By A MOPS Mom
I remember the phone call like it happened yesterday. I was sitting on my couch in my beloved home in St. Joseph, Michigan. My son, age 2, was crawling across my lap and my daughter, age 3, was playing on the floor. It was a perfect autumn day in early October of 2011. My husband was calling from work, as he often did around lunchtime just to check on us. But this time, it was different. “Honey,” he said, “Come pick me up. I was just laid off and my car is at the mechanic’s.”
“Honey,” he said, “Come pick me up. I was just laid off and my car is at the mechanic’s.”
My stomach dropped to my feet. I pushed the baby off me, went into the bathroom, and locked the door. This was utterly unexpected. Work had been going well.
My husband was an associate attorney at one of the only law firms in our small town. We owned a century-old home within walking distance to Lake Michigan. I was a stay at home mom and spent my days caring for my family and spending time with my close-knit group of mom friends. What would happen now? How would we pay our mortgage? At this moment, I had questions but no answers.
At this moment, I had questions but no answers.
The next several months were very difficult. There were no local jobs for attorneys, so he took a job in sales for a heating company. It barely paid the bills. He tried to be positive about the new job, but I could tell he was miserable. He was not trained in sales; he was trained as a lawyer, and he was good at it! I saw him let his career goals slip away for the sake of meeting our day-to-day needs.
By Spring, we knew that something had to change. We could keep going indefinitely in this cycle of misery, or we could make a bold move. After much prayer and discussion, we made a plan.
We decided my husband would quit his job, we would sell our house, and we would move our young family to live with my parents in Dexter. We would open our own law firm in Detroit. We set our plan into action, and two days before I turned 30 we moved in with my parents.
We were humbled, but hopeful. We disregarded the statistics showing that most law firms are not profitable for the first several years. It was possible that we would need to live with my parents for years before we were firmly on our own feet again.
However, our bravery was rewarded sooner than we expected. My husband was offered a good job with a firm in Livonia two months after our move. He accepted, and it’s been a great fit for him. We were able to move out of my parent’s house shortly thereafter.
While I sometimes miss my old house, God has richly blessed us since our move. We’ve grown to love our new church, home, and friends. I am so thankful God spoke to our hearts and urged us to be courageous.
I am so thankful God spoke to our hearts and urged us to be courageous.
Is there something God is putting on your heart? Listen, and be brave! You never know what blessings He has in store for you and your family. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7.
The theme this year for MOPS is Be You Bravely. To find out more about St. Luke’s two groups or to read more blogs on bravery please see our MOPS page. MOPS believes better moms make a better world and so they work to serve and connect mothers.
