I hope your year has been wonderful thus far, friends! We have been both busy and blessed. And when I say busy, I mean busy. My family was featured in the “Can God Provide?” section of the Above Rubies magazine over the summer, and I’m just getting around to sharing the short article!
Stepping out in Faith
I am continually amazed by God’s provision and timing! After welcoming our eighth child into our family, we realized we needed to improve our money management skills. While working to get out of consumer debt, my husband discovered a job opening in another state that sounded perfect for him.
At first, I was fearful of change. By the time I was comfortable with the idea of moving, the position was no longer available. Silly me. I then took matters into my own hands and became involved with an MLM company. No matter how hard I tried, my new “job” was not successful. All I did in the process was spend my husband’s hard-earned money!
I relaxed and let go of the reins. Lo and behold, a similar position for my husband became available at the exact same company a couple of months later. This time around my husband wasn’t so sure, since he remembered my trepidation before. He waited until the final hour of the final day to submit his application after much reassurance on my end.
He was hired quickly, and a month later we moved to South Carolina! Our finances look better now than they ever have before. The Lord has been so kind and gracious to provide for us when we stepped out in faith. His ways are perfect. It is a joy to know the freedom available to me when I rest in my true role as a Biblical wife instead of trying to take matters into my own hands.
It was such a blessing to share my short testimony with the Above Rubies audience! Oh, what a time that was! The first job that my husband almost applied for was a department supervisor job, and the job he ended up getting with the same company was a lead designer job which supervises a group of six men. God orchestrated all of the details.
I also would like to mention that this story was written from my perspective. My husband was just as trepidatious as I was when you hear him tell the story, and he in no way blames me. He would say that he was the unsure one, ha!
My time selling Young Living Oils was a mess, and I spent SO much money on unnecessary products. I DO love essential oils however, and I’m so glad that I went ahead and finished an Aromatherapy Certification course during that time.
I would love to say that everything has been amazing and wonderful since we’ve moved…but these past few months have been hard. We have not questioned our decision to move in the least, but we have come to the realization that our life here looks radically different than it did in Georgia. I have found myself wishing that things were different in regards to our local area.
But ladies, God has not called us to be comfortable. He has used this year, in His great mercy, to call me to really surrender to Him. I want to be fully surrendered…but surrendering our flesh is hard. I’ve finally realized, not just in my head but in my heart as well, that His ways are better. I can truly say now that I would rather be here than there, finances aside. I can truly say that our extremely rural local is much better than our semi-rural past existence. We can actually really see the stars at night now! I’m not terrified when reading stories about the upcoming 5G Network which will broadcast radiation smog throughout populated areas, ha! And, do you know what? Even if we hated everything about the move, His ways would still be better.
I would like to encourage you to wait on the Lord’s perfect timing. He is still writing our story, and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead of us. His mercy and love is great for you, sweet mama.
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
1 Peter 1:3
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Wonderful post, Nicole!
We moved to a new house about 3 1/2 years ago, and I’m still trying to accept the change. Change is hard, especially when it means downsizing (that’s what it meant for us). I’ve really struggled to be thankful, sometimes, with our circumstances. Your words, “God has not called us to be comfortable,” are exactly what I have been learning! I think that even though God could have provided us with a bigger place, perhaps He didn’t because He wanted me to learn to be content, creative, and cheerful with what I have?
I saw your article this summer in Above Rubies, and was so excited for you! I agree with you that we need to trust God to provide for us through our husbands instead of trying to take matters into our own hands. I love Young Living and use their products every day, but business growth has been slower than I expected it to be (after 26 home classes, some of them one-on-one), and that’s okay. I eventually realized that whatever growth happens should be organic instead of forced, since I don’t want to sacrifice time with my family. I also want to send my husband the message that I depend upon him and look up to him; I want to build him up as a man. So as much as I would love to start making more money through this business, I have settled on viewing it more as a long-term “hobby,” instead (and only spend money on products we actually use.)
“God is still writing our story”–love it!
~Jessica
Thank you so much for sharing, Jessica! Change can be so hard. We downsized as well. My husband is currently converting our garage into living space, which will be a huge blessing. Over half of our books are currently sitting in our storage building, and I can’t wait to pull them out!
It’s wonderful that you enjoy selling Young Living! Unfortunately, the products are no longer in our budget and we switched to less expensive oils that I believe work just as well, and have been thoroughly tested by Dr. Pappas. I thought Essential Rewards would be a good idea, but it put too much of a strain on our finances. Also, I was definitely relying too much on my own efforts, and not on the Lord, when I was trying to sell them. I think this was my downfall. I do enjoy making a little bit of extra money through Etsy.
Again, thank you so much for the encouragement!
A great and honest story of God’s mercy and leading – loved it!
Thank you so much!
Congratulations on the feature at Above Rubies magazine! I didn’t realize it was still around I used to read it over 30 years ago!
You’re most welcome to drop by for a cup of inspiration,
Blessings,
Jennifer
Thank you so much, Jennifer. It was a blessing to share my testimony. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Your testimony is so inspiring, Mrs. Crone! Thanks for sharing! 😀
Lilian (a friend of Maddy’s)
Thank you so much, Lilian! You are too sweet. I really appreciate you stopping by my blog! 🙂
Congrats Nicole! Glad the move worked out for the best.
Thank you, Sherry!