Blessings and new beginnings...

Wesley and I have been feeling so blessed lately and I just wanted to share with you. Last October when I was pregnant I had to work less than 40 hours a week because I was just to exhausted to work the hours I had been working. I took a slight pay cut and began to only work 32 hours a week which was perfect for me. Taking a pay cut meant that we had to step back and look at our budget to make sure we were being smart with our finances. We decided that in the long run our mortgage payment was just to high for us to afford. We knew we had a few options so we looked into some.

The first option was to apply for the government program called "Making Home Affordable". This program was designed to lower your interest rate on your loan so that your monthly payment is lower therefore allowing you to continue living in your home and not risk having to short sell or foreclose. We were pretty excited when we hear about this program so we applied right away. We were sure that we would qualify because I had taken a pay cut and Wesley is a full time medical student with no income. Right away they put us on a 3 month trial period to give them time to see if we would continue making our payment and to research a little more. After 3 months they came back and said we are still in the process of seeing if you are approved so you are still in a trial period. The trial period was great because they lowered our payment right away and we were saving close to $500 a month. Well after months of this they finally came back and said we were not approved for the government program, but they said through their bank they started their own program which was the exact same, and we were approved for that. We were so excited and we couldn't wait to see what that meant for us. After a lot of paperwork they came back and said that for the next 6 years our interest rate will be lowered from 6.75% to 2%...after 6 years it goes up half a point, and after 8 years I believe it levels out at 4% for the remaining life of the loan. Praise the Lord!! We can now continue living in our home that we over paid for in 2007 (like everyone else did) yet we have a low monthly payment which in the long run makes our home seem like we paid way less for it. This came at the perfect timing. After almost a year of not knowing which way it would go, we finally know! And the biggest blessing is that we paid our mortgage in August and this just went through this month...so since they consider the loan to be redone, our next payment is not due until October. That means we have nothing due for September! This is such a blessing because just a week ago we were looking over our finances and totally stressing out. We get living expense loans from Wesley's school in September, and we haven't had one since March, so we were stretching ourselves very thin. What a blessing!

Another blessing is sort of a silly one, but a blessing none the less. We have Direct TV and we recently lowered our package from one with a lot of channels, to one that was half the price and half the amount of channels. Not really a big deal, except I didn't get Food Network :( Depressing, I know!! Last week we got a flier in the mail from Dish Network for a package that was a lot like the first one we had, tons of channels and a DVR for $15 less a month than the one we have right now with Direct. I was sold! I called Dish to make sure it was true and sure enough it was. So then I called Direct TV and told them about this new package at Dish and that I wanted to cancel our service so I could switch. We all know they don't want you to do that. So after negotiating a little bit, the man told me that he would bump up our package to the next level up (the one with Food Network) and he would keep our payment the same...but to offset the price difference we would be getting with Dish, he said he would pay our bill for the next 4 months. Deal! I was so excited that I negotiated so well and was able to get a savings and get the channels I wanted. Another blessing and another way that we can save a little bit of money over the next few months.

The last blessing that we had this past week was pretty unexpected. We still have our medical insurance through my Dad's company where I used to work. I do projects here and there for my Dad to pay for the insurance so we don't have to buy our own. Last week one of my Dad's employees noticed on his paycheck that he has been paying the full premium for his insurance, when really as an employee we were only supposed to be paying 50%. Sure enough after looking over everyone's pay, it showed that all the employees have been paying in full since April for our insurance. This means that the company is going to reimburse all of us from the past 5 months for the difference. Such an unexpected way to add some money to our savings!

All of this to me is just proof that the Lord knows our needs and he takes care of us when we least expect it. Before Camden was born I had planned on taking a few months off work and then going back over the summer. I went on bed rest a month before my due date and that was not in our financial plan. So we had an extra month of no pay that we didn't plan on, but we thought we would be ok since we had a pretty good savings and we got another draw from our school loan in March. Well I am sure many of you Mom's know what I am going to say...as soon as I held Camden for the first time I knew I never wanted to be away from him. Not for work. Not ever! Wes and I prayed about it and we did our best to redesign our budget. We have cut out everything that we found unnecessary and just kept the important stuff. We decided I could be a stay at home mom...my dream!!

Wesley had the summer off from school, so to help out he decided to work all summer which allowed me a better opportunity to stay home. Well next week is his last week, and then back to school he goes for 3 more years (no more summer breaks). We were paying some bills the other day and we finally realized (or finally opened our eyes to the fact) that our savings account is not going to last forever, the loans from his school don't cover all of our bills for the year, and we have no other options available for us to make any money. So without any hesitancy I agreed that I would go back to work.

Starting next week I am going back to work. I have huge mixed emotions about it. I will not be full time, and right now I am planning on working only 3 days a week. I thankfully have the best job and boss in the world....my Dad. He loves me and he loves his first grandbaby, so what could be better? He knows that we want what is best for our family, and he wants the best for us to...so he is flexible. I am excited and sad all at the same time. I am excited to make money and build our savings back up, yet I am sad that I will be away from Camden 3 days a week. I am so thankful to have the BEST mom in the world as well. She would do anything for us and she is very excited to be the one we want to stay with Camden while I work. I know he is in good hands and I never have to worry when she is watching him. She also understands how much I will miss him, so she has already agreed to bring him in to work if I need to see him...another perk of working for family.

So as we embark on this new beginning we are excited to see where the Lord leads us. I cried myself to sleep last night thinking of how different my life is going to be starting next week. I am still so thankful that I only have to work part time and I will still have a few days off a week, but I am sad at the same time...just a mix of emotions that I know I will have on and off as I start back in to work.

If you think of it, please pray for me. I know that starting Monday I will need those prayers and I know that I will feel the love of Christ throughout the day. He is my comfort and I know if I need to cry that he hears those cries and he will wrap his loving arms around me.  Thanks for all the support and prayers!