Struggle Series - Part 1

Anyone that knows me or my family knows that we have been going through a tough time the last couple years. It's been very hard with many ups and downs, and every time I feel like it can't get any worse, it does. We are still in the middle of this very hard journey. I'd be lying if I said we haven't grown or that I wish it was God's will for Michael to have a job yesterday.

Throughout all of this, we have in no doubt seen God's provision for our family, and though its been tough I trust that God does have a plan for us. I pray everyday that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and that we find our identity through Him not on Michael's job status.

I've kept most of my feelings through this process kept between me and Michael, but I thought I would write out some of the emotions we have gone through on this tough journey.

A little history. In December of 2010 Michael shockingly lost his job. This was devastating, but we didn't feel too discouraged. Michael didn't like the job as it was, and we we're hopeful that Michael would quickly find a new job. It couldn't be THAT hard, could it? We had some people tell us that they went through a season of unemployment, but it was always a short period (less than 6 months). The next 8 months Michael actively looked for a job. He did a couple of little jobs, here and there, but nothing that made much income.

Then, in August of 2011 we announced to everyone that we were going to be opening our own restaurant called Java Cone. We were very excited about this, and Michael had been working on his business plan and consulting with different people several months prior. It wasn't until we got some things set in stone did we know.

Java Cone was an ice cream and coffee shop, along with great burgers and sides (we were most known for the stuffed burger). There was no coffee or ice cream shop in town, so we thought it was a great opportunity for Michael to own his own business. A few months after we opened 4 new business' opened up (two of them being coffee shops and two of them selling similar food). This news was crushing, but we were still hopeful that we could make it...