As some of you know, Reuben is returning to Alaska in about 10 days, March 2nd. He is going to be looking for work on someone else’s boat either fishing for cod or halibut. He is returning so early this year due to financial reasons. Essentially, God has provided immensely in the past 4 months since Reuben’s been home. Allowing my Cutco business to exceed expectations in Nov and Dec as well as Reuben getting a job selling Christmas trees in the month of Dec. We are so grateful for these blessings and it looks like we will have enough money to pay all our bills and live until the beginning of April. So we are earnestly praying he will be able to find a job and work enough to send me money within a month. It feels like it’s going to be one of those things that happens ‘by the skin of our teeth’ but we are trusting that God has us in His hands and that it will all work out how it should. Watching money slowly dwindle out of our account is a bit nerve wracking but it’s not as scary as thinking about how I’m going to manage this new life with an extra child to bathe and feed without Reuben’s help. He has been so wonderful these last four months (especially the last 2) cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids, letting me sleep in, bringing me tea, etc, etc, that the knowledge that I’m about to be expected to do it all myself feels like I’m about to be plunged into an ice bath. Still I have faith that God will either give me the strength and capacity to be able to handle it all or He is calling me to a new level of ‘letting go of control.’ Probably both but I suspect the latter.
We plan to join Reuben as a family in the beginning of June this year for a few reasons. Firstly, for the sake of our children not going so long without seeing their daddy. It’s hard to describe how disconnected the young ones become towarda him and the way the unmet longing in Raeya’s heart for her daddy effects her. Secondly, our marriage is strong and we weather separation fairly well but we can see the danger of how prolonged, frequent distance can erode what we have worked so hard to build together. It’s foolish to assume we won’t fall prey to apathy or simply ‘coasting’ in our marriage instead of actively fighting for and remaining soft hearted toward each other. Lastly, Reuben doesn’t want to have a separate life that he will inevitably build over the years without his family. If we don’t do this venture as a family from the beginning it will be too easy to use convienence as an excuse to stay apart. Neither of us want this in the long run, but I still have to remind myself these reasons because we still probably won’t see much of Reuben while we are up there. He is likely to come to port only once a week and in the midst of the height of fishing season there will be so much to do to prepare for the next opener that we will likely only get our family lovin ‘on the run.’ Becaise I’m such a practical thinker it’s hard to feel like the sacrifice, of my community and our home life routine, is worth it. But it is and even when it doesn’t feel like it is…it still is because God uses every situation in our loves to grow us and draw us closer to Him.
Praise Him:
– for His financial provision
– for our truly heart soothing family time
– for the birth of our new little one, Zion Earth
– for the peace we both feel about Reuben’s ability to get a job in the next month
Pray for:
– a good job with quality people for Reuben
– my work on the home front without a partners support
– our travels in June and our family’s time in AK
– the fishing season to go well, our ability to live and start to pay off the debt we incurred
Thanks to everyone who prays for and supports us!
D
