Fourth Update 4-26-2020

Hello! 

I decided that it was time to do another Hughes update! As you all know, we are in a crazy season. This update is extremely long so I am sorry for that. We thank all of you who have been praying for us. We love you! Now here is how we are doing during Covid-19. 

Covid-19 has caused a lot of things to change within the world. Lots of social interactions have been cancelled. In our life, this means that unfortunately we are unable to attend church physically. Our church has been doing as much as they can to make our church stay connected. This includes an online service every week, online prayer groups, online q&a’s with our pastors, and encouraging updates from our elders. Joey and I miss attending church in the traditional way, but I am glad we are still able to connect. My trip back home was also cancelled. I had to miss my nephew’s first birthday party. Luckily, thanks to zoom I was able to attend virtually! In case you were wondering, IT WAS SO CUTE!!!! 

As you know, schools are also closed until at least next school year. I do not personally have children but I do nanny for a family of 5. I always have the 2 year-old but now I also have the 7 year-old and the 12 year-old. Things are definitely crazy now as I try to help homeschool them. The kids are struggling teaching themselves and I haven’t done the material in years. This means that not only am I trying to make sure that they attend their zoom meetings each week but I am also having to relearn a lot of information. We have experienced many bumps in the road as I continue assisting with homeschooling, being the referee between the kids, and helping the kids as they face not being able to see their friends. I love this family and am very happy to be helping during this time (even if sometimes I want to pull my hair out). This job has been and continues to be a very good learning experience for the time in our future (not now) where we have kids of our own and this time only furthers that learning. 

Due to Covid-19, Joey’s job had closed down. But God was gracious to us! Initially, Joey’s job paid every employee for their time off! Joey was off of work for several weeks with full pay and full benefits. It was amazing! Joey was able to work on homework and we were able to have some unexpected time together. Prior Covid-19, we had very limited time to be together. As the quarantine began to get more severe, my department at The Salvation Army closed down. I was offered a high-risk job but with my personal contact at my nanny job, I did not want to put the kids at risk. Joey was eventually laid off. This was devastating. Joey loved the work he did and the income was really important now more than ever. 

During all of this, we were informed that our car needed some significant work done. This cost us over $1400. When this happened, I got so anxious. Joey no longer had a job and I no longer had my Salvation Army income. But God provided still. 

When it was announced that we would be getting a stimulus check, we were so relieved. When we got the stimulus check, we were able to pay many bills months in advance and replenish the emergency fund we had used on the car. The stimulus check eased my mind as for a couple of months we could live on just my part-time income. We ended up being even more blessed as the weeks went on. 

The Salvation Army decided to furlough their employees in my department. I assumed nothing would change but they decided to give every employee a paycheck for some unworked hours. This paycheck was more than I had ever made working as this job was very part-time for me. We were able to continue to pay bills in advance and even put some into loans. Joey ended up getting a job for doordash and is now supplementing his income with it. At this time, we had a $1000 emergency fund and many bills paid in advance.

We saw God working through our finances more than ever before. We were contacted by my federal loans and told that 4 of my loans (I have 4 private loans as well in which nothing has changed) had been put into forbearance without penalty or interest. We have been making the monthly payments and been blessed enough to put extra money into the loans for a while now.  If things continue to go the way that they are we will have our first loan paid off within 2 months! At the beginning of 2020, we had a total of $50909.68. Now, we have a total of $48549.34! God has been so good and continues to be amazing! 

Overall, we are doing very well and realize how blessed we are! God is good all the time! We love all of you and will continue to be doing updates. Be safe ❤