SHATTERED (Jars of Clay)

I know I am going to start losing some of the few readers we have here on SSS if I continue to write less then positive, happy blog posts but unfortunately this blog is about the daily life of a single person who just happens to be ME. And that certain person without a doubt has been facing an inordinate amount of big-time adversity as of late. And yesterday there was more adversity piled on top of what was already there.

My wife Kim had her shift at work and the job that went along with it eliminated yesterday after the parent company was sold to another owner. She is now without a job and I am left without the additional insurance that job provided that was going to help immensely in off-setting the costs of my right leg amputation and subsequent prosthetic expenses. I still have medicare but that covers only part of the huge medical bills that have come with my now nearly 2 year long broken leg/ankle and infection ordeal with it's half a dozen operations and nearly a months worth of hospital time.

Obviously it was a blow but in this day and age the job elimination was not wholly unexpected...there were signs. Especially noticeable to me who spent nearly thirty years working in manufacturing in a large factory in Zeeland, MI making Office Furniture. The last third of that in management, so it was obvious to me that changes were potentially on the horizon. And sure enough...the hunch was correct.

Kim and I are choosing to look on this as an opportunity to grow and move her career into a better direction. The company she worked for was quite frankly a joke, treating a large percentage of their employees as less then human. And honestly...I am not exaggerating about this...they were hostile to their people, it was a constantly threatening environment and they were prejudicial to woman and Caucasians. Yea...unfortunately you read that correctly. I just about had Kim convinced to file a formal complaint on those grounds....if she had they would have had a very difficult time laying her off without inviting a major law suit. But as it is, we waited and probably lost the opportunity to at least make them sweat a little.

Oh well, here we go again. Kim already has a temp job lined up for 7a tomorrow morning. It is a 4 week assignment but it keeps the money flowing in as we plan out the strategy for the future. We honestly believe GOD has a plan for all this but in all honesty if would be tough to take much more pain and adversity...The truth of the matter is that we have really gotten our arses kicked around here the last 22 months or so. We've been ruined financially and have been pushed, shoved and beaten to the very farthest edge of human endurance. We can only trust God and we will....we have no trust for people, governments with all of their lies and false pretenses.

I only wish I was young and fit enough to join the military, it would be a hi-light of my life and a huge honor...as it is, that is most certainly one of my life's major regrets....that I never served my country in uniform. I was scheduled to be sworn in to the Army and ship out in the Spring of 1984 (right after my daughter Chelsea was born) but I ended up interviewing for and taking a job in West Michigan and moved there on short notice from Columbus, Ohio, where I had grown up. I know now that it was the best choice for me at the time with a young family but I've had regrets about it ever since. Today I would gladly sacrifice my very life for my county. I believe it would be more then a fair trade to offer an old man up in place of a young person who has their whole life still ahead of them. I would do it in a heartbeat, even with my disabilities and pain if they only would take me and find a way to put me to use.

Alas...it isn't to be...so we put one foot in front of the other and take life One Day At A Time. Both K and I take great comfort from Scripture...today it 'tis 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 that really hit's so very close to home...God Bless Y'all.