Money Money Money Money Money....Monday!

I'm going to take a little break from the series to share proof of list item #1:  God provides.

Things have been a little stressful for us the past couple of months.  Something I haven't shared yet in the "how we make it work on one income" series I've been doing is that we usually have a roommate.  Having a roommate is awesome if you've got an extra room; you get to make a new friend, provide a cheap place for someone to live, and help pay your mortgage all in one!  All of our roommates have been awesome guys and we have been so blessed to have them and share our home with them.

The past couple of months though, we've been roommate-less.  Our last roommate finished his internship and went back up to finish college, and we haven't found someone yet to fill his shoes.  We are pretty picky about our roommates, and J is just irreplaceable!  :)

So, needless to say, we had to tighten our belts a bit.  Not a huge deal, but I was getting a little stressed about it.  So, we kept praying and I started hunting around for some part-time summer teaching gigs because I miss teaching.  There wasn't much that seemed like a good fit, partly because we are committed to my job first and foremost being to care for Sweet Pea and so the most we are willing for me to work is a few hours a day.  Add finding childcare for those few hours to the mix (and paying for it if a grandma isn't available) and hardly anything is worth the time. But I sent in an application for an educational summer camp and crossed my fingers.  I didn't hear anything, not even a "we got your e-mail but we're not interested" call.

We went ahead with planning our summer.  Hubby's job is at a year-round school, but they take a short summer break for two weeks in June.  His break started last Thursday, and after he got out of work we planned to start our two weeks o' fun.  The plan was this:

Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday:  Leave Sweet Pea with my parents and go to the beach for our anniversary weekend.  (More on this later; we had the BEST time!)
Sunday-Tuesday:  Join our youth group on their annual camping trip, bringing Sweet Pea along
Tuesday-Sunday: Continue camping as a family in the mountains of southwest Virginia, enjoying time together on the world's least expensive family vacation

Sounds like a blast, right?

Well, on the drive out to the beach for our anniversary I got a phone call.  It turns out my resume was attractive after all!  The summer camp director wanted me to teach an afternoon English class and wanted me to come in to meet with him Saturday afternoon.  That itself worked too perfectly; he wanted me to come to the office at 4 pm, and we'd already planned to be home by 5 pm anyway.  The only catch?  The week-long camp started Monday, when we were supposed to be away with the youth group.

We did some quick thinking.  I didn't want to miss this opportunity.  So, we decided we'd still go camping and I would just drive home and back on Monday.  We also decided to push our family vacation back a few days and shorten it by one day.  No big deal in the face of some extra income!

So I went to the meeting and I was given the job.  Yay!  We were talking through some details when the director mentioned that the camp is actually two weeks long (the ad had said one!), which made my heart jump and sink at the same time.  Double the time means double the money, but it also means missing our little family camping trip.

We've decided to go for it and skip our family camping trip.  We're not too bummed, because there are SO many fun things to do around home and I'm just plain happy to have my husband home for two weeks. We also just took our wonderful southern road trip over spring break, so it's not like we haven't vacationed this year.  And the best part?  I get to put my teacher hat back on and get paid for it!

Last night Hubby, Sweet Pea and I drove up with our 30 of our favorite youth group kids for the camping trip.  We had so much fun.  Our little family got to stay in a cabin on the group camp site while everyone else got rained on in tents, and no one slept because in the tents they were soaked and in the cabin the baby was awake basically all night.  We went for a gorgeous little hike this morning, and then at noon I hit the road and literally flew down 70 to make it home in time for the camp at two.

The plan was for me to drive the two hours back up again tonight, but when 5 pm hit and the traffic was rotten we decided to throw in the towel on that plan.

So, for the first time in I don't even know how long, I've got the night to myself.  I am watching Netflix and blogging and nursing a sore throat and am planning to sleep until noon.  Hubby and the baby are staying one more night and will be back tomorrow night after I teach.  For the next week, we'll have a rockin' staycation and Sweet Pea will get some extra Daddy time while I disappear for just three hours.  I mean, how cool is it that I don't even have to find childcare for this little part-time gig?

It's a little tough to act like a grownup and smile about the whole missing vacation thing.  I actually cried a little tonight when I realized it just wasn't doable to drive back out for another night of camping with the youth group. But I am so seriously amazed by the way God provides and I'm thankful for our flexible natures.  We have already had a ton of fun this summer, and I know there is way more to come.  We are going to squeeze in a few weekend camping trips instead.

Isn't God good?  I just never cease to be amazed by month after month after month, things in the budget just work.  I am so thankful that we have committed to this plan for our family and that even though it's tough sometimes, it's been so blessed.  

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