This was fourth of July weekend around 22 weeks
This was just last weekend.....can you believe how much he's grown in 3 weeks :)This month has not been as eventful but it has been very stressful. Everything with the pregnancy is going well. We got to have another ultrasound because baby was too active in the first one and they could not get enough heart photos. He was a lot bigger so we enjoyed it. I can also feel him now so everytime he moved in the ultrasound I could feel it...that was cool. Everything looks great according to the doctor. And he's definitely a boy :)
So you may be wondering....why has it been stressful? One word can sum it up...WORK. I work in Illinois and many of you may have heard on the news about the budget crises Illinois is currently in. Starting at the end of June we began getting emails stating that many human services programs could be cut as a way to eliminate spending and reduce the deficit. The other option for Illinois was an income tax increase to create revenue to reduce the deficit. Of course most people do not want a tax increase so basically we were preparing to lose our jobs and for most of my clients to return to homelessness and instability. It was very scary because the clients I work with everyday are pretty much as low on the pole as you can get and the cuts would have devastated their life and any progress they have made.
So we(all of us in the human services field) have been advocating all month for a new solution to this problem because the cuts to human services would likely just create more problems. So the solution Illinos congress came to.....borrow money. This solution is hilarious in a sad way to me because it is so American.....lets not deal with the financial problem we are in but instead lets just take out more debt and postpone the inevitable. Needless to say it buys some time for an agreement to be made and allows human services to stay up and running.
As many of you know my job is stressful, emotionally and mentally, on a normal day. Somedays I get off work and think "what am I doing?", "does this even really make a difference", "why should I spend sleepless nights dreaming and worrying about my clients when oftentimes it's their bad decisions that got them there", "why do I even care". All this additional stress has been difficult. We have worried about what will happen if I do lose my job and therefore my insurance. Who would hire a 6 month pregnant woman?
Michael and I are being reminded to trust God and trust that he will provide. We have been praying for the ability to deal with whatever happens, good or bad. We are praying that we can say "blessed be the name of the lord" no matter our circumstances. We are praying for my clients that they could find God and be released from their bondage.
For now that's all I know. I'll keep you posted.
