Mother of a Week

We had a big week. Here. Let me break it down for you:

Monday, Jan. 23: Zak's 22nd Birthday; Ultrasound to reveal Baby Nichols No. 1 is a bouncing baby boy!
Tuesday, Jan. 24: Jason attends eight-hour second interview at the corporate offices of Coldwater Creek in Sandpoint, ID while Rachel sits at home and repeats the following over and over again: "It's all going to work out. It's all going to work out. Yes, you are 5 months pregnant, living in your parents' basement with a bad back and no money, but it's ALL going to work out. It has to. It will..."
Wednesday, Jan. 25: Rachel goes to work and checks her phone every 5 minutes to see if Jason has heard any news about said interview to which he already told her several times the night before, "NO, we won't know until Thursday at the earliest. So, be cool." Yeah. OK, Jason. An hour later, Rachel receives a mysterious text from Jason: "You busy?" Rachel thinks this is a subtle hint to call him. So, she does secretly hoping that there will be good news at the other end of the line...

Jason: "Oh, hey. How's work going?"
Rachel: "It's going. It's work. Just had my last patient before lunch. What are you doing?"
Jason: "Me? Uhh, just hanging around, cleaning up a bit."
This is where Rachel's heart sinks because she suspects Jason still hasn't heard anything, but just when she is about to give up hope...
Jason: "Oh, and uh, Clay called. The job is mine."
Rachel: Silence. No words. Just tears. Can't talk right now, Jason. Rachel has melted in the hallway at work...And then she yells at him for waiting to tell her the news when he'd known for nearly 2 hours! Rachel then runs up and down the halls screaming, "He got it! He got it!" Celebrations and hugs ensue and continue on into the night where she attends mutual with her Beehives who show her the newest 83 (literally) pictures of Justin Bieber on their iPod Touch apps because they KNOW how much Sister Nichols appreciates her some J. Biebs. Yes.

Thursday, Jan. 26: Jason gets his teef cleaned and officially accepts an offer as a forecasting analyst with the corporate offices of Coldwater Creek. He calls and cancels a second interview with a company in Seattle that was supposed to be held Friday (another story for another day). The deal is sealed. We know where we're headed--a little place we like to call, Sandpoint, ID.

These last four months have not been easy for us. In fact, I didn't realize how heavy the burden had become until it was lifted from me yesterday, and I took a deep breath for the first time--my lungs stretched further than they have in a long while. Even though the stress accumulated gradually, it was very real nonetheless. The waiting. The tears. The impatience. The surrender. The endurance. The prayers. The phone calls. The endless resumes. The emails. The faith. The fights. The wishing. The disappointment. The hope. The leads. The interviews. The holding of breath. The dead ends. The hormones (Oh! The hormones). It's amazing what the human spirit is capable of adapting to and coping with. And in that moment when you break through the weight of it all and come out on the other side, things are clearer and sweeter and fresher. We. Did. It. Jason did it! The Lord delivers and led us to where we should be. We want to thank our many family and friends who have kept tabs, pulled strings, said prayers, and sent texts and phone calls of encouragement on our behalf. You know who you are. And you have no idea what your support has meant to us these last few months. We knew we'd get through it somehow, and that's where you guys came in. We stinkin' love you guys!

On my way home yesterday, I found myself sending up Thank-You prayer after Thank-You prayer. I also decided I've been living my life like an egg these last four months--white, round (growing that way, anyway), a fragile, delicate shell, my emotions swaying around inside of me. And then yesterday, I cracked to spew all that I'd been holding inside to end up like a slimy, slobbery, salty mess as I cried tears of relief. It was hard. Yes, it could have been harder. But it was still hard because it was our trial and ours alone. Call me crazy, but I'm glad that we were allowed to struggle--that in infinite His wisdom, a loving Father in Heaven would grant us the experience of tasting the bitter so that we could know the sweet. Jason and I grew a lot both individually and as a couple. Not in a million years would I think that we would be packing up and heading 70 miles up the road to the Idaho Panhandle, but nothing has felt this right in a looong time.

The worst of this particular trial is probably behind us. And now it's on to another. Isn't that how life goes? Isn't that how the littlest things become the most important things (like little baby toes kicking me from the inside). At the end of the day, there is always, always, always something to be thankful for, even amidst the world's hardest days.

But seriously, you guys. I'm SO glad Jason got a job.

More details to come.