The Lord Gives and Takes Away

Before I was even discharged from the Mother Baby Unit, Duncan and I were on the hunt for a nanny. The reality was and is that I struggle to cope on my own and get to the myriad of appointments I need to attend in order to get well.

Ideally we wanted someone:

Without kids. I didn't want someone bringing their own kids over to our house, making more noise and mess.

Without a job. Or at least someone available a couple of days a week.

Local. I didn't want live-in help, if possible. 

With good English.

Able to keep up with young children - robust, energetic, no-one elderly or with a bad back etc.

I thought the chances of finding someone out here would be slim. After a possible candidate turned out to be unavailable, we found someone....a friend of ours from church. She's 24, married with no kids, not working since she's waiting to begin full-time external study, and was happy to come and help me out a couple of days a week.

Things were going well. It was great to have my hands free for a bit. She played with Rory so I could settle Flynn or get a few things done. Or she looked after Flynn so I could spend time with Rory and sleep in the afternoon while Rory slept (Flynn only catnaps still unfortunately). I got to go to appointments by myself. I marvelled and praised God for how He had provided when I thought the situation was hopeless.

But last week we found out that, due to unexpected circumstances, our nanny can no longer come. At first, I thought it'd be ok. I'd manage somehow. Now the reality has set in and it's a juggle and a hard slog. I'm still far from well, and I don't know how I'm going to find more help.

I don't understand why God has allowed this to happen when everything was going so well. But I will trust Him. He knows what He's doing. The twist in the tale may not be what I'd have written, but this is just a very small sub-plot, and God knows how this fits into His story.