Posted in Christianity

I think I tend to complain a lot on here, and there have been three big blessings we have received lately (besides Brogan!) that I wanted to share.

First, it had become clear to us that my husband needed to take a second job.  We realized that there was no way I could work right now, even part-time, and so he began looking for a job.  Then an opportunity came up for him to work eight hours of overtime each week at his current job.  The downside is that it is four hours on Saturday afternoon and four hours on Sunday afternoon, so he never has a full day off.  The upside is that he is making at least twice what he would make at any other part-time job for half the hours, and that is a very big upside!  It also means that he is home every evening, which is a relief to me.  Thank You, Lord, for this opportunity, and help us to be wise with our money!

Second, our beautiful baby Brogan was born with a strange sore on the side of his head.  My husband noticed it just minutes after his birth.  It scabbed over and healed, but left a little crater-like indentation on the side of his head.  At this point, we decided to have our pediatrician take a look at it.  She said she had never seen anything like it and referred us to a pediatric dermatologist.  The dermatologist said it is something called "aplasia cutis congenita."  He explained that the skin closes up like a zipper on the side of the head, and sometimes the zipper doesn't close all the way.  Because Brogan has what is called a "hair collar" around the sore with no hair growing in it, he wanted him to go for an ultrasound to make sure that everything underneath the skin was closed properly.  If you read my post "A Week in the Life of a Postpartum Homeschooling Mother of Seven," you may have noticed that I referred to taking Brogan for an ultrasound, and this was why he needed one.  The ultrasound showed that everything was completely normal and there is no followup needed!  The dermatologist said that in the future, Brogan might want to have surgery to remove it though.  Praise God that Brogan is healthy and happy!

And last of the three, I posted before that my daughter Gabrielle's test results showed that she had moderate to severe dyslexia and needed at least twice a week tutoring.  We had no idea how we were going to pay for it.  I posted on my homeschool group's email loop asking if anyone could recommend a tutor, and someone told me that a church nearby has a ministry that provides exactly the kind of tutoring Gabrielle needs for low-income families for free!  They train the tutors, the tutors volunteer to help one child, and then after that they can charge for their services.  I put Gabrielle on the waiting list and it wasn't long before I was contacted by a fellow homeschool mom who had just completed her training.  Gabrielle really enjoys her tutoring sessions, and while figuring out exactly when to have them has been challenging, it is such a blessing not to have to come up with another $400 a month for them!

Sometimes it really helps to step back and see that He really does have us in the palm of His hand!