Thursday, September 10, 2009

Blind Sided!

Wow! Did not see that one coming! Still in complete shock! I wake up every morning thinking... what an awful dream... only to come to the slow sickening awakening that it is not a dream! Then you get up... slap yourself in the face with some cold water, and begin taking one step at a time!

Dan went to work on Friday morning. September the 2nd, whistling and singing, happy as a lark as is normal with "morning people!" only to be called into the office and be told that he was laid off! The company had no more money to pay him! His pay stopped officially at noon on Friday! All his commissions for jobs coming up that he had sold and that we were depending on... gone... nothing... nada... zilch! Heh... uh... what? Repeat that please?

And so the process begins.... As this has never happened to us before we had no idea at what step to take next, so as we begin to do what we think we should do... every step is a hassle.. you have to make phone calls to creditors... but there are no people to talk to ... If you want a change of address press one.... If you are in a tailspin..... press two....you have chosen an incorrect option... lol! and on and on... We spent one entire day on the phone! Wow! You just cannot imagine the stresses that pile upon you in just trying to get through this maze.. not to even mention the fact of unemployment, no pay... and all the fears that come along with it!

And you really wish you could get through it with no one knowing.. but you have so involved people in your life because we need each other, that there is no possible way to keep it quiet... then comes the embarrassment, the feelings of inadequacy, blow to ego.. all that junk! You know people will understand.. but there are always those few "talkers" who are just mean spirited that you have to deal with!

And then comes the encouragers! The... "If you need anything, let us know" haha... we have no paycheck coming in... pretty obvious what we're gonna need! And who has any extra of that lying around? haha!
There are those that do not know what to say so they look down, and walk by really quickly...and you just smile because you have been in that same positon... it's really awkward! Then there's the "Everything's gonna be alright!" ... how do you know? I have said that a million times to people when I didn't know what I was saying! And you stand there and smile... thinking of the 15th of the month when the biggies come due, and there will be no deposit!

And so far this is my very favorite...."What are you going to do?" haha! If I knew the answer to that... well I guess I do....

This is what we are going to do:
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path!"

That's it! That is all we can do!
It's your's Lord! You are all we know! You are really all we have! Everything else slips through our fingers one way or another, no matter how hard you work for it, and no matter how tight you try to hold onto it! But Thou oh Lord are a shield for me. My glory and the lifter of my head!

We have walked through treacherous times before and that is both good and bad... bad because you know what can happen and it scares you to death... but good because you know God has ALWAYS gotten you through it even if He did not spare you from it!

I don't know how to face tomorrow, but I know who holds tomorrow... so I know we really will be ok... eventually! But we are definitely not "OK" right now!

Just give us that!

Yeah we are gonna come out fighting... but right now we are still knocked down! So give us words of encouragement.....WE DESPERATELY need them... but only after you have truly prayed for us! It is the words given to you in prayer that are the words that truly are stepping stones to get us back up and able to fight! It is in Prayer that God uses you to comfort and uplift!

Maybe this will be my book....lol! "How to be an Encourager"... for dummies! haha! I crack myself up... oh well it is my blog!
God will see us through... He is faithful!

6 comments:

Keith and Carla said...

Both of you will be in my prayers! Love you!!!

Keith and Carla said...

P.S. If I hear a word from God @ 3 AM, I will be sure to call you! lol

Karla said...

Lori! I had no idea what was going on until reading this tonight. Please know that you all will be in my prayers.

I've always loved the scripture about not seeing the righteous forsaken (Ps. 37:25) - but I just looked it up in The Message - it reads like this: "I once was young, now I'm a graybeard—
not once have I seen an abandoned believer, or his kids out roaming the streets." Remember y'all are HIS KIDS!!!

I really like the title of the book you're going to write! LOL!!

Love you!

Keith and Carla said...

I've had y'all on my mind this evening. Thinking of and praying for you!

Lori Maxwell said...

Thank you both so much for those words! Sis. Carla - If ANYONE is up at 3:AM praying for ME... they are more than welcome to call me! I am probably up myself! ...praying for me! lol!
So comforting to know there are people out there really praying and you know it's not just one of those "I'm praying for you" awkward speaches! Love you and Thank you so much!

Sis. Karla - I love love love The MESSAGE - your post reminded me of a promise the Lord gave me YEARS ago when we were walking THROUGH a similar struggle in W.F. that my Child would walk in Peace! God will see us through again... funny how you can be reminded of His Promises at the most appropriate times! We do feel a sense of peace in this situation, and are trusting God to lead us in HIS PLAIN PATH! and....yep feelin quite the "graybeard" these days! lol! btw- one of my favorite scriptures! Love you and appreciate it more than I can find words to say... although I did seem to find quite a few!

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