Last time I had written out a significant blog post was the day after Isabella was born.
Tomorrow my little girl will be 3 months old.
I had not really let people in on what had been happening the few weeks leading up to her unexpected birth.
Through me getting laid off in August we did not know what to expect to happen with a baby on the way. I had blogged already about how I was humbled by our mighty God and how He kept us looking toward Him alone. I just wanted to list a few things that happened from our perspective...
-The week after I was laid off our newer of the 2 cars had the "Check Engine Light" come on and was acting very
squirrely. We had to take it in and we expected the worst. Christian Brother's Automotive looked at it and stated to us that the main computer in the car was bad. Never a good sign. However they went out of their way and researched the issue on our behalf and found out that it is a common
problem with our year model and there was an extended warranty for the car and that if we took it to a Toyota dealership it shouldn't cost us anything. We took it to a dealership and a few hours later we had a new computer in the car at no charge! Amazing...we were thrilled!
-My lawn mower busted a huge oil leak right in the middle of me cutting the yard. My neighbor Andy saw it smoking and let me use his machine to cut the rest of my lawn. My other friend and neighbor Brian let me know use his lawn mower on another occasion to cut the yard. But then my neighbor from across the street had an extra mower and let me use it until we our grass went dormant. So I was able to not have to spend money to repair or have to buy a new machine...yet. I have until Spring now.
-We had a few baby showers where people showed us that we were not alone with our baby coming. We still have quite a bit of money in gift cards to last us a while longer which will help. We are so thankful and blessed to have great friends and family.
-When we thought we were going to have to pay huge amounts for insurance with COBRA, President Obama set out a legislation to make COBRA cheaper for qualified families. We qualified and were able to not have to spend so much money on that health care expense.
-Speaking of health care, this was a huge way God showed us He's watching over us, we were on an
HDHP and our renewal year ended in Oct. We were about $100 away from meeting our deductible and after that everything was covered 100%. If the baby had been born on her actual due date our deductible would have started from scratch on November 1st.
She was born on Oct. 19
th and we did not see one hospital bill for the delivery.
That is the one thing that we cannot fathom...Isabella was born 6 weeks early with no complications and she left the hospital with us within the 48 hours.
-I was still just working a temp job during her birth and I did not tell anyone there that I was expecting a baby. So when I told them the morning of Oct. 19
th that I had to go because my wife was going into labor...they were shocked that I had not mentioned it to anyone. But I figured that I didn't know anyone there very well and that I didn't know how long I would be around or they would keep me around. They let me have 2 days off and when I got back they had all pitched in for a huge gift basket. I was almost in tears...until someone in back said "You better no cry Isaac!" So I laughed it off and thanked them over and over.
-I was given an opportunity for another interview for a company I had applied for. The interview was on Oct. 30
th and my parents had been here all week with us and the baby. At this point I was not expecting anything from this interview. Ever since Isabella had been born I had been at peace with where God had me and knew that I could not do anything to my liking because He had total control. So I was not nervous and just went about it calmly. I remember my mom telling me not to be nervous that morning and I honestly just felt like nothing special was going on. My interview lasted almost an hour when she said I was a definite call-back for a second interview and if I had the time...we could start it then. All went well and I was told I'd hear something middle to end of the following week. The next Tuesday at lunch, Amy's dad and our step-mom had just gotten here and they picked me up for lunch, I received an email with an offer letter! It was a huge blessing.
As soon as I gave up trying to be in control. God let us know everything would be fine. Amazing.
It was a crazy time for us. One that we will never forget. Amy and I matured a lot through all of this and we believe it was something we needed before we had Isabella join us.
Also a reason we have not updated much...the urge to always be online or messing with electronics has been subdued through all of this. Our parent's are not too pleased because they do not get a lot of picture updates from Isabella. But I also want to utilize my time on family time and hobbies that do not require the use of a computer. (even though
geo-caching is using a GPS and logging everything online) I have been playing the guitar a lot more and Isabella loves it when I play and sing to her.
This is a long post but I hope that I got the point across that we are changed people. I am a changed man and even though what I went through was not pleasant it has turned me into a better man, husband, and father. I hope I never lose this humility and hope that has been re-lit in me recently.
