, I had no lack of ways to sense His presence.  He rewarded me with clear guidance and conviction, words of wisdom and words of correction.  He is ever faithful.  Even on an arid, tropical island.

I have so much to learn and pray I'll be faithful in my responses.  With my marriage, my children, our homeschool, our service...

But I need to remember that dependence is the key to growth, not white-knuckle control over my own moments, my own goals.  It's time to turn back.

What are you learning anew this week?  How does the Lord teach you?
  
(I have a post up at Heart of the Matter called "Fishies and Encouragement", a little story from my daily life.  Check it out!)


Photo credit

2012 jumped in front of me with thumbs in its ears and tongue sticking out.  It spit raspberries and laughed, waggled its fingers and whooped.

Then it ran, taunting, as I tried to catch my breath and follow.  But I had to just rest against a tree and get my bearings.  I'm still not really ready.

I know the newness is here.  I have always been a resolution-maker and a word-chooser.  Being an optimist by nature, even though the date of January first really doesn't mean anything spiritually, I have always met the beginning of the calendar with butterflies in my gut, excitement pulsing through my veins, knowing that this year would be the year I got it all together.

Last year I decided I wanted to be free.

I chose the verb "free" but instead tried to live the adjective "free" and the noun "freedom".  Yet as 2011 came to a close I realized that the two sides of the coin called freedom baffled me with their oscillation:

We have these awesome white towels, in two different textures, which were given to us as a wedding gift.  At the time, I kind of thought, "Towels?  Seriously?", but they soon settled comfortably into neatly stacked piles on a shelf in our master bath.  We use them day in and day out, wash them weekly, bleach them occasionally, and still they do the job.  They are the absolute best towels in the house.

They are beginning to fray ever so slightly at the edges, and I'm actually a bit sad about that.

Twelve years they have served us, as towels in the other bathrooms have come and gone.  Those towels have seen plenty from their perch- some good, some not so good, and some downright ugly.  They've lasted through rushed moments, loving moments, fights, and cold shoulders.  They've heard choice words and sweet nothings, children's whines (including plenty of my own, if I'm honest) and family giggles.

I have to admit that I'm am often more about convenience than investment.  I'll often buy the thing that will get me through to the weekend, rather than next year.  I don't always have the foresight and patience to put in the effort required to meet a future goal.  My eyes are usually clouded to the realization that better quality and more money in the short term translates to longevity and savings in the long term.