Late Night for Jenn

It's midnight. I should be sleeping, but I can't. Just gave up on a Majong puzzle... I'll beat it another night. Big decisions to make......

We've had a guest for about 8 days now. Hubby's cousin. He is a painter and so very thankfully hubby got a call to do 3 jobs around Atlanta for insurance damages. All 3 involved paint. Work has dried up in where they live and paying the bills is no longer an option. It just can't be done anymore..... their family is in BIG trouble. But not really. Painter guy is also a leader in his church and he does mission trips all over the world. Last June he preached to over ten thousand people in Haiti. He is way big on God and loves to tell people all about it. He is calm as a cucumber about his circumstances. Man.... that's some big faith. It took me almost two years to learn how to do that. Now that is some walking by faith. LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But really the work there is all gone. There are thousands of foreclosures around them and even the rich people aren't painting anymore. So he was talking to hubby and hubby says...... come stay with me for a week and do these 3 jobs. He would make enough to pay a mortgage payment. Plus he's painting my garage for me for free. Can I say how happy it makes me for my hubby to be able to do that for somebody? Because every single time I prayed for the last year for hubby's remodeling business to grow I prayed that the Lord would bless him to be a blessing to others. At first I always prayed for provision for our family but then I realized my error. Why should I pray for just us to be provided for? I prayed for God to bless him so that he couldn't do all the work himself anymore and he had to hire people. We now employ 4 men. Starting in October he had to start hiring!!! Thank you Father!! It means so much to us both. So many people in this job field are hurting so bad...... the fact that the Lord has provided for us and then gave us the additional blessing of being able to employ people and give them a paycheck to provide for their families is really just too good to be true. So now he gets to do it for family, a double blessing.

The decision? Cousin goes back on Thursday but has no work to go back to. The men have been talking and they think it would be best to have them just go ahead and move up and live with us until their house sells. The money he earns here would be used to pay for his home in Fl. I am sure they would help out with expenses here but..... they have four kids too. A two year old and three teenagers. So it would be four adults and eight kids up here not to mention my parents in the basement apartment. Where would we put them? Where would all the kids go? Would all of the noise stress out my mom and hamper her recovery? Oh Lord my Dad would go ballistic. What if we don't get along? I have never met the wife and kids. Who decides what's on the TV? What if the teen girls fight? How do you cook for twelve people on a four burner stove? How do you buy groceries? Do I cook a meal first for my family and then she for hers? Or visa versa. I am on a strict budget..... I can't afford to meal share I think. Who cleans what? What if they don't clean? What if they clean everything and I feel like a guilty bum? Where would we park all of our cars? Four in the driveway already, homeowner association has a new president that is a real donkey's booty. Can't park in the grass, neighbors would not tolerate it and report me to the association. We already play musical cars every morning!!! What if this turns out to be a wonderful experience and we cry like babies when they leave? What if this is God providing for a fine man of the Lord and his family and He is using us to do it and I am being dumb? Hubby wants my permission to say yes. I'm like..... shouldn't we discuss this first? All of us. So I am up contemplating and in typing this I just realized what a dummy I am..... Duh, Jen, why don't you just pray about it and ask for guidance and clarity. Duh duh duh. Okay, I'm off to pray now. Silly me.