In the midst of those things, I guess it felt like life had finally stabilized. Figures.
The last week and a half have been a bit rough as far our handsome offspring goes. He's had trouble nursing for several weeks (fussing and crying before and during, making motions to latch on only to take one suck and break off, crying, etc etc), which gets alternately better and worse depending on the day/week. We're trying to work through that, but it's been difficult to figure out what the problem is. As a mommy, it is VERY difficult feeling like the one thing that should always give him comfort is something that seems to frequently give him discomfort, pain and/or make him upset. Then his night-time sleeping habits have also been getting crazy the past while. So Andrew and I are both getting a bit sleep deprived again, and this makes my ability to emotionally cope with his nursing woes small...very small. We'd appreciate prayer in this area. :)
However, these aren't the things I wanted to talk about in this post. Actually, I wanted to talk about our bank account, seeing as we just passed tax season! Yes, our bank account. This week, as we received a refund from our Canadian taxes (we don't receive a 'salary' in Canada!) and a check from the Canadian government --that will come monthly--for child support/care (for our Canadian-born, US citizen baby!), I've been reminded anew at the Lord's INCREDIBLE provision in our lives. Which then in turn reminded me of our bank account and what I noticed a couple months ago.
Are you ready??!??! This is amazing. In the year 2011, Andrew and I saved $1 dollar. As in, at the end of the 12 month period, we had one more dollar in our US bank account than we did at the beginning of the year. Now, under typical situations this could be looked at in a negative light. I mean, how is $1 going to get your children through college? Or build your investment portfolio? Or add to your retirement fund? It won't.
But in our situation, it represents the Lord's care over us. Our monthly salary of a few hundred dollars comes from people who faithfully give to us, supporting our family and our ministry in Quebec. The $1 means that despite several expensive car repairs, high charges for normal car/driver's license stuff (only in Quebec!!!), super expensive gasoline all year and the countless trips to Montreal for Drs. appointments, a trip to the States to see our families, the expenses of pre-and post-natal care for our baby, moving into a new house, and a host of other expenses, the Lord knew exactly the amount we'd need for the year. And He provided, down to the dollar. On paper, our expenses should have FAR outweighed our income, and yet, we had extra leftover.
This made me so excited when I saw it! Now, a few months later, we've received another blessing from the Lord by way of the Canadian government. I mean, we're here on a one-year volunteer Visa.....it seems a little silly that they want to give us a refund on taxes and monthly child-care support. If they insist, though, there aren't any complaints here! :)
(Insert hour and a half break for supper and putting Isaiah to bed....)
Hmm, now that I've lost my train of thought, I guess that's it for now--just this Mommy being full of thanksgiving for the Lord's goodness.
Here's a fun moment from the day--I can't get enough of this cute face!
