2011 and 2012

After Eliana was born, things weren't exactly smooth sailing.  About 3 months later, Todd had a major shift at work when they changed the pest technician routes (he had been working with Terminix since 2009). This precipitated a large drop in pay. We ended up with 3 kids, and not nearly enough income. Having Todd's outstanding college loan debt we couldn't satisfy... the loans defaulted.... they garnished 25% of his wages. We were short on everything... car payments, rent, utility bills, etc.  


   In February 2012, we lost our wonderful rental home of three years in Apex, NC. The landlord was a SWEET, God-loving woman who didn't make a fuss, but had to let us go. It was the biggest shake up out little family had even seen.  We only had three weeks to find some place to go. We found a nondescript, dirty-looking house in Mebane, NC... not even a speck of grass in the yard, just dirt that turned to mud when it rained. There was so much mud. The only blessing being that my mom and sister Ashley had both rented townhouses across the street. So having them to interact with kept me from crumbling a lot of days.  But the bright spots were my kids got to play with their cousin Avery across the street, and Eliana TURNED ONE! 
   
   Money was BEYOND tight. Eliana had to use cloth diapers to save on buying disposables. (Not to mention she apparently was allergic to them!) Birthday cakes were homemade, and not always pretty. Parties were small. Christmas gifts for the kids were 2-3 each from us, but we had a real tree! There was one day in particular I remember... going to the food pantry and waiting in line behind the homeless man to rummage through the grocery cart of day old bread donations. I remember Josiah running up to me SO EXCITED about a can of dented peaches he had found on a donation shelf. I fought back tears the whole way home. HOW had things ended up this way?! I felt like such a failure to my children. I was angry at God for not knowing what to do to FIX THIS! 
   I wish I could say our miracle was just around the corner... but I'll move onto the next post with 2013 and 2014. The story is still unfolding.