Learning opportunities & blessings this holiday season

Praise! This year, for Christmas I thought it would be much harder than it really was. I was actually dreading this season because friends and family are what seem to give more of a distinct meaning to these special dates that lie on the calendar. These ‘stationary figures’ trigger our desires to celebrate in certain ways that are familiar and become family traditions. Although we know somewhere in the back of our minds that these figures have nothing to do with the real meaning of Jesus’s birth, rarely do we have the opportunity to ‘prove’ that we understand it. Since I knew that these stationary figures in my life were no longer there to keep the ‘spirit of the Holiday’ the same as usual, this was hard to accept. This meant that my comfortable, stationary role, all planned out within this holiday chaos was about to become an unknown without any kind of familiarity. GREAT, many of you know how much I love to embrace change! UGH! This is probably why I get so many opportunities for a ‘do-over’? Try once AGAIN to embrace some sort of change, with a heart that is no longer bent on what I am used to. Re-occurring theme in my life! Instead of dread, I had to ask the Lord to change my focus so that I could embrace change with the attitude that these are new opportunities and exciting things that God wants for me and my family.
I guess you could say this year was different in the fact that I realized something pretty simple, but imperative. We had the opportunity to change head knowledge into heart application, due to our circumstances. Sometimes, due to all the hub-bub of familiarities and chaos during Christmas, the simplicity of gratefulness and celebration of our saviors birth can easily be lost. The obligations of family pictures, gatherings of friends and family, school plays, work parties, ect. can take the simplicity of the celebration and turn it into an overblown production of obligations. All Jesus cares about is the simplicity of a relationship with Him and remembering to celebration the gift of His son to us. With or without familiarities, Jesus’s birth is still the real meaning behind this date! Christmas is not about traditions or everybody in the family being present and accounted for, but a deeper reverence for what the Lord has done for us and our desire to grow closer to Him everyday. In being so out of my element this year, I also realized that I had to ask the Lord to make me “feel like” celebrating Christmas because there was such a huge temptation to let the Grinch take over! Since I wasn’t able to cling to traditions and familiarities, I instead had the opportunity to cling to the Lord instead. Can we all say DUH? As usual, God is faithful to meet us where we are at and then bless our socks off when we stop concentrating on what we do not have and shift our focus on the true blessing of having Him in our lives.

The weekend before Christmas, John took some time off & Sarah offered to babysit the kiddos while we did our Christmas shopping. SO the kids had a fun day of playing with their big sister and we got all of the items on our shopping list taken care of.
Christmas day, John was working, but we were invited over to Chris & Donna’s house (pastor and his wife) for Christmas dinner. John did join us once he got off. We all had a nice time of fellowship, spending the day with friends and eating Christmas dinner with our church family. Unfortunately, due to our fun time of spending Christmas away from home, we missed out on family phone calls but because of the time difference we still got the opportunity to chat a small amount.
On the 26th, the kids woke us up at around 7am to celebrate Christmas. Tons of fun and grateful kiddos were so excited to see what was hiding under that tree. After inspecting their new toys and fun stuff we hooked up the newest family toy. The Wii. There were quite a few hours of play before getting ready for the family function later that afternoon. We were ever so fortunate to be invited to a holiday dinner at Sarah & Matt’s house in Naples. I guess it is a family tradition that both sides of their family’s come together for a combined dinner the day after Christmas at their home. We were privileged to get to be apart of this gathering and meet all the members of their families. (On Matt’s side: his parents, grandma, sister & friend of the family Lisa were there and on Sarah’s side: her parents, Aunt Julie and brother Jared were there). We were a bit nervous about being ‘the odd man out’ in the mix of both families; however, we were made to feel very welcomed and were warmly received by all. Even though our kids were the only ones there, they also seemed to have a lot of fun chatting with all the adults and pretty much talking everyone’s ears off who would listen. The kids were also terribly spoiled rotten by their sister & her parents. I was shocked that Sarah’s parents seemed pretty excited at the chance to Christmas shop for our kids and see their eyes light as they played with their new & unexpected gifts. After I got Ben’s Batman toys out of their package, John & Sarah’s brother, Jared couldn’t get outside fast enough to play with Ben and show him how his new toys worked. It was quite funny watching those big boys play with the toys and revert back to childhood! It was quite nice to feel as if God had taken the huge gap that was filled by our family & friends from back home and replaced it with HIS designed plan for us. God is very good! There were also a lot of pictures taken at Sarah’s, so once I get some sent to me I will post them for you all to see! Hope you all had a nice Christmas full of blessings and family memories!

Some holiday pictures.......

We visited a place called Sanibel Island today. We had heard it was a beautiful island with a $6 toll fee to get over the bridge. It really is quite a lovely place but much too rich for our blood. Still made some nice pictures though. Here is the litehouse all spiffied up for Christmas. John thinks they need a Calvary Chapel on that Island but this is the island that gets evacuated when the hurricanes come our way...... I enjoy being safe more inland and visiting the pretty places?























Here are the kiddos on some driftwood!
























Close-up!























Here they are with daddy!

Tried to make sand castles but with playing in the water as well and finding treasures like shells, sea urchins and sea sponges....... too many exciting things to do besides building a castle. A lot of digging and moving sand around though....

It's so bright it makes it hard to look at the camera with your eyes open!

Here is our neighbors dog. The neighbor is a single guy who works a lot of hours during the day in landscaping. Since his dog is very well trained, we asked if he could come over and play with the kids & our dog, instead of him being locked in a crate all day! I think it is a good situation for both of us since he gets to be around people who will give him lots of love and we get to have another dog that goes home at night! His name is picket........ I think the guy gave him that name due to the white stripe in between his eyes looks like a fence picket? IDK? He is a sweet doggie!

Merry Christmas all!

Long time no hear.....

I know I haven't been very good about keeping you all updated on what is going on but there really isn't much I can tell. We have been struggling with some things having to do with what our purpose is here, but God is always faithful to continue to encourage us and give us glimpses of the possibilities and purposes of His plan for our church family and this area as a whole. The solution to all of that was to keep our focus on the Lord rather than our limited circumstances. John has started a weekly Men's prayer group on Thursdays evenings at the church. This was rather neat to give the men that desire to reach out, an opportunity to have an accountability group, fellowship and encourage each other.

I hear you Tri-Citians got snow........ apart of me is jelous but apart of me is not so much! The kids saw that New Orleans got snow and got all excited that it might make it down where we are but unfortunately we are too far down in the tropics for that possibility? With the weird weather though I am sure anything is possible even if it isn't likely...... It would definately answer one Christmas wish even if it would be catastophic for native Floridians who know nothing about driving in the stuff. That would be a day to stay home and off the roads!

Thanksgiving was a bit hard being so far away from family but it was really no different than every other year in some ways. John spend the day of Thanksgiving working so we celebrated on Friday instead. Sarah was going to come over but was informed by her employer earlier in the week that she was expected to work on Black Friday. We still had people from church join us though and they were a hoot to visit with and share this holiday with!

Some neat things that have happened lately at church. We have had some new couples come and join us. One couple moved recently from NY and were apart of Bill Galitins church when it was very small and watched it grow. Her health was one of the main reasons they moved to a warmer climate but it is exciting to hear them talk about the fact that God moved them here to US! It is nice to have some Vetran Calvary-ites who really seem to have a mature faith along with a heart to serve.
This last week we had a YOUNG (late 20s I would guess) couple visit us at church. They had 3 children and their oldest was a boy and Ben's age. (We have been praying for little boys Ben's age since our church doesn't have any) They live in the Port Charlotte/Englewood area which is about 30-45 minutes North of us. I guess they are California natives who were also called to the area just North of us to begin a Calvary. He was a Youth pastor at his church in Ca but then, like us began to see the Lord leading them elsewhere. They were visiting us since we were the nearest Calvary to them. It was very neat to hear their story and get the fellowship from folks closer to MY age....... Not sure if they are going to keep coming for a while or continue to try and offer a fellowship for those in their area up north. I, selfishly, pray that they get to stay with us and maybe do a homefellowship thing during the week for those in their area!!!!

John is finding his job a little more challenging than he thought it would be. He was really hoping for a housing unit where he could build relationships and get to know the inmates and therefore get opportunities to witness more often. Instead he is at a post where he shares with another officer. They spend half the shift with the mentally insane and half the post with 'normal but high risk' criminals. The high risk criminals is the 'good' part of the day whereas dealing with those that are not all there is not really very easy. Most of them are either yelling at you or screaming at the top of their lungs because of the fact that they are in jail and might not exactly know why. You can't really get them to stop either through means that get normal inmates to stop their antics since it is really a mental health issue. So all you can really do is hope you can tune it out and WISH your time would go by faster. There have been a couple times John has entertained asking to be transferred out of this assignment but apparently God hasn't given him the go-ahead to do so yet. Although there haven't been many witnessing opportunities at his assignment there, God has put other people in our separate paths to witness to and show them Jesus.

The kids have gotten plugged in to a drama club from the homeschool group we joined. I figured a smaller group might more easily allow them to form connections and make them feel more comfortable if or when we attend bigger events. The kids will be singing at some old folks homes for Christmas and spreading some much needed Christmas cheer! To sum up some other stuff......

Things I miss about home:

~Knowing the difference between really cold verses needing to wear pants if the temperature stays in the high 60s. SO SAD how fast your blood thins out here!

~Snow and my first thought at the first sight of snow is to call Kristy Good and ask her if she is watching it sipping moondust tea!

~Watching the kiddos play in the fresh snow!

~SLOW news days where there is no mention of child abuse or homicide. Here it is pretty common to have both in the news daily.

~Gardening according to seasons.

~Spending time with family during the holidays.

~Sending my leftover food to my neighbors or family.

~Being oblivious to the economic devastation going on in the rest of the country while the Tri-cities was insulated from much of it.

~Living around 'real people' rather than abandon/forclosed homes.

~Having a dozen people I could call and get together with for coffee or a playdate or BOTH.

~Having many excuses to get out of doing school and being a bad example for others not wanting to take a day off until I gave them something more fun to do!

~Not having my mom shop for me when I need something somewhat stylish to wear. SAD I KNOW!

~Smelling Christmas in the chill of the air and the weather getting us in the 'feel' of Christmas coming. It is weird putting up a tree when it feels a little more like spring.....


Things I don't miss about home:

~If we had stayed we would not be in the center of God's will and would be reaping the consequences of that. Don't even want to imagine what that spanking would be like. OUCH!

~The stress that came with the on-going saga of Politics at John's old job...... As The County Turns! Sorry for those of you still dealing with this!

~Being used in the lives of people who have hit rock bottom and due to their economic situation are totally open to the gospel. Hard to see but at least we get to offer the only Hope that only God can give regardless of situation.

~Being in shorts & T-shirts right now, spending time at the beach in and the kids getting to play outside ALL in the middle of winter.

~Watching the kids get to know their sister. Watching she and John interact with that same sense of humor and sarcasm. I am out of my league there so all I can do is watch!!

SO, this is what is going on here in our world! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and PLEASE remember to pray for all those that are hurting this Holiday season.

Neat Ideas for Christmas trees

These we a couple neat Christmas tree ideas to get kids to understand tie in some neat analogies for Christmas! ENJOY!

The Jesse Tree
Excerpted from 'Advent and Lent Activities for Children' with permission of Twenty-Third Publications. BY: Sheila Kielly and Sheila GeraghtyOrigin: The Jesse tree represents Jesus' family tree. The name is taken from Isaiah 11:1, in which Jesus is referred to as a shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse, the father of David. The ornaments on the Jesse tree tell of Jesus' ancestors, and of the events leading to Jesus' birth.
Symbols:
Adam and Eve ~ Apple (Genesis 2:4-3:24)
Noah ~ Ark or rainbow (Genesis 6:11-22, 7:17-8:12, 20-9:17)
Abraham ~ Knife (Genesis 12:1-7, 15:1-6)
Isaac ~ Ram (Genesis 22:1-19)
Jacob ~ Ladder (Genesis 27:41-28:22)
Joseph ~ Colorful coat (Genesis 37, 39:1-50:21)
Moses ~ Tablets of the law (Exodus 2:1-4:20)
David ~ Harp (1 Samuel 16:17-23)
Isaiah ~ Lion and lamb (Isaiah 1:10-20, 6:1-13, 8:11-9:7)
Mary ~ Lily (Luke 1:26-38)
Elizabeth ~ Small home (Luke 1:39-55)
Joseph ~ Hammer or saw (Matthew 1:18-25)

Connection: Roots are important parts of a tree. As people, we need to know our roots, as well. Often, we run from one thing to another without reflecting on where we've been or where we are going. As we create a Jesse tree during this Advent season, let us pause and look at our lives to see on whose shoulders we stand.
Activity: Make a Jesse tree for your home. First, take a large, bare branch and secure it in a pot of sand or rocks. (You can also use a large potted plant or evergreen.) Create ornaments that trace Jesus' royal line by making symbols for some of the people found in the Hebrew testament. Make the ornaments out of cardboard or construction paper and decorate as you like. Instead of hanging all the ornaments on the tree at one time, you may want to hang one on every other day of Advent. Read the Scripture citation given here as you hang each ornament on the tree.
Here is a link to see one that is done up: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7202/advent.html

Here is another neat idea for those of you with little kids or for those that are looking for neat ideas to get the kiddos thinking; saw this on another blog so I figured I would pass along her neat ideas!:
We decorate our tree with deliberately chosen ornaments, each one is one of the following shapes or images, all symbolizing the Gospel Message. We have a "tree trimming party" with family and friends Thanksgiving Weekend and put up the tree. As we decorate, we read the scriptures for each ornament to help us remember God's love for us!
Our Christmas Tree Ornaments… what they mean to us:
ANGELS: God's messengers were the first to announce the birth of the Christ child.
Luke 1: 26-38,
BELLS: Bells ring to call people to worship. Psalm 100,
CANDLES AND LIGHTS: Our home glows with light during this time of the year to remind us that Jesus came as the Light of the World.Matthew 5:14-16, John 8:12,
CHRISTMAS TREE: Symbolizes that our God is eternal and we have eternal life through His Son when we put our trust in Him. 2 Peter 3:17-18,
CROSS: Reminding us of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross to pay for our sins, but also our call to take up our cross and follow Him.Matthew 16:24,
GIFTS: God sent His son and that's the greatest gift of all. Gifts also represent the significant gifts of the Magi. If they don't show our love for our family or friend, then they shouldn't be given.Matthew 2:10-11,
HEART: God LOVED us so much that He sacrificed His Son for us!
John 3:16-18
NATIVITY: Reminding us of the story of Christ’s BirtBible: Luke 2
SHEPHERD'S STAFF: We call it a candy cane. But truly it is a shepherd's staff. The colors symbolize the blood and purity of Christ. Psalm 23,
SNOWFLAKES: Reminding us that Jesus’ blood washes our sins white as snow.Isaiah 1:18, STAR: God proclaimed His truth in creation by lighting up the heavens with a star that announced the birth of Christ the King.Matthew 2:1-12

Praise!

Just wanted to update you all on the car business! We ended up having ALL the tires replaced on the little car since Costco has a rebate special..... When one blow you have to buy 2 anyway so why not just get all 4.
The van...... it is so odd how that all worked out. We figured it would be a huge expensive thing because we thought something in the van was draining the battery. Come to find out that the 2 things that wear out more frequently here than anywhere else in the country are tires and batteries. HUH, and for our family both like to go around the same time! :o) Since we changed climates, eventhough we replaced the battery in the van, just over a year ago it was so badly drained it needed a new one! I guess it was even bulging on one side too which I suppose would be a bad thing. Our pastors wife told us to keep our receipt from the battery replacement since most warrenties are still in effect by the time it is needing to be replaced again! Crazy weird but kind of a blessing I guess? I made sure they checked it several times to see if anything was drawing from the battery when the car was off but their little computer machine thing-a-majiggers found NOTHING! Anytime we had the van in before this for repair it always topped over $1000 so when we heard it was only going to be $170, this was quite a nice change! Hope you all have a wonderful Turkey day with your friends and family! HUGS!

Funny how things work out....

Yes, I know...... Two posts in one day? It has been an eventful day and unfortunately this is not a funny haha but funny in an ODD way! We have been having trouble with our van for about a month now. I will spare you the details but we were asking around to find a good mechanic and made an appointment to drop it off tonight so they could look at it tomorrow. So, when John got home from his long day at work, we jumped the battery in the van and caravaned off to drop it off at the repair shop. On the way there, we were not further than a mile away from home and all of the sudden I can't see John in the review mirror anymore. Odd I thought, but since traffic was pretty heavy due to the time of day and the increase in population, I figured he just got behind so I kept going and stopped on the side of the road till he caught up. Well, he never came, so I back-tracked trying to figure out what had happened. The 'good car' that was going to keep us moving while the van was in the shop, blew a tire. By the time I found John he had already changed the tire and had the spare on. After dropping off the van, we tried to get to somewhere in time to buy a new tire but because of all the delays everything was closed! As soon as it happened, John immediately knew it was just an attack, but knowing this still doesn't make things any better..... Please pray for John as he uses this car to get to work tomorrow that he makes it there and back safely........ the county owes him some hours so he is going to try to get some time off to get his tires fixed and pick up the van after they fix it! I guess the praise in all this is at least it wasn't 2 tires or 2 cars in the shop due to mechanical issues!

My retreat

The retreat this weekend was pretty neat. Only 5 women went from our church and this was a nice time to become more acquainted with them! There were quite a few churches within the Miami area and other surrounding churches there and I think ours was the only one from the gulf side of the state. It was weird that this was my first retreat where no body knew who I was...... while sometimes this is a wonderful thing, it was also kind of sad since everone already had their own friends and stuck to them pretty tight. I now have an understanding of how the Pendleton church must have felt at our retreats. Maybe a little isolated and alone in a crowd.

The theme for our retreat was called "The Way of Wisdom" and our guest speaker was Debbi Bryson, from California! She was an excellent speaker and if you want to check out who she is here is her webpage! http://www.abidinginministries.com/
One of the most informative descriptions of how to do a quiet time was really neat so if you are struggling with this check out this resource from her website that helps us to dig deeper into the word and pull out what applies to us: http://www.abidinginministries.com//images/stories/bible%20bus/Developing_Quiet_Time--Bus_Manual%5B1%5D-2.pdf

There were a couple phrases she shared that are in bold print that go with each concept she wanted to nail home......
First one goes like this:
Growing old is inevidable,
growing in wisdom is optional!

Most of the retreat we camped out in the Proverbs 4 as it pertained to where wisdom begins, where it comes from, how to preserve it, guard it, the cost to live it out.

Wisdom defined was: Clear thinking, good judgement, tact, discretion, balance, unshakable foundation regardless of circumstance.

Fear of the Lord defined: Reverence/respect/aww for the Lord

The opposite of wisdom looks a lot like 2 Timothy 3:1-7

Hence the next phrase worth remembering:
Much of life's pain and suffering comes as a result of indulging in what we want NOW while sacrificing what we want/need MOST

Many times Satan wants to rob us from this wisdom.
*he uses our desire to seek out a friend rather than to the Lord.
*he keeps our focus inward ~ causing us to question the Lord and His provision which lead to discontentment
*he gets us alone where we are isolated and out of fellowship with other believers

For many it is a progression that leads to sin/destruction:
Listen with our ears ~ seeds are planted
Listen with our hearts ~ seeds are cultivated and rooted
Acted upon ~ Seeds are now shooting up into plants and fertilized

Unfortunately our sin and destruction not only stop at us but has a snowball effect!
Proverbs 29:12 states this: If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked.

90% of the Christian life is wanting, while only
10% is asking.

When we are seeking God and in a right relationship with Him, many of the desires for wisdom, spiritual gifts or _______ (fill in the blank) are from Him! Hence the verse below:
Luke 11:
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

We have not because we do not seek to ask for it!

Hope you all are well! Love to you all!

This one is for Sharon!

John's old boss asked us to post a picture of John when he gets to wrestle and alligator and since he didn't get the fish and wildlife job, this is the closest he will get! Looks a bit more like he is lovingly laying on the beast but really there are just TONS of fake alligator statues EVERYWHERE you go. Parks, libraries, ect. The real gators are behind the netting! While this one is a pretty nice size replica of a real one......

Here is a pretty big boy! Yes he is a real one and I think they feed him so much that he doesn't move very much! This was at a place in Bonita Springs where they have a natural wild life preserve.

Here he is from another angle!

Here is a sea otter. They do live in the wild here around the canals but we were warned, while they look very fun and playful, thier idea of playing is biting you and running off! SO when we do get to see one we just watch from afar!

Not much going on here. I leave tomorrow for our womens conference in a hotel in Boca Raton. Sounds kinda snobby but I am sure God speaks there too! He He! God Bless and Hugs to all! I will post more about it when I get home!

Amazing story and video!

Frank Jenner: The Man from George Street
"Sir, are you saved? "If you would die tonight would you go to heaven. For years Mr. Jenner, an ordinary man as you and I witnessed to people on George Street, Sydney, Australia never seeing anyone coming to Christ but through his witnessing the lifes of thousands of people were changed and transformed for ever. If you are frustrated because no one seems to respond to the gospel then watch this amazing video and receive fresh fire for evangelism and don't forget YOU ARE a history maker. God is using You to influence persons and change their lifes and destinies.

This is an amazing video of one mans faithfulness to be bold and not knowing the seeds he had planted! PLEASE WATCH!
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=555e221b560fe5d5dd2a

Praise and prayer.....

WOOO HOOO! WE have finally been here for 3 months and now have medical, dental & vision coverage! YIPEE! To some families this is not too big of a deal and maybe just something they can very well do without, but for our family it really is a necessity! Praise God that my last insurance allowed me to stock up on my prescriptions so I never had to pay any outrageous out of pocket expenses while we were not covered. Being that I take 3 pills a day and each pill retails for about $3 a piece, this is a huge savings and a neat way for God to provide for us!! We are still getting our bearings here and so the next order of business is to find doctors. It is funny because the term 'family doctor' is really not true to the meaning. I wanted to find a Dr that would at least be a primary for myself and the kids (John prefers the 'doc in the box' places where you don't have to have an appointment), however quickly learned by making some calls that due to the influx of elderly in the area you pretty much have no other choice but for me to find a woman Dr and the kids HAD to see a pediatrician. Family doctors only see teenagers and up and a majority of their clientel are elderly. Oh yes, the same goes for dentist and eye doctors as well. You pretty much have to call around to find ones that specialize in taking kids because when you call and ask if they take children you may get the response of "well I suppose we could see your kids too"........ My thought is NO THANK YOU, I prefer someone who actually likes kids!

Another thing that is weird here is the fact that, because John works for the jail, as an officer we automatically get gratuities from local businesses. Meaning, most businesses appreciate their law enforcement officers so much that they show it by giving a discount. I love to get 'discounts' but sometimes it is just odd. I took the dog to the vet and was chatting with a woman at the office; nice lady who is paid to visit with the customers, take pictures of their animals for their file and just be personable....... really ODD job description, but I think it is just the vets wife maybe? IDK? Well, in chatting she asked why we moved, where John worked, how many kids we had, ect...... After checking out and paying for the visit, this lady ran out to the car and asked why I didn't tell the ladies up front where my hubby worked? I explained to her I didn't think to mention it since I am not used to this kind of gesture as it is not normal where we come from. She just looked at me all cock eyed and said, "Well then we will just have to put a credit on your account to go towards your next visit". This side of the country is so odd, but this part makes me not want to mention where John works at all because then people fawn all over you and make a big deal about it...... I think it is a nice concept that people appreciate your service but just a bit uncomfortable?

A prayer request if I may...... The Lord has been laying some things on John's heart that he isn't exactly sure what to do with. It is one of those things that make you go "hum" and just keep seeking the Lord as you do not know what it all means. So if you could just pray for clarity that would be great....... Also, he is the only one that is in the group of people that were hired together, that hasn't gotten his schedule yet. He isn't sure why....... the Seargents basically bid for who they want to go where....... John is hoping it is because God is going to work a miracle and wants to put him on days after his training is through but also wondering if his supervisors just forgot about him? He wants to be where ever he will get the most opportunities to witness so I think God is doing some orchestration behind the scenes there! Prayers for a permanent schedule would be nice since this has made planning things pretty difficult past the end of November.

Also, there was a gentleman that came to church 2 Sundays ago. He had recently been through a detox program from alcoholism and you could tell it was taking a toll on his body. He went to detox because the lady who was renting him a room (she goes to our church) told him he had to go to detox or he would get kicked out of her home and not be welcomed back. He decided to go to detox at her ultimatum and was visibly going through withdrawls and shaking pretty bad during church. The Tuesday after the Sunday he came to church, he accepted the Lord as his savior and two days later, that Thursday he had a massive stroke and God took him home to be with him. He was only in his mid-50's but the pastor and John agreed that it was probably God's graciousness that ended his suffering and brought him home so that he would no longer be tempted to go back to his old lifestyle. If you could be praying for comfort to the lady who took him in and witnessed to him during this time in his life, and also for his unsaved family & friends. Not only for comfort, but that the people who don't know Jesus would also come to know the Lord through this!

HUGS!

Fall has arrived

It appears like 'fall' comes on Florida much like it comes into play in Wa. Warm one day and the next it only gets up to 65? Last night the weatherman was making a big deal about the fact that temperatures last night were only going to be in the low 40s and high 30's inland. This was a record low for the area I guess. Later on this week it is suppose to back into the 80's though so the temps are not really consistently cooler. Silly me, thought I had closed all the windows only to find that the one left open was in my room by my bed. Needless to say, I was awake at 4am freezing searching for where I put all my blankets!
This morning the kids woke up chilled a bit and asked me to put another blanket on their beds. Michaela was complaining yesterday that the high of 75 was COLD but yet still insisted on wearing shorts and a T-shirt? Today she is bundled up in sweats and not complaining one bit! Meanwhile I had all the windows and doors open and enjoying the nice cooler weather (with a sweatshirt & capri pants on) I think we have become acclimated a bit to the warmer temperatures. John is still wearing shorts and t-shirts claiming it is beautiful out even when the temp dips below 60. He thinks we are all just sissies! The rainy season is over so it is not wet on a daily basis anymore and it looks like hurricane season is also done too.

John has been working in the downtown jail for about 2 weeks now. They have him in with the violent high profile offenders right now, which is rather exhausting. Nothing he can't handle can't exactly let your guard down for a minute. The kinds of crimes that are committed here are much more frequent and haneous than back home just because people are sinful (no big surprise on that one) and the population is larger. He was told that this part of the jail was really 'hopping' and every day he would experience one kind of physical altercation or another but he doesn't seem to have that experience. The inmates seem to feel at ease with him so this makes his job much easier.

We are getting more traffic and the streets are now more congested with snowbirds that live here in the winter. This is good for the stuggling economy here so we don't mind the extra congestion if it means more jobs become available to those that are struggling. Our Costco is no longer a ghost town that it once was.

John got to go to a men's conference not too long ago. God encouraged him in many ways to stay on task and stay open to whatever the Lord has for us to do here. We are praying about permenancy; if God is calling us to stay in the area where we currently reside or somewhere else in Lee county or closer to Naples to be closer to his daughter? We would like to know where before we begin looking at buying, especially since there are A LOT of good deals out there. For those of you who know me, sometimes I can be swayed in the pursuit of a good deal that may seem too good to pass up. It is a good thing sometimes but it can easily become a 'flesh thing' as well. I just don't want to do this in my flesh and get stuck with the fact that I lost sight of God's plan of where HE wants us to be....... So if you could please pray for us to get confirmation on the WHERE question that would be wonderful! It appears that housing prices are not going up anytime soon and people are still giving up their homes to the bank........ It is really sad! Some of the great deals on forclosed homes come with thier own set of problems from the fact that the previous owners that were not too happy about having to give their houses back to the bank. There are yard sales going on constantly of people selling the entire contents of their homes, fixtures, appliances and all to get back at the bank for taking their home. This is why discernement on these great deals is so important! We have been told that eventhough we have till July till our lease is up we should begin looking now since sometimes the bank can take up to a year to decide to sell the home that is in forclosure. Chances are, this is a home we would be able to afford so I am sure God has just the right place out there for us!

Anyways, that is what is going on here in Florida! Hope you are all doing well!

Wisdom and Knowledge

I didn't write this but since not much right now that is going on is blog-worthy I figured I would share this nugget of knowledge written by someone much smarter than me!

The Money Meltdown: A Need for Wisdom, Not Just Knowledge
Steve Diggs

As you may know, I'm the fellow who teaches the No Debt No Sweat! Christian Money Management Seminar. Over the years I've shared this message at more than 320 congregations, colleges, and conferences nationwide. So, maybe you will understand when I tell you that these are very frustrating days for me. I'm getting questions from Christians all over America about the current economic crisis -- but, I've been benched! Due to a bleeding vocal cord, the doctor has me on total voice rest. So, to re-phrase an old truism, let's see if the pen can be mightier than the tongue.
The questions tend to fall into three broad categories:
1. What has happened?
2. Who's at fault?
3. What does this mean for my family's future?

While there's plenty of blame to go around, it probably started with politicians who tried to buy votes by establishing the Community Reinvestment Act. The CRA (goaded on by neighborhood activist groups) pushed banks into lending mortgage money to people who shouldn't have borrowed money. Then those banks dumped the bad paper on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. While hiding the true nature of these loans (aided and abetted by rating agencies who pretended that all was well), Mac and Mae re-packaged the junk mortgages into respectable-looking bonds. Then they sold those bonds to every imaginable investment firm--some of whom were showing them at 100%+ of value on their books--and also leveraging those amounts by as much as 30/1 (i.e. Lehman Brothers). Then, insurance companies like AIG insured these bonds--without having enough money to cover their guarantees. When home prices began to sink--the handwriting was on the wall.

But at the heart of it all was the belief that God was wrong -- that, in fact, the borrower is not the slave of the lender. (Proverbs 22) As we embraced this kind of thinking, we began to believe that by digging an ever deepening hole we could eventually build a mountain of wealth.
We are a culture that is saturated with "stuffaholism." (I think Jesus referred to this as "loving the things of this world.") And, we have fallen for the lie from the pit that says: Stuff, sex, money = Happiness. If that were true, it would stand to reason that the happiest families would all be in Hollywood!

Sadly, many Christians (who are called to be the "salt of the earth") have lost our savor. Many of us are in the same mess. Even Christians normally critical of those who abuse drugs and alcohol think nothing of anesthetizing the pain they feel when the credit card bill arrives -- by going back to the mall.

There are three lessons that might turn this very difficult experience into a fruitful learning and growing opportunity for God's kids:
1. James, put a high premium on wisdom. (see James 1:5) Today, there seems to be confusion between wisdom and knowledge. They both have their place, but they are not synonymous. Knowledge is what tells one that tomatoes are a fruit. Wisdom is what tells us not to put a tomato into a fruit salad. Today's world has plenty of knowledge, but a dearth of wisdom. The smart people of today's financial world have had their turn at things, and we are in trouble. Maybe it's time to re-think the fundamental tenets of our beliefs. Wisdom speaks to this. Wisdom says whenever one gets something for nothing, there will eventually be a disproportionate price to be paid.
2. King David's number one son was fond of saying, "There is nothing new under the sun." It seems to me that there is nothing "new" about this present predicament. But you say, "Oh, this is different than anything before -- including the Great Depression." While I would agree that the names and players are different, the root cause is the same. It pivots on the three things that John warned the early Christians to be on guard against, "Do not love the world, nor the things of the world...For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." (1 John 2:15,16)
3. We would serve ourselves well to remember that the best financial teaching is in the Bible itself. I call it "Money 101." It comes from a man who knew how to live with prosperity and without. Paul told his protégé, Timothy, the secret to dealing with money in 1 Timothy 6:17-19:
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." Note the three things Paul tells rich Christians to do. (By the way, if you have a bath tub in your home--you're a rich Christian.)

First, he tells us not to be prideful and arrogant. Wealth doesn't make one person better than another.
Second, the Apostle tells Christians not to trust in their 401(k) plans. Yes, plan for your future but always be ready for things to change. As we've all seen, dollars in the bank do not guarantee anything.
Third, the wealthy are encouraged to enjoy their wealth -- but be ready to share at the drop of a hat. Too simple for our complex world? I don't think so. It gets back to appreciating the difference between knowing a lot about wealth, and actually having the wisdom to use our wealth properly.
I would submit that what we are experiencing may not necessarily be a bad thing. Most humans (Christians, too) only look up when they have been sucker-punched, and are lying on the floor looking up. That's when we tend to see the eternal through the temporal.
Will we as a nation get through this? I suspect we will. Over the last one hundred years, stocks have gained value in every ten year period--including during the Great Depression. Will there be pain in the meantime. I suspect there will be. The question laid squarely at our feet is How will we respond to this tempest in the teapot of eternity? What if this caused Christians to again become salt? What if we led by example? What if we bought fewer "extras?" What if we paid off our credit cards and bought cars we could afford -- and saved more than we spent? What if we always had money to give to others -- and were truly ready unto every good deed?

Steve Diggs presents the No Debt No Sweat! Christian Money Management Seminar at churches and other venues nationwide. Visit Steve on the Web at http://www.crosswalkmail.com/czhdghbpf_wpedqgqcfc.html or call 615-834-3063.
The author of several books, today Steve serves as a minister for the Antioch Church of Christ in Nashville. For 25 years he was President of the Franklin Group, Inc. Steve and Bonnie have four children whom they have home schooled. The family lives in Brentwood, Tennessee.
A complete financial compendium, 19 chapters• What you can do today to get out of debt and kill the Debt Monster• A,B,C's of handling your money God's way• How to save, invest, and retire wisely• How mutual funds work• How to stop fighting over money• What to teach your kids about money• Learn how home & car buying, college financing and insurance work.• How to develop a budget that works -- forever!• Features simple charts, graphs, and easy-to-use forms.
Click here to learn more or to order.

Some pics as promised

Here is a picture Michalea drew for her friends back home! As you can tell she was a bit homesick and missing her friends!

This was our science lesson today. On the back lania above the screen there were 4 chrysallis formations waiting to be butterflies. We have tons of them fluttering around our house so I knew that if we looked hard enough we would figure out where they were resting. By later than afternoon only 2 were left! There were around 5 others around the house so the kids and I are going to watch them to see if/when they disappear. We got some oranges to slice up for them as well so they can eat & stick around for a bit! I am so wishing I had my butterfly garden in place for them!

Here is a butterfly that was kind enough to let me get close enough to him to get a picture!

There were quite a few fuzzy catepillars roaming around the house too so we will watch them to see when they form their chrysallis as well!

I know I know, whats with all the pictures of bugs. Well I have never seen bugs like this. This one is a dragonfly. They are also roaming everwhere and buzzing about but rarely do they sit still long enough for me to take a picture.

OK I have seen a bug like this before but it was at a zoo! This one was on my neighbors house and it was so cool I had to share!

Here is a cute little frog that came in from out of the rain to rest on the front of my house!

As promised, I said I would share a picture of the bald man himself. After my last post John's boss wrote back to us stating that he must have shaved his head to prevent him from pulling it all out! After being given the nickname Uncle Hester from the Adams family from the guys at work, I think he may have decided to keep the flat top when it grows back out!

Here are some pictures of the kiddos at a sprinkler park we found in Fort Myers. Kind of a neat idea as they have a main pool that the water drains into and where it is chlorinated and re-distributed......

This is a gorgeous park that rents paddleboats, canoes and all sorts of fun things to do as a family! They also have a historical train depot that the kids can climb in and tour for free!

Some changes

I was hoping to get out to you some neat pictures that I have on the camera but I can't find my little usb cord OR flash drive to download them on the computer so once I find that I will post them! Michalea drew a picture of her friends and has been missing home a lot lately. Abby has mentioned missing home too but Michaela got a little weepy about this today so if you think about please be praying for her. She asked me today if she could save up her allowance to buy a plane ticket to go back to WA to live with Aunt Peggy and be with her cousins/friends. We had a nice chat afterward, but it was really hard for her to see WHY God would not want to let her move back to WA.

First off and something that many will get a kick out of and I was hoping to post a pic of...... John was trimming his hair the other day to see if he could get the sides trimmed closer in between trips to the barber and well, he decided that it wasn't working the way he wanted it to SO HE WENT BALD! After he shaved his head he spent about a couple hours in the sun and got a little burned...... He is not sold that he really likes it enough to keep it but at work today he got quite a few compliments!

Something that still really amazes me about this move is my continuing education in 'east coast' thinking/mentality. Everyone suspects you of being someone they don't want to know, before you even get the opportunity to open your mouth........ Almost leary and slightly "conspiracy theory" thinking in nature. WEIRD!!!! I applied and paid into a subscription to be apart of a homeschool group here in town (all groups here have a subscription fee to be apart of) and showed up to their weekly playdate this week. I'm sure I felt much like the animals at the pet store behind the glass in their cages with everyone staring, inspecting them. Basically, I had to introduce myself and butt into people's conversations in order to meet anyone. After getting the cold shoulder quite a few times I would basically just sit by someone and TRY to begin a conversation. Most didn't really notice I was there and even some I went up and chatted with turned their backs and visited with people they did know. Some were limitedly friendly but not very helpful to a newcomer. It is quite a very sad thing for a "christian" gathering, but I suppose culture is realtive! I did find one mom there who had a hubby who worked for Lee county on the road, which was nice to find something in common with someone, however, she is pretty well established with her own friends in the group, so I do not forsee much hope in that relationship. The kids had much of the same reaction as I did, so by half way through the day, when someone did try to be-friend Michaela because her mom made her come and say Hi, Michaela was weary of rejection and pretty much stayed by my side. There is one other local homeschool group that I can pay to be apart of as well so I think I will widen my variety of homeschool groups so that the kids can find some more friends. When I told the pastor's wife of my experience she suggested we have our own so when I get confident enough in my knowledge of the community, homeschool laws, events and we get another homeschooling family in our church, I just might consider doing something rather informal through yahoo much like the ones back home! I know that if I stick it out and keep putting myself out there that God will eventually place someone in my path to be-friend. I met a homeschool lady at a yard sale today that was more helpful/friendly than anyone I met the other day at the playdate, so this tells me that there are people out there that remember what it was like to be a newcomer!

On a more encouraging note, the sale on the house was finalized and we got more money than anticipated! God totally provided enough for us to pay off a credit card debt so we are no longer in bondage to that, and enough to spare to buy John a TV & a gun (because we left the other huge TV back in TC; the gun I will explain). We even have a little left over to buy me a desk too since the one we brought got distroyed in the move so this was a huge blessing! God just seems to be providing and multiplying blessings for us so we continue to pray and be good stewards of His provision!
As for the gun........ He has a dept issued gun and has one that he bought a couple years ago for personal use but he never really fired it. If you have a private weapon for personal use and want to use it to wear concelaed you have to certify with it. When he took it to the range to get certified with it, the range master had not only never heard of the brand but when John fired it he realized that it is not safe because it jams and isn't very reliable. SO, he wasn't able to qualify with it. They prefer that John carry a conceiled weapon on his time off and he can carry the dept issue Glock but it is pretty heavy and hard to conceal. So John is on the lookout for a mini-glock or something similar.
John spent the last week at the outdoor facility, which was very hot. He ended up finding an inmate that had been beat pretty badly by some other inmates and who ended up having to go to the hospital to get his jaw fixed and treated for a concusion. Today he spent time at the core facility. The guys were very personable on that squad and more welcoming than his last assignment so this made the day go much better; they even pulled a practical joke on him to see if he had a sense of humor. Luckily today, despite having to get up very early, he had one! They gave him a glass of water that had a hole in it. It wasn't until they were all laughing that John realized he was all wet......... Despite how silly this is, it was a neat way of feeling accepted since he is used to the "love through ridicule' approach from his work and church friends!!! Kind of a neat thing that reminded him of home, was when his seargent informed John that he would be cooking the squad breakfast on Sunday....... Since he is the new guy nothing was expected of him to bring (and not biscuits and gravy were expected for his wife to make), but this was neat for John to see his leadership taking an interest in the comradery and morale of his squad!
Anyways, this is what is up in our neck of the woods. Still praying for a youth leader, worship leader and where God wants us to be doing at church. Hope all is well with you and yours back home! We hope and pray that if God is leading any of you, our way, that you see all the provisions God has made in our journey and trust that God will do the same for you as well!

My week of "I"

Sorry I have been silent lately. Last week I had a minor melt-down..... Lets just say it was a week of misguided focus. Misguided in the fact that I was allowing satan to play with my mind, get my focus off the Lord and instead focus more on ME......... If John's job here wasn't so great I may have tried to talk him into coming home, however, I knew in my heart of hearts that it was God's desire for us to be right where we are and He desires that we grow and flourish here. A week of remembering what we had left behind and will we ever have this kind of awesome church family again? I basicall had an "i" problem and I am sure we all have done this a time or two. God wanted me to share it though so you all could learn from my mistakes. Here is where my focus was a bit off kilter and where I began wallowing a bit.

I am lonely
I miss my house (and really don't want to sell it)
I miss my family/friends
I miss being around anyone who has something in common with me
I miss the kids & I having playdates to enjoy the company of a familiar face
I will never be able to handle homeschooling in Florida and organizing 3 kids school records
I do not even have the option to put them in ANY sort of school since I do not have 2 years worth of school records!
I hate being under a microscope
I'm not as plugged into the church as I would like to be
I miss FALL

Being that we tend to be our own worst critic I had failed even before I tried to accomplish anything last week all because of where my attitude was. In a desperate attempt to take care of one of my "woe is me" issues I met with a lady who has successfully homeschooled 6 of her kids here in Florida to see what she did to keep records. She showed me the expectations set before me in what a portfolio/record book looked like so this put that fear to rest. Chatting with a like-minded individual was a welcome time of fellowship as well!
The truth is that most of what I was dwelling on was true and in my own strength I WAS going to fail, however, due to God's gentle, patient and loving guidance he picked up my chin to look at His eyes and renewed my focus. Reminding me once again that I can do nothing without Christ who strengthens me!

On a lighter note, John started his FTO training on Sunday. His FTO officer was probably about 15 years younger than him but rather a humble guy. He was not gung ho or full of himself at all but very detail oriented in his training so this was nice! He was even a bit slightly intimidated at John's experience and told him "well I guess I will learn a lot from you this week eh?" John's first assignment was in the barricks. This is an outdoor quanza hut like facility that is planned for destruction once the new facility is completed. There is no AC in this facility and basically John's job is to stand outside it and keep the peace in the glaring hot sun. FUN! All he could think of was that something like this would never happen in WA state since it would be a PR nightmare! He was curious what happens to the officer at this post during a hurricane and, to his surprise, it was much the same. Since inmates are opportunists the job description is still the same. Stand outside and bear the elements. John at first thought the guy was joking so he began to chuckle at his response but he made sure John knew he wasn't joking.... He said "Yeah during the hurricane it is a rough ride and you definately get wet!" The good side to this is that he will not get stuck there but is just there for training since this position will no longer be available after the first of the year when they get occupancy in the new facility!

A very cool praise happened yesterday! We got the paperwork for the house signed so it is no longer ours! I cancelled all of the utilities today so no more bills that away either! YIPEE! God is so good to us and merciful. The paperwork showed better numbers than we were expecting so this means we will get to pay off some debt! God Bless all!

Its not easy being green!

I thought you all might get a kick out of seeing John's new uniform! Here he is all proud of his new duds with the exception of the small band above his name labeling him a trainee.

Look at the stud in his pose and cheesey grin!

He actually begins 'real work' on FTO status (on the job training) here on Sunday, so goodbye are the 8-4 hours of classwork and here we go with the 12 hour shifts again! John has been excited to get on the job because the last week of classes were very boring and basically geared toward the recruits who have never worked in law enforcement before. Today's class was pretty interesting though. They went over the internet access, programs offered and specialty positions.

The only residual effect we got from Ike was just some short bursts of rain storms lasting a total of maybe 10 minutes each and some mild wind. In Tri-cities it would have been considered a normal day with the exception of the rain. It is just kinda funny that it comes and goes so quickly! I have a feeling tonight we will be dumped on with rain as it passes by us. It has been raining for over an hour now, which is fairly uncommon for it to rain this much at one time.

Here is a picture to proove I am actually a Floridian! I guess the extra expense for this plate per year goes to ministries that support moms who are either giving up their babies for adoption or who chose to have their babies and offer support to them much like the TCPC. A worthy cause!

It seems like the loan process on the house is proceeding like planned. We got paperwork from the title and escrow company to sign, so now we just wait for the final financing details to come through on their loan and I guess we sign..... Until we sign there is still no word on a closing date yet.

New addition

I just wanted to show you the newest addition to the family....... As many of you know, we had to sell the little car before we left so this meant replacing it once we got here....... John wrestled with this one for a while because he didn't want a 'red car' but I guess after much prayer God wanted him to have a New York Giants RED car. Here she is! I guess he is going to make it more manly by getting a Corrections bureau liscense plate. I guess the extra funds collected for these plates go to widows of corrections officers who were killed in the line. Since we can't get a NY Giants plate in FLorida and they do not require front plates here in FL, he is going to try to get a NY Giants decorative plate for the front.

She is a 99 Ford Escort with less than 100,000 miles so hopefully she will last him quite a while. No motorcycles or Jeeps on the horizon just yet but if John has his way, maybe God will love him enough to allow him to purchase one in the more distant future.

Here are some pics of the unwelcomed additions to our family. This was a huge bug on my screen. He wasn't scared of me at all which is rather weird.

We are actually quite fond of these little guys. They are very quick but sometimes they let me hold them...... The smaller ones that don't know any better are sometimes more friendly!

Here is an amazing sunset taken from my front yard.

WE took a drive out to a place called Pine Island to see what was out there..... It sounded like a resort type of place since it was an island but all there was out there were a lot of Palm tree farms. We did get to smell some Ocean air at this pier which was kinda neat. The water was really nasty/brown due to the flooding that was occuring in some areas.

We have been very blessed so far to be safe from all the hurricane paths. Today they did tell John to be on alert for next week though and get his bags ready. I guess hurricane Ike is on his way into the coast and they know it is going to hit Florida but not sure which coast line. It is still pretty far off and they are not expecting him to make landfall till Wednesday next week, however, if it comes anywhere near us they will be calling John into work. He will stay at the jail till after the storm passes. This way they do not have to worry about people making it in to work AND if the power goes out and people start doing stupid things, he will be sent out on the street to do crowd or traffic control. They get paid all the time they are there which means lots of OT but I am not too sure how I feel about being left to myself during a hurricane? Hmmmm!

I wish I could have gotten pictures of him getting sworn in but none of the families were invited to attend. I guess it used to be a big deal where you bring in the family and such but due to the fact that they have been hiring so many people, it is no longer an individual thing........ he was sworn in with about 25 other officers at 7:30 in the morning. He came home that day with all new equipment, boots, class A uniform, ect. He was kinda stoked about it all!

This is all for now. I will keep you updated on the hurricane stuff as it gets closer!
HUGS ALL!

More great news!

This will be short sweet and to the point since I know I am kind of a blog hog and write quite often! However, I miss you all and am so excited to share all the neat things God keeps doing! We found out today that John passed his test for certification so he will get sworn in within the next week! I will take pictures since it is a pretty big deal here! WAY COOL & AWESOME BLESSINGS here in Florida which makes the heat & humidity bearable! God has come through beyond our wildest expectations!
On a lighter note....... John got sprayed with Pepper spray in the morning and then later that day had to qualify shooting! I thought this was rather humorous since they wanted to blind him before seeing if he could shoot straight but I guess after a good shower, he had no trouble qualifying! This is in itself another awesome praise that we are so THANKFUL for! Anyone from Tri-cities want to come and join us yet?
Love to all you back home that are enjoying the beautiful signs of fall and 70 degree temps!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

THE HOUSE IS SOLD! YIPEE! We signed papers and faxed them in today!
I have shared with some of you that we were in negotiations on Saturday regarding the house in Wa state. Some folks had come to see it quite a few times and were very interested in it. They were approved for a conventional loan & I guess they went this route so that the financing would go through as soon as possible. After lots of prayer to make sure our hearts were in the right place (it is always hard to sacrifice your price on a home you worked so hard to make pretty!), several offer/counter-offers we came to an agreement on a price that God had wanted us to sell it for! They are hoping for their loan to be fully funded and be in the house in 2 weeks so we are praying that all this happens for them! Only one more house payment and another month paying bills on the house and then we will be without all those extra expenses! God is so good and has been providing all the funds necessary to make those payments thus far so the house selling this soon was just an amazing blessing that we will be able to not be totally tapped out for funds! He is a merciful God isn't he!

Today, John got to experience being tazed. Everyone had to experience it but he was volunteered for a "special example" The instructor clipped one prong to his shoulder and the other to his boot. I guess it was quite effective and definitely something John will never forget as the electro-shock reverberated throughout his body! There wasn't an explanation given to him WHY they did this in particular since you can't really manage to do this to an assailant but maybe they just were having a bit of 'fun' at someones expense?

Tomorrow he will be qualifying to shoot. Praise God that his finger is doing much better so that shooting will not be as painful as it would have been if he was still swollen and sore! We will hopefully find out tomorrow what John's score was on the test! Until then...... Thank you for all your prayers!

Confession time..... & Thank you!

I know this is terribly late and way overdue but I just wanted to throw out a BIG THANK YOU out to all of you who came to our going away gathering and put together care packages & activities for the kids.
I must confess, however, due to a miscommunication about what stays with us in the vehicle and what gets shoved back in the nether-regions of the truck and trailor all of those precious bordum busters got placed in the truck and we were unable to get to them during our journey! There were many times I was bummed about that but now I am kinda glad that it happened this way.
As time ticks away and the kids begin to miss their home, family & friends from the Tri-cities, those sweet loving genstures have become a neat reminder that they are loved and that someone cares enough about them to wish them well!

Since school started quite a bit earlier here than it did in the Tri-cities we have already begun our studies. Unfortunately there is a bit of work that we did not finish from last year so we are trying to get caught up on this right now. When we found out we were moving, while homeschooling did not completely stop it slowed down quite a bit. Now that there are not tons of folks to do playdates with I guess this will help me to buckle down and get stuff done more often! Homeschooling laws here are not more strict as far as WHO is capeable of homeschooling but it is more intense as far as record keeping. This is one thing I do not enjoy but I have to keep a portfolio of all their school work and report into a Homeschool liason from the district a couple times of year. No pressure! UGH! There is a lady in our church who has 6 kids and has homeschooled them all in the state of Florida so I really need to get together with her and pick her brain. There is an option of doing umbrella schools or charter schools as well so I need to my homework and pray about what option is going to work out for our family! Sounds a bit too much like California to me which makes me a bit nervous but as with everything else in our lives...... God will cover us where we are lacking!

NOISE!

I am not sure if the camera's small mic will pick it up, but here is a typical day in Florida. It usually rains, thunders & lightenings at least once a day. On this day in particular there was a constant rumble of thunder due to the consistent lightning strikes. I got a couple strikes on film but I was fascinated with the constant rumble. I had to film through the screen so sorry for the poor reflection. Maybe if you turn up your sound real loud you might here it too?

Here is a picture of a turtle I almost ran over sitting in a puddle on the roadway. I figured someone else might mistake him for pavement as well so after snapping his pic I moved him to a safe place since he was so little....... as you can tell he is a bit shy!

SO far all the other animals have been hiding real well which is a bummer. I really want a pic of an armadillo & racoon to share but I may have to wait till the weather is a bit better?

I tried getting a short video of the noisey neighbors! Whatever they are, birds, crickets, some other bug I would care not to meet? They live in this tree and while you may not be able to hear them in the video I can hear their constant buzzing from inside my house! They tend to get a little quieter once I started taking an interest filming. GRRRR! John says that once I get used to the buzzing I will miss it if it ever goes away? I suppose he is right as it is the sounds of the country!

For those of you wondering about how John did on his test, well we are not sure quite yet. All of the guys that went up together to take it, came out from taking the test with the same dread...... Each felt as if they couldn't have prepared any better than they did but that they might not have passed. We shared this on Wed. night at church as our prayer request. A lot of the sermon talked about how it is not anything that we do in our own strength that bears fruit but only what the Lord does through us. I figured it would be neat if God reveals himself through John passing that it is not in John's strength/wisdom, but that the Lord did it through him.

John got to go to the core facility today and tour the place. He met some other folks that lateralled over from state facilities and are taking some of the same intro courses. Tomorrow he has a training called verbal judo that teaches you how to communicate effectively/professionally wiht the inmates. I guess this is a training John has always wanted to attend and here everyone gets it before they start working! Next week he will have to be sprayed & tazed so as you might of guessed, he is real excited about this! :o) He is having fun and just praying that God will expedite his test results so he can stop waiting with anticipation...... Tis all for now! I hear you all in Tri-cities are experiencing and early fall. I am jelous! TTFN!

The next thing

As of Friday John has 'officially' passed the academy. YIPEE! Now he just has to pass the exam to become certified on Wednesday the 27th. On Monday and Tuesday this next week he has to report to the academy to study from 8-4. Some of the other guys he has been in class with for the last 2 weeks will also be there so they are going to use this time to quiz each other. After the exam, John will then have to go through another qualifying certification with Lee county. He will have to qualify shooting and some other areas before being able to work in the jail. I guess you do not get your test results from the exam back right away so after Wednesday, until they find out he has passed he will be qualifying in those other areas. He is doing rather well on the practice exams so please pray for his nerves not to get the better of him! We are also praying about replacing his small car and are shopping around and praying so if you could pray for God to direct our paths that would be awesome!

John had to go to the Doctor this week for an infection in his right index finger. Of course this is on his writing hand so after he was qualifying with shooting last week it really began to bug him. I am thinking it may have happened initially when we first moved in because he kept jamming/smushing his fingers like crazy. By Wednesday this week, it was throbbing and quite swollen and since Satan REALLY doesn't want us to experience our first Wednesday night at our new church, we had to get him to the urget care. They said it wasn't severe enough to lance it just yet and sent him home with some pain killers & antibiotics. By today, the swelling still wasn't going down abd it had begun turning white, so he went in and got it drained. Hopefully, God will allow it to heal fast enough so that when it comes time for him to qualify (shooting) it will be strong enough to do so? I think John is just glad that it isn't a bite or something more severe! He was getting taunted by the instructors at the academy "Welcome to Florida, something bit you!"

Some have asked if we are experiencing any of the flooding that is going on down here and PRAISE GOD we are not! There is a lot of standing water in the gullies, drainage ditches, undeveloped land and other lower lying areas, but they are pretty far from where we are at. Thereare some big puddles in parking lots around town but I guess this is pretty normal for Florida in the rainy season.

We checked on renters insurance since we had not had time before Fay, to get that taken care of. I was amazed at how much of an expense this was, Just to cover our property and NOT even the house it was $1100 per year. The lady said I guessed really high on our personal property value but it would still be pretty spendy. I remember paying $30 a month for renters insurance in Tri-cities and I am not certain, but I think we only pay $60 per month for homeopwners. We do not live in a high risk location though, but still this was rather surprising to me. I can't imagine what homeowners insurance rates goes for around here but I guess if you are going to live in a hurricane zone there is a high price to pay. All homeowners/renters insurance is covered by the state of Florida's own company. Sounds kind of unusual to me since this means you can't really shop around for the best rate, but I can only assume that private comapanies have pulled out since it is pretty high risk! In order to get our car plates switched we have to get Florida car insurance as well so this too is on my to do list.

With all the new things that are more expensive down here one thing that we do get a break on is gas. I know it is going down all around the nation right now but BEFORE we started seeing decreases we were paying $3.65. Now we pay around $3.55. Sales tax is only 6% but the cost of food is a bit more! I have my spreadsheet put together to do some price comparisons but I have a feeling that the outcome will be that I will have to increase my food budget by at least $100-$200 until I get used to the area and figure out how normal families on a budget make ends meet.

Ever since we got here our dog has been fascinated with the lizards and frogs that are everywhere. Last night she finally caught and ate one (we didn't know this till after talking with John's daughter Sarah today). I guess these lizards and frogs have a toxin in their skin that is poisonous to other creatures and can make dogs act liek they are kinda drunk. After she ate it she became nauseated, vomited and became very lathargic. I had to carry her from outside to her bed as she wouldn't/couldn't walk to come inside. After about an hour & a half of being very lathargic and scaring me into thinking she was dying...... I asked her if she had to go outside and she jumped to her feet and was anxious to chase more lizards. UGH! Maybe she will learn? Until then we are trying to break her of this interest!

I guess that Florida is in a drought........ I am not sure if this has been lifted now that there are so many places that are flooding, but you hear Floridians talk about it and it is quite a real thing. This absolutely boggles my mind coming from a location where drought was a pretty visual/realistic thing. A place where you rarely get real rain fall & have to dig for many more than just a couple feet to hit water. I remeber when Peg and Dan moved into their new home before they had put in their yard...... the boys were getting idle so Peggy sent them out to dig a hole in the front yard. Since they were pretty bored they dug quite the hole. I think when it was all said & done, their hole was about 8 feet deep........ If my kids did that here they would drown in their new pool!

Drought is unusual concept to accept here when standing water is fairly normal in undeveloped/untouched land. If you dig down just a foot deep you may make yourself a quaint little pond, and a location where it rains A LOT on a daily basis....... This is just not a drought to me? Kinda crazy! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! Love to all!