Just when you think one door has closed....

....you get a phone call saying that your husband is their #1 pick and that they are preparing an offer to present next week!

Yes, folks I am talking about West Virginia! Wow! WOW! West Virginia would be more in our budget as far as carrying two homes. Of course we would need a little family help, but luckily my dad is open to helping us out. They said today that they are so far behind that there will be lots of PAID overtime! Yes I stress paid because Phil often works 80 hour weeks as it is, can't come home until the weekends, and DOES NOT get paid 1 penny more than what his salary states! The recruiter stressed that this company has amazing benefits...including health insurance for all of us, and because they are so busy Phil will be making more this next yr then they quoted us to begin with.

Sounds like this door may be flying open. UGH! I hate decisions like this. I wish there was some huge sign saying 'take this job'. Am I crazy? I am asking for more proof then what has been laid before me already! AHhhhhh we shall see.

My only concern is that Phil does not seem to be jumping up and down about the job. I hope he is just holding back. He swears to me that he will like it...I hope that is true.

I just don't know if I can do the traveling thing anymore, and this job has NO travel! Overtime, yes. Some late nights, YES. But he gets to come home every single night. We just miss him so much when he is gone and I think its creating alot of unspoken tensions with both of us. Traveling is so hard when you are trying to raise a family. It's hard to keep your relationship strong when you travel so much. Burn out is inevitable. We have been living this way for 5 yrs, I just don't know how much more of this I can take.

My other concern about the Maine job is that if God forbid something happens to the company there is NOTHING else up there. Work is hard to come by. In West Virginia we are located smack dab in the middle of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Each only minutes from where we would live. Lots of other opportunities.

I hate this. You know how it is when you get good news about one thing. You feel all positive and drawn to that and everything else pales in comparison until you hear back from something else? I have major decisions! haha! God help me!

I am so indecisive

Still no word back on any of the job interviews. I am thinking the West Virginia one is a no go. We should have heard something by now.

The job in Maine is still an ongoing thing. Phil is going up to the company to meet the guys on Thursday. Though the job would do many things that we like, I am not so sure I want him to get it. Is that awful?
Let me explain. First of all the job is another traveling job. 75% travel for that fact. I just don't know if I can go on in this type of lifestyle. It's hard. Phil gone from Monday-Friday and home just on the weekends. Granted there is time in between where he will be in a normal 9-5 job but I don't know. At first I was like yah no problem. I have done this for the past 5 years what's the big deal. But the more I think about it the bigger a deal it becomes. I don't know what to do though. Phil really wants this position, so who am I to hold him back? I just need more time and prayer to make my decision on what to do.
Secondly, there is NO healthy insurance with this company. They only offer coverage for the employee. In our case we don't need coverage for Phil because he is a disable veteran and gets his care from there. I looked into getting Emma, Ethan and I coverage and its going to cost $1,000 a month for the 3 of us and that's not even for great coverage. That could be a major problem. How can you have little kids and not have insurance? Plus I want another baby. We thought we would pay alot to have one now...Holy smokes it will cost alot if we don't have insurance.
We would have to make a considerable amount more per year to offset medical expenses. We pay $350 a month now for coverage.

We have to sell our house. We just refinanced 8 months ago so we have no present equity. We may even loose money selling it now. But if it's God will he will provide the difference so I can't worry about that to much.

The good about this job I would be closer to old friends and family. I really want that, but that's not most important. My core family is, so that is nothing to base my decision on.

I just wish that something would come through out here (for now) that has normal hours perhaps traveling once and a while. That way we could get a little more equity in our home, Phil go get his bachelors degree and we would be a little more stable. I know it's crazy for me to say this since I was all gung ho about moving. It just seems like the more responsible thing to do. I do want to move, this is just feeling like it's not the right time. Like so much has fallen into place out here (besides the job)and this is where we should be for a little while longer. I just hope that if it's God's will for us to stay that he provide the job quickly.

If it's for us to move I hope that he gives me strength to go back into this traveling thing. a job with 75%-100% travel is really hard on both ends. Not to mention for my kids as well.

I need a big sign though. Slam the door shut on anything that is not right for us right now. Thank God I am not the one in control of life!

Interviews

On Saturday we packed our bags and headed to Pennsylvania to camp for the night. We had a great time. It was SO hot but they had an amazing outdoor pool that was so refreshing.

Sunday we packed up camp and headed to Wheeling West Virginia. We stopped at Cabela's (of course) and then headed to Chester, where Phil had his interview. We explored the area a little bit and went and relaxed in the hotel for the night. We all were tuckered out from the days events (and by all I mean me and Ethan) so we fell asleep almost immediately. Funny thing is, I was up at 5 that morning. I kept having nightmares, and my stomach was really upset. I chalked it up to being nervous about the interview....that's nice of me isn't it? I am not even the one who has to interview and I was worried about it.

Monday morning was the big day. Phil got up showered ate, we all went to breakfast, he got dressed and he was off. He was at the interview for 2 and a half hours. I thought surely this must be a good sign. He called me to tell me he was on his way back to the hotel. I asked how it went? He said "good". Good? That's all?
He came back to the hotel and told me that the guy was hard to read. They came off as unfriendly at first, but he ended up being a nice guy. Though he couldn't get a feel whether or not they were going to pick him for sure. Overall, I think we had a negative feeling about the whole thing. Can I mention that it's 3 days later and we haven't heard one thing back from them!

Anyway so on our way home a gentleman calls Phil from a company in Maine. Phil had heard about them through his dad and even though they weren't officially hiring Phil found out all the company info and decided to send them a resume. This was a call back from that. They wanted to meet Phil on Wednesday.
Phil met the man yesterday and said it seemed to go well. He said to Phil "its not often that you receive unsolicited resumes in the mail, especially for a person who is completely qualified for the job." He explained the job to him in full, and asked if we were willing to relocate. Phil said "yes we were." He wants Phil to go up and see the plant and meet the guys sometime next week. I am SO hoping that this means he wants to hire him. Again hard to read, but Phil got the feeling that they are pretty much going to hire him. Phil's excited about the work and the location. I am excited about the work and the location.
I have been praying that we get back to the east coast, and though it's been years since I started praying for this it seems like it may actually be a reality with this job.
I have that feeling that something BIG was going to happen because of the scriptures I was receiving from God. He kept telling me he was already doing something, couldn't I see it? I am not saying this is definitely the job, I don't know that for sure. But I think it's giving us more confirmation that West Virginia is not for us.
I am so thankful that God has indeed answered our prayers. I asked a while ago for Phil to be home more and lo and behold the company got slow and he was able to be home most of the spring and summer. Though our pay was cut drastically we still were able to scrape by THANK GOD and we were able to have Phil here as well.
Now we are coming into a new season and it may be time to move on. Please pray that if we get this opportunity our house sells quickly. We really just want to be able to sell it and not have to rent and deal with that.

I will keep you updated, but the future seems to be getting a little brighter. I just pray for God's will and that if this is it everything happens smoothly! Thank God!

Anybody need a haircut?

For the past two days my kids have been playing hairdresser. They take Ethan's tool bench fill it up with brushes, clips, etc and use it as their seat. They take turns doing each other's hair. It's actually quite funny. Here are some pics of Emma, brushing Ethan's hair.

Update on the previous post

Phil's interview went well today, but the offer did not. The man told him on the spot that they would hire him (never a doubt in my mind) but the pay was WAY to low. I am not trying to be stingy here at all, but we have got to be able to pay our bills. $11 an hour with only one working household member is just NOT going to work.

The second interview was supposed to be preceded by a phone interview. They wanted to talk to him before they had him go all the way out there. Then they saw his resume. They said that making chief in 7 yrs time (while he was in the Navy) is quite incredible. They have one other guy working for them that accomplished this and he is a hard worker and they are very pleased with him. They wanted to skip the phone interview and jump right to the in person one! YIPPEE! So on Sunday we will pack up and drive to West Virginia. A little mini vacation for us. The company is paying for our overnight stay which is great! I know Phil will charm the pants off of them. He is a smart guy, and definitely deserves and has worked hard to make more then $11 an hour.

My only concern here is our house. As you know it was on the market last year and it never sold. We didn't even get an offer. We can't afford to have two houses so I am not quite sure what we will do. So if you pray for us, please pray that if he gets the job that our house will sell quickly. Obviously we could rent it out as well, but it would be fantastic if we could just sell it. I hate the thought of dealing with renters etc. I have seen so many people who had so many troubles with renters and I would prefer to avoid that added stress. But if that is what God has in store for us so be it.

Please pray for us and help us to stay in God's will. This job almost seems to perfect but it came directly following the scripture "For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

If this is part of His will for us then the house issue here will resolve itself. But I know extra prayers would be greatly appreciated! I will keep you posted.

New job on the horizon and big changes

Today Phil is off interviewing. Praise God! Next week, he has an interview, Praise God! Finally we feel like the effort is paying off. Now we have a whole new set of problems.

This first job is here in NY, but I have the sneaking suspicion that it's not going to pay much at all. This may rule this one out completely.

Positive about taking NY job-
1. We stay here and don't have to move. I am not in love with my house here, but I absolutely hate moving.
2. Phil is signed up for college here and we are all set to go with the new program.
3. Emma has made some friends here.
4. I have made some friends here.
5. MOPS, I love the MOPS group I go to

NEGATIVES-
1. The job won't pay well. Probably not even enough to get by.
2. Taxes are high here and keep getting higher.
3. Government is very liberal here. We are opposed to everything NY believes in.


Second job pays well, but is not here in NY. It's actually in West Virginia. There are a lot of good things about this job. It pays really well by upstate NY or West Virginia standards. It has great hours 7-3 and on call every other week. The problem with this one is that it's in West Virginia. Don't get me wrong I have no problem at all moving. I have met a few friends here but overall there are no major attachments. We have no family here to tie us to the state and our taxed are incredibly high.
My only reservation is that we would need to sell our house. Let's face it, we have tried that once before and it didn't go so well. In order to get someone to purchase the house and for us to break even we need to sell it for $10,000 more then we owe on it. I don't know how we would swing that. That would truly be the biggest miracle if that happened.
Secondly, they won't pay to move us. UGH! Another expense. But anything is possible with God. I understand that completely. It just seems so impossible. We are so tight right now.

Another positive is that we would get out of NY. Phil is tired of the state and can't wait to leave.

Taxes are also very low in West Virginia. our property tax alone would go down $2,000 on the same amount of land we have now. Plus sales tax is 3% lower. WE would save $165 a month on property tax alone.

However, I don't like change. I am so grateful for options but I feel like I need to be slapped upside the head. I really need a clear sign from God on what he wants us to do, even if the job in NY is not the one. Should we be patient and see what else comes along, or do we jump at the opportunity we have in WV and go for it.

When I started typing this I was genuinely torn about what to do. By the end of writing this I think I know what I want to do. I am feeling more drawn to the WV one. Please just pray for us so that we know that we know what the right decision is going to be. And if it's to leave, pray that we get a buyer for our house. We don't want to make tons of money, we just hope to break even.

Today's verse

The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.

~ Lamentations 3:25, NLT

He has given us provision for today. Thank God. One day at a time.

BTW I am only $800 short now. We are getting there! Praise God! I am excited to see where the rest will come from.


****UPDATE***** I have had some things for sale for almost 3 weeks now. I have continued to pray that God give us enough for today. Can I just say that you all are going to think I am making this up. But this evening 2 more things have sold and that means an extra $300 for us. God is Good! I am so happy and amazed I just want to cry! Oddly enough it sold as I was reading Luke 12:22-34
which says: "Do Not Worry
22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I wasn't even seeking out this scripture I was researching because the Jehovah's Witnesses were down here and I was reading their material and wanted to be able to have a good answer for them when they came back. Obviously I am trying to save them, they are trying to convert me!

All I have to say is that GOD IS AMAZING!!!!!!!! Thank you Lord!
Oh yah and I know that I know He will provide the $500 more that we need! Thank you LORD!!!!!!