God has a sense of humor...

Really. We should be careful what we pray for.

I know people might say that a lot. Or maybe occasionally when they completely and utterly disagree with what you are asking for. Like you say you need more patience and your grandmother reminds you that Job prayed for patience so be careful what you pray for. Or you say you want just one more kid and your aunt reminds you that twins run in your family so be careful what you pray for.

But maybe that's just southerners.

While I was in Alabama having all kinds of fun, Chris was at home in Texas doing random chores. Like cleaning out the garage and working on the finances. I wasn't all that concerned about the garage chore. He's a great organizer and although I knew he likely wouldn't throw out as much as I would, it would be neat and tidy. I'm a fan of getting rid of anything we haven't used in six months.

Don't like clutter.

The finances were another story. March was the first month without my paycheck and the first month with all three of us on his insurance. And holy schmolly does Texas charge out the nose for insurance. Seriously. You couldn't even guess how much it is a month. Anyway, since I knew he would be working on things, I started praying...all the time...that the Lord would calm his spirit. Give him peace to know that God would provide. And then went ahead and prayed that God would make the money appear.

I'm kinda bold like that.

But I guess I didn't really believe that would happen because it didn't. There was no peace. No calm. And no magic check in the mail. Instead there was a panicked husband thinking about how he could get a second job.

Right. Cause working 60 hours a week is child's play.

Honestly, I don't have much patience for panic. And as I've learned in Sunday School recently, that's because I've a "Beaver". We tend to be analytical and not so much given to extremes. Our group of beavers got together and decided the perfect way to describe us is this: It doesn't really matter if the glass is half full or half empty because it's just a glass with some liquid in it.

Chris has always called that pessimistic. I've always said it's just realistic. Totally not the same thing.

So needless to say, my response to Chris' panic was to calmly say we'll have to discuss it when I get home. There's nothing I can do about it from half-way across the county. Which means our conversation Sunday night ended with neither of us very happy. He wanting me to empathize with his need to provide for our family and me wanting him to take some deep breaths and chill the heck out.

God's got this one. We've talked.

The next morning, the phone rang.

Ya'll see this coming don't you?

Yep. My boss.

The back story is this: Before I left my job, my boss offered me a part-time position. My company doesn't have part-time positions. At. All. The fact that she managed to get me one was astounding. I was more than a little stunned and a whole heck of a lot confused. So I did what I always do which is send an email out to my prayer warriors and then got down to praying myself. A couple of warriors sent me back the story of Abraham and Isaac thinking that maybe God had told me to move so He could provide me this more balanced life. And I sooooooooo wanted to believe that. But at the end of the weekend when Chris asked, so what are you gonna do, I felt zippo peace about taking it. I wasn't taking an Ishmael if there was an Isaac He had planned for me. So to speak.

This time felt different. It was still part-time but she was offering to let me work from home whenever I could. I would be working on a rather big project. Well, a party really. And I do love a party. She said that our CEO wants this to be the best dam* party this city has ever seen and thus she called me.

Now, really, I'm not this good. Never done anything this big and certainly never anything that involves this many players. But I do know my way around the inside of our company. That's what she needs.

I called Chris after the conversation. Strangely I didn't hear the sense of relief I was expecting but once I got home he said he'd hung up the phone with me and then felt like God was laughing at him saying See, dummy, I got this.

Well, today I went up to work. And jumped right back in with both feet. Just sitting in that meeting, brain-storming ideas, identifying goals and doing it all in one of my favorite suits was stinkin' awesome. I felt so energized.

But all the way home, I kept thinking how funny God must find me.

He knew I needed a break. He knew I needed time to focus on our bible study. He knew I needed to get my heart re-focused on serving Him instead of being so busy I was doing nothing well but doing everything there was. He knew I needed to really serve my husband and daughter. Not just work them into a schedule but actually put myself last and get down to making their lives better.

And He knew none of that would happen with me still working full-time.

Then when I was ready to look at a negative balance on the spreadsheet and do nothing but trust God would provide, He sent me just about the only thing I can imagine would bring me back to work.

Party planning.

I am horribly flattered and more than a little intimidated. I came away from the meeting today with work to do already and I have no idea how I'm going to get it done and still get ready for this weekend. So I'll pray that God will provide the time. And then be ready for however He makes that happen. And I know it was make me laugh at His solution.