Maybe I get to claim it...

Sometimes the depression that looms over us belongs to us and sometimes its a prompting of a loved one in need. Unfortunately, I get to claim some of yesterday's depression. We got another letter in the mail about a job that my dear husband did NOT get. That's how one is told now. When you call to inquire about the status of the position, the HR dept won't take your call because they know they've sent you a nice letter. We really felt good about this job. The hours weren't perfect but the pay and benefits were. And to add fuel to my husband's fire, he finds out today if he is losing another job: his basketball job. Yes, I said that right. He's worked at the school for seven years. The head varsity coach wants to give Lonnie's job to the coach's best friend and demote Lonnie to an assistant. "Oh, what a wonderful feeling, oh what a wonderful day..."

Does anyone know the children's story called The Giving Tree? A little boy loves this big tree in his yard. Over time the boy cuts and cuts at this tree till there is nothing left of it. That's my husband, ladies and gentleman. He is getting hammered and hammered on this year. First he loses his job, loses his unemployment (many, many posts ago we thought he would get it, but his old boss appealed it), and now may be losing his basketball coaching job. He LOVES that job. My heart is aching for my dear husband. That's how you know when you really love someone, when your aches for them. Amazingly or at least outwardly, he is handling it all with the most unbelievable of attitudes. Initially all the hurdles were painful. Falling down always hurts, but getting up shows character. My husband has character.

Sometimes I wonder why things happen the way they do. Often I feel that Heavenly Father is trying to tell us or teach us something we are unwilling or unable to learn on our own. Through all of this frustration Lonnie's become the pillar of strength for our family. He is smart enough to know that when the hammer comes down often that someone is trying to get his attention, and he knows who that "someone" is. As he continuously pondered what he should be doing, I suggested that this may be the time for him to receive his Patriarchal Blessing. I've suggested this before but he had no interest. This time he said, "You know what, if you think that's what I should do then I'm going to do it." Ok, I about fell off my chair. I've "thought" he should have done it a bunch of times and he just brushed it off.

After all of this painful humbling, I think my dear Lonnie realizes he needs to hear from his Heavenly Father. Tonight's the night of his blessing, and I'm praying that Lonnie hears something that gives him hope and direction. I want him to feel like the Lord really knows and watches over him by what is in the blessing. That's how I personally felt. Things were shared with me that no one but the Lord ever knew. If all this junk that is happening in our life now helps Lonnie to feel closer to Heavenly Father then it was all worth it. At the very end of The Giving Tree the old tree is happy. I'm counting on that for my "tree" as well.