The biggest blessing was of course that Nick passed both of his ASE tests on Thursday. But it didn't end there - on Friday I got a text from Nick with some great news! That morning he went in to his immediate manager to give him the paperwork showing he passed the tests, then went back to his work area. A few minutes later his manager called him back in and told him that he had been looking back over the shops records and 1) Nick is always, always, always the workhorse of the team, consistently pulling in more hours than anyone else, and 2) that he (the manager) has been keeping a book of every car that came back because of a technician's mistake, and Nick has not had one single entry! Because of this, he is getting a 50¢/hour raise!
This is especially significant, because no one at the shop has had a raise in 5 years. Once upon a time passing each test netted you 25 cents on the hour, but that has not been the case for a very long time. In fact, several very good employees have gone and asked for raises several times over the last year, and they've all been turned down, so he wasn't expecting anything.
And almost more than the money, I appreciate the fact that they've acknowledged just how hard a worker and how valuable an employee he is to them! I know just how much he's worth, and a 50¢ raise doesn't begin to encompass it, but it's definitely high praise in this economy, and I'm so proud of him!
Another blessing was that my mom and dad brought by a few things today. They're forever showing up with a couple gallons of milk (the kids go through about a gallon a day) along with fruit, mac n cheese, bread, whatever they think we might need (this is something we never ask them to do btw). But today, along with the milk, they brought a new pair of capris for me (I never get new clothes - wheee!), two lovely dresses for Daisy, and a brand new Costco membership card for me!
We used to have a Sam's Club membership that we renewed when we could afford it. But it expired last year right around Christmas, and we just didn't have the extra. They built a Costco in our city sometime last year, and we were kind of considering going with them instead. In fact, Nick and I took a tour of the facility a few weeks ago, and we were impressed with what we saw. The main issue though was that the membership cost $100, as opposed to Sam's which cost $40, and we really couldn't afford either one.
A few weeks ago one of the daily deal sites offered Costco memberships for $50 each, and it came with $50 worth of fabulous coupons, several for completely free products. I knew we couldn't do it right then, even with the discounted price, but I called my mom to tell her about it, since she had shown some interest in maybe getting a membership herself. She called me the next day and told me that she had purchased a membership for each of us, and that the cards should be coming shortly! I'm so excited about it!
Let's see, what else? My parents have a pontoon boat they got for a good price from a friend a few years ago. It's been ages since we went out on it, a couple of years at least. Friday Nick is off and we're going to take the kids out on it and make a day of it - something we're really looking forward to! The next day is Nick's family's annual June birthday gathering at the cabin up at the lake. I actually thought it was this past Saturday and that we'd missed it, so I was relieved to find out it's this week.
I think this year's party will have a tinge of sadness to it. It's the first since Nick's papaw passed away, and he was always such a big part of it. The cabin actually belonged to him and Nick's grandmother, and he spent just about every warm day that wasn't a Sunday up there fishing. Nick's grandmother is also one of the ones celebrating a birthday this month, and it will be her first as a widow. And Nick's dad's birthday is the day after hers, so I think it will be a bit sad for him too to have it without his dad, not to mention the proximity to Father's Day.
Two days after the birthday gathering we will be leaving for church camp! We're really excited about this! We're bringing 13 kids just with us, and Morgan is really stoked to have so many of her friends there with her. And speaking of friends, my best friend Ann is going to stay the whole week with me! Her two boys are going as campers, and she decided to tag along and share a cabin with me, Daisy, and Jack. I can't even tell you how excited about this I am! It's been 15 years since we had a sleepover, and I could sure use the girl time!
Anyway, as you can see God has been so very good to us, and I have so much to praise Him for! I would really appreciate your prayers for my sweet husband (and for me!), because as obvious as God's provisions for us are, we're still quite human, and sometimes we let the stress get to us. Also, Nick's hands are still unimproved, so that's still something we're praying about as well.
Anyway, I'm off to bed - good night all!
This is especially significant, because no one at the shop has had a raise in 5 years. Once upon a time passing each test netted you 25 cents on the hour, but that has not been the case for a very long time. In fact, several very good employees have gone and asked for raises several times over the last year, and they've all been turned down, so he wasn't expecting anything.
And almost more than the money, I appreciate the fact that they've acknowledged just how hard a worker and how valuable an employee he is to them! I know just how much he's worth, and a 50¢ raise doesn't begin to encompass it, but it's definitely high praise in this economy, and I'm so proud of him!
Another blessing was that my mom and dad brought by a few things today. They're forever showing up with a couple gallons of milk (the kids go through about a gallon a day) along with fruit, mac n cheese, bread, whatever they think we might need (this is something we never ask them to do btw). But today, along with the milk, they brought a new pair of capris for me (I never get new clothes - wheee!), two lovely dresses for Daisy, and a brand new Costco membership card for me!
We used to have a Sam's Club membership that we renewed when we could afford it. But it expired last year right around Christmas, and we just didn't have the extra. They built a Costco in our city sometime last year, and we were kind of considering going with them instead. In fact, Nick and I took a tour of the facility a few weeks ago, and we were impressed with what we saw. The main issue though was that the membership cost $100, as opposed to Sam's which cost $40, and we really couldn't afford either one.
A few weeks ago one of the daily deal sites offered Costco memberships for $50 each, and it came with $50 worth of fabulous coupons, several for completely free products. I knew we couldn't do it right then, even with the discounted price, but I called my mom to tell her about it, since she had shown some interest in maybe getting a membership herself. She called me the next day and told me that she had purchased a membership for each of us, and that the cards should be coming shortly! I'm so excited about it!
Let's see, what else? My parents have a pontoon boat they got for a good price from a friend a few years ago. It's been ages since we went out on it, a couple of years at least. Friday Nick is off and we're going to take the kids out on it and make a day of it - something we're really looking forward to! The next day is Nick's family's annual June birthday gathering at the cabin up at the lake. I actually thought it was this past Saturday and that we'd missed it, so I was relieved to find out it's this week.
I think this year's party will have a tinge of sadness to it. It's the first since Nick's papaw passed away, and he was always such a big part of it. The cabin actually belonged to him and Nick's grandmother, and he spent just about every warm day that wasn't a Sunday up there fishing. Nick's grandmother is also one of the ones celebrating a birthday this month, and it will be her first as a widow. And Nick's dad's birthday is the day after hers, so I think it will be a bit sad for him too to have it without his dad, not to mention the proximity to Father's Day.
Two days after the birthday gathering we will be leaving for church camp! We're really excited about this! We're bringing 13 kids just with us, and Morgan is really stoked to have so many of her friends there with her. And speaking of friends, my best friend Ann is going to stay the whole week with me! Her two boys are going as campers, and she decided to tag along and share a cabin with me, Daisy, and Jack. I can't even tell you how excited about this I am! It's been 15 years since we had a sleepover, and I could sure use the girl time!
Anyway, as you can see God has been so very good to us, and I have so much to praise Him for! I would really appreciate your prayers for my sweet husband (and for me!), because as obvious as God's provisions for us are, we're still quite human, and sometimes we let the stress get to us. Also, Nick's hands are still unimproved, so that's still something we're praying about as well.
Anyway, I'm off to bed - good night all!
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5 comments:
A great post filled with good news. That's wonderful.
Congratulations to Nick and I am sure more good things will be landing on your doorstep soon.
Will hold you in my prayers. Enjoy the coming weekend. It sounds like great fun.
Thank you for sharing! I needed to see this. My husband's hours were cut a few weeks ago at work. We have a vacation planned in a few weeks that we have been telling the kids about for a year and I am trying so hard not to dip into that money! God's blessings are amazing though and I believe He knows how important it is for us to get away from the daily things that distract us from Him and from being close as a family sometimes. Two years ago, we determined to make vacations a priority even if we could go every two years or something like that. These kids are getting older and our time with them is short. It is very easy to get stressed about what we don't have instead of being thankful of the many many blessings. For example, three of my kids are going to church camp this summer and the majority of the balance was paid by scholarship from the church. Praise God!! Now, I am off to pray and to count my blessings!! Have a great day.
April
Let me start by saying this...One of the things I love most about your blog is that you also share the every day, down and dirty real life stuff. All of us our human and most of us can relate to struggles and hard times. The day to day struggles and worries can sometimes steal our joy (another way the enemy likes to sneak in)!!! You have such a good attitude by remembering all of Gods blessings when things get hard, honestly that is not always easy to do. My prayer for you and your family is that you can continue to keep that positive attitude going in the midst of any storm and struggle you may face. We all truly have much to be thankful for and God is so good! God always makes a way when there seems to be no way!!! I hope all of you have a great time on the boat Friday! Many prayers and hugs!
May God continue to bless you as you obviously put your faith in Him. That is where the power of prayer is, FAITH. Your blog is full of testimony. Thank you for sharing as "iron sharpens iron." I am so glad that your guy passed his tests and then got a raise on top of that. Your extended family on both sides seem very special. I hope you enjoy your camp experience with all the children and with your BFF. God bless you and all you love, Belle L.
Wow! Lot's of great news. This is the most inspiring post I have read in quite awhile. Hope you have a great time on the boat, at the cabin and at camp. And congratulations to Nick!
God is good
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