Blessings in Disguise

I'm usually a pretty optimistic person, but when Nate was laid off on December 17th, all I could focus on was the negative of our situation.
He starts work again next Monday, so lately I've been thinking about the many blessings that this 5 week layoff has actually given us and the small ways the Lord was looking out for us in the process. Want to know what I've come up with? Too bad, you get to anyway. =)

• The Timing--- Nate's layoff actually came at a good time. Since his boss had made it clear that everyone would have to take a turn being laid off sometime this winter, Nate's turn being when it was worked out for several reasons.....the most important being that we had his student loan money coming in the next week and the amount was enough to cover our expenses during the layoff

Just a side note, if Nate hadn't decided to go to school this semester there's no way we would have survived this little financial storm without being late on payments and going without since unemployment only pays about half of his regular income. Also, when we were working out his financial aid, we weren't sure about accepting the loan on top of the grant. I just felt that we should get it 'just in case'. Inspiration? I think so!

• It gave us lots of family time during the holidays, including the ability to go visit Nate's family in Las Vegas for an entire week.
• Nate has asthma and about a gazillion allergies. His job is all outdoors and very physically demanding. When the air is as bad as it has been lately, he gets really, really, really sick from working in it. We're talking puking, coughing, fevers, passing out kind of sick. It happens around this time every winter, so maybe this layoff has helped us avoid it this year.
  
• Nate has loved spending so much time with the kids. He keeps telling me that he feels spoiled and it's going to be hard to go back to work.
  
• I've enjoyed spending time with Nate. We've been able to do some projects around the house and just relax together a lot.
  
• I've had more time to do things that I want to do. Nate's been really supportive of letting me get my workouts in and giving me time to myself if I need it.
• It gave Nate two weeks of classes to focus on just school before he heads back to work and has to be working full time and going to school full time. I think it's making the transition a little smoother for him.
  

All in all, the pros definitely outweigh the cons of our situation and it's made me reflect on how truly blessed we really are. So there you have it, the silver lining.