Jeremiah 29

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart ~ Jeremiah 29: 11-13

This verse was brought up and discussed in our Sunday morning class this week and it keeps following me this week every time I wonder where we (Seth & I) are going to be in the next year, if we will have jobs, if we will still be in TN. Many of you know that Seth is still searching for a job and I am still hoping to complete my student teaching in the Spring. If he cannot find something by December, I will not be able to student teach and therefore I may have to forfeit the credit hours I have accumulated so far. I can only take one semester off in this program and this (Fall) is going to have to be that semester. The classes I need are only offered on Thursday nights from 4:30-9:30 and I work second shift (3-11). My job doesn't make exceptions or allow us time off for things like this. In case you are wondering, I have to keep working because I carry our benefits (which are EXCELLENT) and that is one thing that I would rather not be without (I mean, really...have you all met my husband? :)) Anyway, his job search has been slow and not successful thus far. He sends out resume after resume and puts in application after application. No one seems to be hiring and I know it has to be very frustrating. It is also frustrating for me because I need to be able to see into January and know whether or not I can be unemployed.

Anyway, after all that, I know that the Lord has plans for us and they are probably better than anything we can even imagine. Seth and I talked last night about not worrying about wordly things and focusing on the task God has given us. While I don't think God wants us to be irresponsible and just up and quit everything to be available for His purpose, I do think He desires for us to be open and willing for what He has planned, even if it isn't what we want. The past few weeks in our Sunday morning class, we have been discussing listening to God (obviously I am still a work in progress) and knowing that He sometimes doesn't always answer right away and sometimes He even tells us NO. We need to learn to ask for and follow His will and not always wait for what we want to happen.

Please keep us in your prayers as we wait for what He wants us to do next. Maybe Seth will find something that has nothing to do with what he went to school for; but if it is something that will glorify Him, please pray that the opportunity is clear and we are not too blind/selfish/otherwise occupied to recognize it.