For Richer, For Poorer

We're off to a pretty rough start for 2011.

That may not be quite accurate.

We took some pretty severe hits in 2010, financially speaking, and in December it all . . . . what?

It didn't all come crashing in - I saw it coming for quite some distance.
It didn't all blow up in my face - There was no one significant event, not really.
It didn't come to a screeching halt - I know where we're going from here.
It simply scared the apathy out of us and tossed the status quo out the window.

And now, because my husband prayed with a most incredible faith in God, we know what the Lord would have us do.  For my husband, it is not the answer he was looking for.

He kinda hopes in the back of his mind that it'll work out for us like it did for Isaac.  You know.  God will pat us on our heads and recognize our good effort, calling a halt to the "carry through" and we can return to life "as usual".

I chuckle because I do not expect that will happen.

We will abandon my husband's life-long home.  I say "good riddance" but he is conflicted.

This state, California, is all that he has ever known since birth - aside from a short stint in Germany while he was in the Army.  Since having the stroke it has become even more imperative that things in his world not change.

Why do I say imperative?  Because his stroke-induced short term memory difficulties are avoided when nothing changes.  So, things in his house didn't move around.  For years on end.  Everything had a place and everything stayed in its place.

Then he got lonely and asked God for a wife.
God sent me.
We got married and I moved his world
Into our apartment.

Oh my.  It was traumatic.
But he prayed and God reassured him.
So he held on.
He adjusted.

Then he asked God for a dog.
Dogs couldn't live in our apartment.
So we rented a house and I moved his world.
Again.

Oh my.  It was traumatic.
But he prayed and God reassured him.
So he held on.
He adjusted.

And we were well on our way to happily ever after.

But real life is not a fairy tale.
I had a stroke.
I recovered.
I went back to work.
Our dog had a stroke (really).
Just thought I 'd toss that in.

We held on and got back to our happily ever after.

But real life is not a fairy tale.
I got laid off.
I started a home business.
It's going slow.
His hours were cut.
Three per week
That's all he works.

Did I mention we live in California?  It is EXPENSIVE to live in California.
I gave up driving 10 years ago when I arrived here to accommodate the increased cost of living.
I saved on Car payments.  Repair Bills. Smog Checks. Insurance. Gasoline.  All that.
We could do without.  And we were just making ends meet.

What I'm trying to say is that we had very little left to "tighten our belts" around when the economy took a nose dive.  So, in 2010 I was forced to get very creative and I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments.  But we are still spiraling downward.

Just about the time that I was getting frightened and Bruce was getting frightened, a suggestion was made about moving to another state where the cost of living is much cheaper.

So my husband asked God, "What should we do?"

Let me pause here.  If it were me, I would struggle not to tell God what I wanted Him to do.

But not my husband.

He quietly hoped for something that would let him stay here, where things don't change much.
Most importantly, my husband told God he would do whatever he was asked to do.

And God did not give him what he hoped for.

God told him that we have to move - almost 2,000 miles away.

It was not the answer my husband wanted but it was an answer he wouldn't deny.

There are no words to describe how it feels to be married to someone so refreshingly obedient to God.  My husband's obedience makes me happy.  His obedience lets me feel protected, provided for, and loved.

It has had me thinking. If his obedience to God makes me happy, then wouldn't my obedience to God probably make him happy?.

Is it possible that God designed the rules for marriage so as to produce happiness in the marriage?

Is it really that simple?

One of my creative efforts to raise the money for the move is an entry in a photo contest where votes are requested daily.  To keep my public interested in returning day after day after day - I am writing a fairy tale to entertain and entice.  Well, see for yourself: 


(Note: The Brickfish Contest Ended without a winner when Brickfish went out of business.)