Prayers For My Small Family

We have been through so much in the past year, I don’t know where to start. This post is to request prayer for my new small family and for the transition period we are in right now. I’ll start at the beginning...

My husband and I married last year. We discovered we were pregnant when I was 5 months along, which was a lot to take in. I had received a diagnosis earlier in the year that included being told I had “little to no chance to conceive”. I was so happy. Yet it was very stressful. Emotionally and financially. I birthed our beautiful baby girl on 12/23. She is the joy of my life. God blessed me with an amazing boss and job that I’d gained right prior to finding out about our pregnancy. I was blessed with a small baby shower that provided critical baby items. In the midst of all this joy and yet financial stress, we were forced to replace our car engine. There was so many other items I wished we could have spent that money on. But it was repaired in time for my birth and to bring our child home. It died again on Valentine’s Day and we have not been able to get a replacement. We would walk down the street to the store with our newborn to buy diapers and food. We were nearing the end of our lease and hadn’t found another place to live (too expensive, we faced eviction every month once I went on maternity leave). My father wanted to gift me a vacation during the tail end of my leave so that I could enjoy my time off and be stress free with my baby and my husband could figure out the next residence for us. He bought me an airline ticket to visit him, and said he’d figure out a way for me to also visit other family I’d been desiring to see. He teased me on the mid-week date I’d selected for the flight, but now we both know why... when I landed and called to find out where he was, I heard his speech turn incoherent. He had a stroke at the airport. I was told I saved his life by getting him immediate help. Needless to say, my trip turned far from a “vacation”, I was very stressed and worried about my father. By the grace of God, he is a walking, talking miracle. He REGAINED control of the left side of his body and rapidly recuperated. Unfortunately he had to spend both his savings and his IRA to float by until he gained release to work (which he starts this Monday, praise God). Meanwhile, my husband and I discussed things and I confided that I simply didn’t feel comfortable with “going back home”, as we hadn’t found a legit next place to live (I was emotional about my father and doctors had initially told me it was very possible he may not be cleared to live alone). My husband had landed a second part time job (which we planned on becoming his full time job) at UPS, which he’d been trying to get into for years. 2 months went by, being apart from my husband and doing my best to care for my infant and also help my father out (he was initially told not to drive until 3 weeks ago). It has been emotionally, physically and mentally very stressful and draining for me. I prayed everyday to God asking for enough strength to get through the day, and sometimes simply to get through the next hour. I feel so grateful that I arrived when I did, so my father could be with us today. The Lord’s timing is simply perfect. I told my husband I didn’t feel right about going “back home”. I asked if he would be willing to come down to where my father lives and if we could start over here. HE AGREED. There is so much to be stressed about but I am trying my best to just be grateful. Grateful that my father is still with us, grateful that we were in a position to relocate, grateful that my husband was willing to give up a good job AND leave his home state for ME and my family. My husband quit both jobs, got our belongings and drove through 3 states to be reunited with me and our daughter. It was 2 long, stressful months without him. Our daughter started babbling, cut her first tooth, and became much more active, trying to crawl. We missed my first Mother’ Day (which I spent in the hospital), our 11 year anniversary of dating, and his first Father’s Day. He made it to us this past Wednesday. We found a storage facility for our belongings (we dumped a lot for the trip - all furniture except our dining table, which means we have no bedroom furniture including a bed and no living room furniture), and we brought the bare necessities to my father’s 1-bedroom apt. Although we are very crammed, we are together. My baby is reunited with her daddy. However, we do not have employment here and are living off our tax refund, which was not much. My father has a roommate moving in Sept, which was previously planned prior to his medical emergency and us moving in temporarily. I am reaching out for prayer in regards to my husband being able to find a good job with good benefits quickly so that we can finance and find a good place to live and move into with our baby girl who is now 6 months old. Please keep our little family in your prayers. I believe God closed doors for us where we were living and will open doors where we have relocated. I know His plan is much better than our plans. I have trust and confidence that He will provide for us, as he always has. He has already pointed me to a church which I feel is our new church home here. Please pray for strength for me and my husband. Please pray for my father to continue to have good health, as he is undergoing a lot of life changes and I know it is difficult for him.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, whoever you are. I sincerely appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.