Patience

Patience:
-noun
:an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay

Just about 4 weeks ago, Mike was faced with the possibility of being laid off.  We knew it was coming, and well, he did end up being out of work for about a week.  He started looking for a new job immediately after he learned that the company he is with wasn't getting much work.  He sent his resume to a few different places, and he heard back from one company just a few days later. 
They set up a phone interview for the following day, and it went very well.  The next step was a face to face interview with their hiring manager. This company is based out of Iowa (the position is here, in our hometown), so the interview was at a local hotel.  Mike thought it went very well, and we thought that we were close to finding out something, one way or another.  Haha.. To make a long story short, Mike has had 5 different interviews, and still, 3 weeks later, we don't know what is going to happen. 
They offered Mike the position, but the pay they offered was much less than what we wanted.  Mike has counter-offered, and we're waiting to hear back...that's where we're at now. 
I was originally going to post this once we knew for sure if Mike got the job or not, but I've learned so much during this time, I just want to focus on the positive and tell you guys how God has been working in my heart.

I've never prayed so hard for anything in my life.  Honestly.  I have never spent so much time in prayer in one day than I have in the days of these past few weeks.  I'm ashamed to admit that.  I'm ashamed to face the fact that my time in prayer has only strengthened when I needed something from God.  Not when I was just praising Him for who He is, or for thanking Him for what He's done for me. Because let's face it.  We have it good here.  We live in America, we can freely worship our Savior, we want for nothing (that we absolutely need) and we know nothing of suffering like millions do in other parts of the world.  But here I am, asking for something else.  I know that it pleases Him when His children come to Him with requests.  I know that.  I just know that I need to praise Him more when things are going good or bad.  He's the same, no matter what. 

 I have learned so much patience through this time.  That's where I was trying to go with this whole thing.   I lack in the area of patience.  totally.  My nature is to be anxious.  It's annoying, to be honest. So when this whole "waiting 3 weeks to hear about a job he's had 5 interviews for" thing came up, I pretty much lost it.  I couldn't handle the waiting; the helpless feeling of not knowing if Mike was going to be working from one day to the next; the anxiety I got when I would go through all the "what ifs".  It was too much.  So I gave it to God.  I can't handle anything on my own...especially this.  And He knows that.  He was just waiting for me to come to Him, completely stripped of all my pride, and to hand over my worries and frustrations to Him.  He has promised that He will take care of us, whether Mike gets this job or not. 
There are so many things that have happened during this time of Mike being out of work and not being paid, and not knowing what is going to happen in the next few weeks that shows how amazing and wonderful our heavenly Father is.  He's taken care of us, and provided for us in a way that can't be explained by anything other than His work.  I truly cannot explain it all, but believe me when I say that it brought us to our knees, just watching how everything has unfolded.  

Matthew 6:25-27 says:
 ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

I'm claiming this.  I know He'll be with us, whatever happens.  I'm not worrying about it anymore.  I'm not saying I don't think about it anymore.  That would be silly.  But I know that whatever happens, I want God's will to be done.  Not mine.  If this job offered $500,000 a year, but wasn't what God wanted for us, I absolutely would NOT want Mike to have it.  I can say that in all honesty now, because now I see that without God's hand in our lives, we are nothing.   

Some verses I've been loving lately:

Psalm 37:7-9
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land

Hebrews 6:12
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
 
I'm starting to think that God knew how much my patience needed to be tried, and this waiting is His way of breaking me.  It hurts, but it's a good hurt. :)
 
I'll update once we know something, which will be by Friday. (or so they told him.)  
Please keep us in your prayers if you think about it.