It's been over a year since we started affiliate marketing, 7 months since my Mom passed away suddenly, 3 months since we started digital marketing, & 2 months since I was let go from my job. What does that all mean you might ask? Life is full of ups & downs, changes & stagnations, joys & sorrows. We can try & prepare for the unexpected as best we think possible, but we'll never be completely ready. We can ask God 'why', but that's never a good idea. We'll never get an answer until we get to heaven. Of all the good, bad & otherwise in the Bible, God never says why He did what He did. Since I've been looking for a new job, I've learned a lot. Mainly, it doesn't matter what I want or don't want, I really don't have a say in the big picture of life. I can only pray for guidance, do my best & don't give up. No feeling sorry for myself, no getting upset about what happens, no worrying about the future. God's got this & all I can do is praise Him no matter what.

Another thing that I recently heard, was never compare yourself to others. You're only depriving yourself of joy. Keeping that in mind has really helped me keep my head up, in addition to praying & staying positive. Are there things we need to watch out for? Absolutely. Do I need to still be looking for a job & working on my wife's business? Definitely!

Since I've had some free time recently, we went on a road trip to see family. 2 daughters, 2 sisters & my Dad. It was a great trip, even with all the driving we did. I even got some hyper-miling in:

Yup! 39 mpg in our Kia Telluride. I wasn't able to match that on any other leg of the trip, but I was consistently getting 33 mpg.

We hadn't seen Dad since Mom's funeral in January, but it was still a great visit. We had him make a list of things he wanted to get done & we took care of them over the course of the week. He's got his different daily routines to keep himself occupied & he is still very active in both churches he attends as well as his weekly visit to the nearest abortion clinic where he & a group of several others hold a prayer vigil. Their group has seen the closing of 2-3 clinics over the 20 years they've been doing this. AWESOME!

My wife & I also did some ballistic stress relieving with some of our cordless hole punchers. After about an hour of ventilating, we were relieved of whatever stress we had. We highly recommend this type of stress relief, IYKYK. If you plan your therapy accordingly, it may run you less than $50, but YMMV.

So, what's next? Well, I keep praying & praising God, honoring & taking care of my wife, working on the home business, & looking for a new job. It is even cooling off this week (85-90. 70% humidity) for central Florida, so I'll be outside tomorrow working around the house some. For what it's worth, avoid the news for extended periods of time until the crazy season is over. I don't care which side of the aisle you're on, too much of what is going on these days is not healthy. I typically go to an aggregate news website that just lists headlines from varying news sources. Many days, I don't click on anything. I know that is one thing that keeps my stress levels low these days.

Remember that we don't know why God put us where & when He did, but we need to thank Him & praise Him for doing so everyday! Until next time, take care & may God bless you & your family!