Our homeschool group had their Spring Formal this past weekend. Rebecca took her Dad as her date, and here they are dressed up for the event. At the actual dance, Rebecca was too busy dancing to take any photos! And Terry was too busy talking to one of the other Dads. So I am going next year!
We had a great Easter weekend. The weather was gorgeous! Terry's brother's family came up on Saturday. We had a Passover Seder together on Friday night and attended church together on Sunday morning. We had lots of great food and conversation, and the kids had a great time together.
We are blessed to have an extended family that it's so fun to be with, and it's fun seeing our kids build relationships. They can't wait for "Cousin Camp" this summer. Noah even made a blurb book with the photos from last year's camp, and he gave a copy to his cousins this weekend. Here's a peek if you're interested:
Tuesday, April 7th, was a very odd day for us. Snows showers fell off and on all day. In between the snow showers, the sun would come out. It's always strange to see snow on the blooming spring flowers, and Rebecca got some neat shots.
It was also a strange day because we were having lots of interior painting done at our house, so the furniture and everything was pulled to the middle of the rooms, and the painters were coming in and out.
But by far the strangest thing was when Terry called me at about 11 am to tell me that he had been laid off from Eastman where he has worked as a mechanical engineer for 22 years. We knew the lay-offs were coming, but we honestly did not think it would affect him. He works in R&D which took a bigger hit than the rest of the company.
We thank the Lord that His word has led us to be very careful with our money. We have no debt (including our house) and a good emergency fund. Terry's severance pay will continue until January, so we have a lot of time to think about what comes next in our lives. It is exciting in many ways!
Terry is excited about having the time to pursue several business/ministry ideas that he was already looking into. He had actually thought about requesting to be laid off but didn't. He is upbeat now, but I know he will really miss his friends and his routine. Plus it's just plain hurtful to be escorted out of a place without even a chance to collect your thoughts, much less your stuff!
The kids and I will be getting used to having him around the house during the day for awhile. He's a little bit like Major Dad, so there will be no more loafing!
The verse that came to our minds immediately was "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials." Then on Wednesday, my reading in the One Year Bible "coincidentally" happened to open with this same verse. I'll quote it here in The Message" version:
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenge come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors."
So we are looking at this as a gift - a strange gift for a strange day! We will keep you posted as we unwrap the future.
