"$337,500.00!!"

That's the amount of the contract my company was just awarded to undertake an up-coming construction project! Hurray!!

It was only a few weeks ago that my employer approached me about either going part-time or becoming a per-project consultant, a move necessitated by the fact that our company had a previously awarded two million dollar contract postponed indefinitely, thus requiring a reduction in overhead expenses. I was the reduction in overhead expenses.

One of my favorite uplifting blogs that I read on a regular basis is entitled "Finding My Way...we all have things we carry forward..." [ http://www.the-things-we-carry.blogspot.com/ ] Martha had a particularly insightful post this past Wednesday entitled "Do Not Worry." In it she quotes the scriptures found in the Gospel of Luke (Chapter 12 verses 22-25), wherein Jesus lovingly admonishes His listeners to have faith that our heavenly Father has only our very best interest at heart...that our needs will be met sufficiently...and to worry otherwise is counterproductive to the peace of mind and heart that God intends for us to experience as we live this gift of life from day to day. There is comfort in those words, but too often fleeting as we humans tend to too quickly take up again the burdens of trying to predict how we alone must confront the uncertainties of an uncertain future relying solely upon on our own sense of needing to be in control...sleepless nights and antacid days being the result. Too often, sadly, I can relate.

A little over a month ago I was faced unexpectedly with the prospect of being either underemployed or unemployed. What to think? What to do? My mind initially envisioned all the worse scenarios. With Judi's real estate investment business at a virtual standstill, with more money going out than coming in, and daughter Megan's college graduation looming on the horizon with all the ancillary expenses associated with that auspicious event, my outlook for a survivable economic future was, in my tunnel-vision opinion, bleak at best. When the initial shock began to subside, I turned back to the memories of when I previously have faced similar circumstances and remembered how the Lord has always provided and brought me safely and securely through what my minister likes to call "the shadow valley." I travel through yet another "shadow valley" with Him at my side and see yet again His faithful promise delivered, Do not worry. I've got your back.

There are two bedrock principles on which the Christian faith is anchored: mercy and grace. Paraphrasing how my minister defined each Sunday... Mercy is not receiving what we justly deserve. Grace is receiving something over and far beyond what we should have no expectation to deserve. Time and time again, as I look back at my past life, I have seen emerging from the mist of past personal trials and troubles the evidence of where God has pitched His tent along my path, directing me in His own time to a future not void of tribulations, but free from doubting that by my continuing to place my faith in His loving watch care that He will meet my needs. I have a continuing role to play in this relationship...the role of having and maintaining faith. Faith is no more than a noun without action. To step out in faith is to convert the word into a verb and that is when God goes to work...when we work in on-going trust that He will always hold up His end of the equation.

I have work to do. It is time I get on with it...most thankfully.