Wow. God is really amazing. I can't wait to share these stories!

Rachel and Ethan: Rachel got pregnant when Ethan was still unemployed. Rachel was working a regular 9-5 job, but obviously she'd have to stop working for several months to take care of her newborn. Ethan had been looking for employment for a couple of years. In December, two months before Rachel's due date, Ethan got hired at one particular job and was able to bring in some extra income, but the cost involved incredibly long days (13 hours sometimes), and Ethan did not like his job. But they were able to buy all the things they needed for the baby--crib, car seat, changing table, stroller, everything. Then in February, Rachel gave birth to Isabella. She took 3 months off of work and was able to care for Isabella while Ethan worked. As the return date to her job approached, they were worried about what they were going to do about daycare. Daycare is incredibly expensive and Rachel didn't feel very comfortable leaving her child with strangers. Right before she returned to work, Ethan lost his job. It was a hit to their income, but now Ethan is able to stay home with their baby.

Amy and Jon: Amy and Jon both had jobs. Amy's teaching job paid more, but Jon's job paid the mortgage on their house. Jon also has clinical depression, which he takes medication for. Their preference would've been for Jon to get to a place where he didn't have depression anymore before they had a baby, but time was running out, and then it began to run out even more. Amy's mom was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer that her mom's sister had died from several years earlier. It seemed a pretty clear from God that it was time to start her family--for her mom's sake, and also because of the increased likelihood that Amy may be diagnosed with the same cancer. The timing was really great--Amy was able to take the last three months of her teaching job off, and that led them straight into the summer, so she has had 6 months with her little baby girl, Brynn. Toward the end of the summer, Jon's job was becoming increasingly difficult for him and he began searching for another job within his same company. He just got hired for one of the jobs he applied for. It's a regular 8-5 job (his other one was 3 AM - 12 PM) and he gets a substantial raise from it!

Tori and Carlos: I don't know whether their pregnancy was planned or not. But in their situation, Carlos could not find work and Tori only had a temporary contract job. They got pregnant in January, and Tori's secretary job was to last until the end of the school year--June. Toward the end of her contract, things were completely up in the air. The school wanted her back again, but it was possible that other people moving around in the school district could get it instead because of seniority and other factors. Tori applied for a few other positions in the school district and interviewed well, but was not hired. Her benefits were scheduled to end a couple weeks after her job ended--right before her due date. So they'd have to have a baby with no insurance. Well, when her benefits ran out and her due date drew near, she found out that she would be returning to the same job in the fall! She went to the school to fill out all the necessary paperwork, including the information they needed to give her health insurance--and then she went to the hospital to be induced because of pre-eclampsia. But because she had filled out the paperwork, they were able to have the baby with insurance!

God does provide. I feel as though my friends were all up against Red Seas of their own, and then the Lord parted the waters for them. Stephen and I haven't been set up against any Red Seas of late, but knowing that God has parted waters for my friends makes me hopeful that He'll do the same once our time comes around.

Praise God for his providence. :)

-Stephanie

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