This and that

We're moving!

I know not many are following this blog, but a long time ago I wrote about the blessing of our home. And, the miracle that God was doing through our landlord putting a new home where this one was at. Well...time went by and it didn't happen. In the meantime, the house got worse and worse and - we couldn't take it anymore! God said it was time to move. So, I began to pray and pray. My exact prayer was "God, blow our minds" because He is amazing like that.

He did.

Beyond anything I ever thought possible.



















Isn't that beautiful?

Wow. I can't wait to look at that all the time. Sigh.

The 31st of Jan. is the big moving day.

Anyway, in the meantime Christmas was great. My husband got a dutch oven and he's been out cooking all the time having a great time. Here's some bananna bread I made up and he cooked up.




















The recipe called for pennies underneath to let the air flow around it. Isn't that funny?

Praises to God!!!!!!

Yay!!!!

It came!
IT CAME!!!!

We honestly were losing hope. To remind you of what in the world I am talking about, click here. We had lost our rent and didn't expect to get it back. We went ahead and paid the landlord again and just expected that we would "work it out" as we could. Christmas was looking a little bleak, but hey - it's not all about gifts, right? :-)

I am so thankful. I opened the mailbox today and there it was staring right at me- the missing envelope. Oh I could jump for joy!! YAY!!

I just wanted to let you all know the awesome news. And give God glory. And say thank you to everyone who may have said a prayer for our family. There were lots of waves of doubt as we heard story after story telling us how they had lost mail and never found it again, how a mailman in our town had been taking mail awhile back and how thieves can "white wash" (or essentially wash in the washing machine) checks to cash them. Yeah. So, we had some moments that tested our faith. But, praise God - He is SO faithful!!

Thank you again for everyone who lifted up our circumstance.

I smell change up ahead!

I've been busy (make that very busy) working on hubbys resume! Yep, there's a possibility that my hard working man just might have better hours and could be HOME more!!!!!! If you all only knew the prayers and tears. God does hear when we cry out to Him! This job in particular is almost like a dream because of the hours. They are SET. Which alone just makes me want to jump for joy. But, beyond that, they are GOOD hours...6:30-3:30 and only 5 minutes away from home. Not to mention there would be a pay increase.

Here's where we need prayer. The job post was taken offline last night. Not surprisingly because it had been up a month as of yesterday. My ambitious husband will be there with resume in hand at 8am tomorrow morning to inquire nonetheless. I don't know for sure if God has marked this job for him (although he seems to fit the bill pretty well), but I do know that He is moving in the area of hub's work. That alone makes me VERY excited!

Like I said, I've been working hard on his resume since I heard about the job. I am just now finishing it up. I am excited, even if this job does not pan out, because we are now fully prepared for whatever God has planned next.

God is good.

In times of thirst and in times of plenty.

He is always good.

Thank you for taking a moment to pray specifically for him. I will be stepping out in prayer, asking the Lord for this job. Only He knows, but it appears to fulfill (from my small brained perspective) my hearts desire to have my best friend around us more often. I'll keep you updated if/when God does place him in a new job.

Thanks again for your prayers!!

SURPRISE: I'm having a BaBy!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, you read that right. I'm pregnant. Amazing I know. I think so too. It all has happend so quickly. I'll tell you the whole story here in a little bit. I just said I'd tell you after the weekend was over so I didn't want to let you down. Cuz I just know you've been checking back here every two seconds all day to see if my secret was out yet. Um, yeah, Rrriiigghhtt... :o)

Anyway, I'll try to write back to you after a bit and tell the whole story. In the meantime, if you read this and you know my phone number, you need to call so I can tell you in person. It's just been busy. We went out of town this weekend - and I had to tell the grandparents first you know.

I'm tired, kids are tired and I gotta go.
talk to you in a little...

tee hee hee - I'm having a baby!!

House Blessings...

God has been so good to us in where we live as I have written numerous times. Speaking of which, remember this post? Well, here's the update of what's been happening. First, we have a friend from church who buys and sells homes for a living and we asked him right away to help us look for a good deal for our landlord. Well, we've been waiting, and waiting and praying and waiting, and FINALLY something came along. We haven't presented it to our landlord yet, but it has all of the qualifications we think that he's looking for. All in the midst of this, we keep wondering how much are we going to put out more in order to do this and are we going to get ourselves into some kind of a trap? Eeek. But, as Christians, we must believe that God is so intimately involved that He will make right come out right. So, like I said, we haven't yet presented it to our landlord and then this afternoon as I checked the mail, we got what looks like God's provision helping us to qualify for a loan. It is a state "program" available for new home buyers. The qualification is it has an income limit of $85,000 annually for a family of four. Not that I'm telling you all what we make, but we don't pass that (sMiLe). SO, with this thing we will not only have a great rate, but also a grant (non-repayable) for the state to pay 4% on the down. AMAZING, no? I'm not too into programs, but in this case, it's here for first time homebuyers and someone is going to use the money. Why not us. It sure would help us out. Anyway, I don't have too much to say on the subject, except that it seems that God is moving! And, we are patiently waiting. :-) I will update as things unfold.

And life just keeps on moving...

Got back late Friday night. Had a really good time. God had blessed us with out of the ordinary expenses and just in time to go shop. :-) I'm usually not much of a shopper, but give me some spending money & a mom who does like to shop...and...well, I'm buying things! We went to some outlet malls, which was neat. Little girl has PLENTY of clothes now, we'll just put it that way. This girl has been dressing sharp since she was an infant, but not because of me. I shop at Walmart. My sister in law is a shopper, a friend with a daughter the same age as mine, she shops too. Plus two sets of grandparents, and well, she's all decked out!

I could cry thinking about how blessed we are, really. I am thankful for all that God has done for us. :-) Ok, that crying part just might be hormones, but I really do appreciate how God has taken care of us. I know not everyone is able to have nice new beautiful clothes for their children. I've been there before.

While we're on the subject, I am so thankful for that extra money that came, because the book wasn't done in time to have it shipped regularly, so we had to spend $70 (yes, you read right) to get the book to us in time for Grandpa's birthday. Thank God for His provision!!

ANYWAY, we've been busy today and tomorrow is going to be a great day celebrating Jesus!

Hope your weekend has been blessed too!!

Our AMAZING God...

I am SOO in AWE right now!

We are living on a nice sized lot (1/2 acre maybe) in a manufactured home neighborhood. VERY nice neighbors. And, we have felt REALLY blessed, considering we are paying about HALF of the average for rent. The downside of our home has been, among other things, the age of this mobile. It's from 1959! It was an older couple who lived here, so truthfully, considering it's age, it is beautiful! When we moved in it had all of the old style wall paper, yes carpet (golden yellow, or pee yellow depending on my mood :-D ). It had an old fridge made from General Motors, if that tells you anything. (by the way, it will be gone here soon!) And, it's just kind of small. Maybe not as much small as it is awkward. The kitchen is itty bitty. I'm so thankful that our landlord was willing to let us move in a dishwasher & paint, etc. We have two bedrooms and a half room that isn't heated. ANYWAY, I tell you all of this to say, we had been praying for God to give us a new home. We started looking around and that's how I know the prices for rent around here. We considered buying, but the time for us is just not right yet. So recently I made up my mind, I'm just going to MAKE it work. This has been a real headache for me. I have moved ALL of us into EVERY single room there is (including the living room sadly). And, I haven't found any feasible solution. SO, just as I made up my mind, we're just going to stay here until we absolutely can't...God moved mightily in our circumstance! Our landlord decided he wants to move a newer home (above 1990) onto this lot!!! He's paying for all of the moving. And, WE get to look for the home! As soon as we find one that we all agree upon, we can move!! I am just amazed right now. Really. God really does provide! Friend of mine, you CAN believe God to move for you in your circumstances. He is a God of blessing. And, in the mean time, be SO thankful for what He has already provided. God ALWAYS comes through. We just sometimes miss it because we're complaining so much that we don't see what He's given. I have been there by the way. Too many times.

Lord I just give YOU glory.

Let your name be glorified and shone through this circumstance I pray.

Amen.

My Testimony

I had planned on doing this at some point, but since Candy (at http://keepingthehome.com) is asking for testimonies, I thought I'd quickly type mine up. Actually I'm finding with this blog I'm typing things up quickly WAY too often. So, if things don't quite come out right in my posts it's because I'm trying to not neglect my duties & keep my typing to a minimum. Just an FYI.

Ok, so here's a little glimpse into how I met Jesus Christ.


My Testimony
I grew up without knowing Him or anything about Him. Truthfully. I vaguely remember once watching TV and the 700 club was on (I still don't know much about that show) but, they asked if anyone wanted to pray to just bow their heads & pray with them. I was about 10 or so when I bowed my head & accepted Jesus. Immediately I KNEW something was different. I began writing Jesus Loves You & putting it into mail boxes & writing it all over the place. That night, my uncle came over (I was already scared of him, as he was a prison guard) and began to criticize me for being a “religious freak”. SO, I tucked it all away and stopped talking about it. Well, not surprisingly I got into a lot of trouble growing up. I had boyfriend after boyfriend. Felt alone a lot of the time. Tried on many occasions to kill myself. Began doing drugs. I got to the point before I'd even get out of bed I'd take a hit from the bong because I couldn't cope without being high. Slept my life away and spent the rest of the day in tears because I wanted to die. Somehow in the middle of all of this I had a child out of wedlock and I began to try to find answers in life. God had given me some faith. I believed. Really believed. I just didn't know WHAT I believed. I had faith that people could be healed outside of drugs, etc. I believed people needed to be connected in a deeper light. Well, God allowed me to see the “other side” and the agenda that the devil is propagating to usher in the anti-Christ. I was really naive. I just knew that there was an answer. And, things kept clicking. I was being “led by the spirit” but had no idea what exactly that meant. Some VERY “trippy” things happened to me within 6 months time. Things I can't even explain, but I understood at the time. A lot of it was run off of witchcraft and mind control from those I was around. ANYWAY, in the midst of trying to “figure life out” God showed me EXACTLY who He is. And, He was in complete opposition from what I had been involved in. Like I said, I believed in healing so I had become certified in Reiki. And, I had been going to the Church of Religious Science. I had been involved in a “business adventure” with a big name called IBI. (or income builders international) And, SO much more. Anyway, Jan 28, 2001 I got a flyer to go to a “healing revival”. I had no idea what that really was. I wrote in my diary that night “I am going to meet a man who heals”. I laugh even to this day at the next day's diary note which said, “I met Him and His name is Jesus Christ!” I didn't quite understand. And, truthfully I still don't get all that happened. I've been faithful to that same church since the night I was born there. Which is a miracle in itself. All I know is that when I accepted Jesus as my savior, I was SET FREE from bondage that I could have never been able to do on my own. I know that He is real. The Bible is real. And, not only is it REAL, it's HOLY!! Because those experiences I had before Christ, they were “real” but they weren't righteous. I didn't have to see clearly, ie: that I am NOT perfect, no matter how much I say it to myself (positive affirmations, etc.) I'm not sure what all I was involved in, but I do know that God showed Himself to me. And He continues to do so. I've had some difficult times since I met Jesus. But, He's been there. And, He promises to never leave nor forsake me, even when I'm a real mess-up. He is the love of my life. Oh speaking of which, right after I met the Lord, He sent me a knight in shining armor. I am now married to a wonderful man whom I love and who loves God as much as I do. Thank God for His love! Amen.

I'm baaaccckkk....

It was a lot of fun. And, not nearly as bad as I was thinking it may be. Yes, there was drinking, but there was time to witness to people too!! In fact, one of the highlights of the trip was a friend of my mom's who said she was sorry for staring at me, but it had been awhile since she saw me & she was wondering what it was that made me so happy. She said there's just something different about you!

PRAISES BE TO THE MOST HIGH!!!!!!!!

That's a miracle!

Of course, when she asked me what it was, I gave all glory to God. That He had changed me & it wasn't that long ago I would have been drinking right along with you. (her) But, that now that Jesus lives in my heart, I don't need to drink anymore!! Yay!!!! Don't you think that's the most awesome thing?? It really does go to show, we need to show our joy. In the midst of my difficulties of laundry piling up and no money and a husband who is working hard and we miss him. I can get a sour face. Oh Lord, help me to always let You shine through. I don't know about you, but I thought that was just amazing. We did have fun though. It was like a party the whole time. We loved to watch the karaoke people. My hubby and I had a nice time just looking out at the waves in the ocean. I'd love to live near the ocean. I missed my kids. The night before coming home, I looked at some little kids & tears ran down my cheek as I thought of mine. They don't seem like they missed us too much. They had a blast the entire time just playing away. Anyway, now it's back to laundry and trying to get this house back to normal.