Guest Post Tuesday Testimony

Dear Friends,

Jill and I are excited to announce that on Tuesday's we will have guest posts from friends sharing their testimonies on how Jesus changed their life. Today, our dear friend, Sherri Ferguson, shares part of her testimony on how God used her husband's job loss to radically change their lives and their faith. Today, is Part I of her story!  You WILL be blessed!

Walk in Faith,

Leeanne

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Part One

Testimony of the 4 past years (2010-2014)

God is good all the time and provides in ways I wouldn’t imagine. Isaiah 55 tells me that His ways and His thoughts are higher than mine and really His thoughts and ways are not my ways, they are much better. This story deals with my husband’s job, job loss and life after that.

My husband received word about 18 months before the job loss happened that there was some chance their contract would not be renewed. However, we had no idea when and really we thought it probably wouldn’t happen because the relationship between the two companies was great. However, the Lord laid it on our hearts and minds to prepare.

The Lord, in His infinite goodness, had prepared us four years earlier when we bought our home, although we didn’t know it then. We were looking at many properties, some priced much higher (and of course nicer) and yet no peace came. We settled on our current home, with a tiny mortgage and the Lord has given us much joy. Psalm 16 says that He will fill me with joy in His presence, with eternal pleasures at His right hand.  So now we started saving, cutting back by saying no to even spending $4 with a friend at a coffee shop and putting money away for the “lean years” that could possibly come. Little did we know there would be 2 ½ lean years! Almost 3, but who’s counting J

In June of 2011 my husband, and many of his colleagues, lost their jobs. He received a severance package which was a blessing we don’t deserve and it was s t r e t c h e d mightily… but alas it was gone. The Lord’s very first tangible gift He gave us was from friends who were moving away. They received word that they had to leave 6 weeks earlier than they planned and so she asked me to come over with laundry baskets (plural) and she literally loaded them up with food for us. WOW! I came home with a month of groceries for my family. The Lord is so good to take this event and mold me. He knew my heart and inside my heart I wanted cash in the bank, I wanted to look and see a certain $ number but He was not going to give me that. He was going to provide food that my family needed to live, not cash in the bank. During this time the Lord continued to cultivate relationships with people, new friends and old friends. He refined my husband and I by taking away some friends and bringing in new ones for specific reasons and with specific purposes to pour into our lives. Friends that boldly challenged us in our marriage and personally in our walks with Christ.

My husband applied for countless jobs, went on interviews and second interviews and the Lord closed every door. Then there would be an interview with another company, closer to home, better hours and we thought surely Lord this is what we were waiting for, and again a closed door.  So a dear friend, actually his accountability partner said too my husband, “why don’t you start thinking outside the box, do you have to cook?” My husband had been in the kitchen for 25 years, of course he had to cook … or did he. In the meantime, my old boss from a previous job, called me to interview again, we met and it was wonderful, but he wanted a full time position and with 2 young children, I couldn’t work full time, besides, my husband is going back to work soon. This is what I told him. 

Stay tuned for Part Two tomorrow!