Trust and Obey......

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Just wanted to share a weee bit about our hunt for a new car. We had to return the rental car today that was paid for by the other drivers insurance so this means it is getting down to crunch time. Craigslist has been our best resource so far since the dealers always seemed to mark up their prices beyond our cash only buying choice. We saw 2 vans today that were nice and would serve the purpose. I am not sure about you, but for me, when buying used there is always that NEED to know if this is the one that God has for us. Circumstances and prices may indicate a good thing but this does not always equate to God's provision. As John and I were talking about each vehicle I asked him if we could take the most likely candidate to our mechanic to make sure there were no hidden repairs that will arise later on. Basically I was afraid (in spite of the fact that God would confirm which one we should buy) that we would waste all of our money on a lemon and then not have a dime left to fix it. So we continued to pray about it and ask for the Lord to speak clearly. We are still eagerly awaiting this BTW. ;o)
The Lord reminded me of what a friend recently blogged about in her life regarding obeying the Lord in all things. While I recently wrote about the blessings that come from obedience, she spoke about the times when obedience is nothing more than just plain obedience. There is no blessing, no spiritual fruit to point to, no tangible results...... There is simply the peace that comes from being obedient to God's direction. My fleshly nature protests "THATS IT, THATS what I get for obeying GOD? NOTHING?" She went on to explain that many times we obey because of the blessing, revealing our 'give to get' mentality. If God gives us a reason that seems good right or just, it may be easy to do what He says, yet it is not so easy to obey even the tiniest of things when God does not give an immediate reason or proof of WHY he wants us to do something. Our prideful heart decieves us into thinking we know better than God. Today I got another reminder that our concept of what is 'good' usually never accounts for the eternal perspective........
SO, as we were contemplating, praying and talking about the vehicle that God might have for us I assume in my rational way that if we hear from Him which vehicle to chose, execute and purchase said vehicle, He will bless our obedience with a reliable van, no severe mechanical problems, ect. RIGHT? In my happily ever after meets fleshly, selfish optimist kind of way, this is how things should be. UGH! Then I heard the Lord speak to my heart.......... "What if I tell you to buy a van that needs a lot of repairs? Your mechanic isn't saved yet, is he? It is MY money that I will provided for the repairs! Eternity is priceless." Jeremiah 17:9 “ The heart is deceitful above all things,And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
So thankful that when we lose the eternal perspective it is never far from God's heart. We are shortsighted seeing only the temporal. His heart for the lost is always seeking, ever present.
Matthew 18:11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Here is yet another one of those lessons that God makes certain in my heart that my life is NOT about my plans, my agenda, my convenience or my happily ever after. So, no matter what God tells us to buy, I can now purchase without the fear of the 'what if'. I am sure God gets bored of reminding me He is still God, He does not need my help being God and His plans are better than my BEST happily ever after.

Grateful beyong measure

Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

As if just waking up with another breath was not enough to be thankful for, God has once again moved mountains to show Himself faithful in a most recent occurrence....... Long story short, John has yet to outlive his usefulness here on earth.

Now for the details. Last Friday John was in an accident. While I HATE accidents, it seems like the only ones John has been in are too close for comfort. While I have been the one to get in ALL the accidents here in FL so far (none of which were my fault, thank God) so I suppose it was John's turn to meet a few crazy Florida drivers. His car is a total loss, but these are replaceable. Here is the skinny on what happened.

He was coming home at around 4:45 in rush hour traffic. The road he was traveling on was I-82, which is a 2 lane road that is a main artery between our home and civilization. The speed limit is 60 MPH and while many other left hand turns on this road have a turn lane, where we turn there is NO turn lane.

John was at a complete stop waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so he could make a left hand turn. There was no one behind him at first when all of a sudden a white truck & trailer made a daring move. Not sure if he just wasn't paying attention of just did not want to stop. Instead of rear-ending John he just kept on going driving to the right on the shoulder of the highway which is a grassy area. He did not hit John but it was very startling. About 8 months ago, DOT put some nice barricades in that grassy area to discourage people from doing this. Due to the size of the truck and the rate of speed he was driving, he didn't mind taking out 5 of these barricades. He never did stop.

Since the truck did not slow down, the person behind him did not see John until it was too late. He did not have much time to react to the trucks maneuver, so rather than rear ending John, his 4 door compact car swerved to nick John's left bumper and went into ONCOMING TRAFFIC. Poor John was at a dead stop in between these 2 crazy drivers. Once the guy in the compact car realized that was a VERY POOR DECISION, he immediately turned back into John's car pushing them both off the road. Although the damage on both vehicles was extensive it appears that everyone walked away without extreme injury. The man who hit John had his wife and 2 kids in the car so this could have been a very traumatic event if there had been injuries.

Here is the cool God-stuff behind HIS total protection:

• Praise God he was not rear ended by that huge truck and trailer. That could have been a big blow. Could have possibly forced his car into on-coming traffic!



• John does not have AC in his little car so he drives with the windows down. Most days home from work he hangs his arm out the window to catch the breeze. If he had been doing this on that day he would have lost his arm.



• If John had not been at a complete stop during the accident, waiting for oncoming traffic to pass...... if instead he had begun his left hand turn, when the man behind him decided to turn into on-coming traffic he would have been T-boned by the compact car and possible another moving in the opposite direction. Most certainly a fatality or other life altering injuries could have changed his life in drastic ways.



• Although John has some whiplash and muscle soreness, it appears that his injuries may not be all that bad!



• This just so happened during the time my parents were here for a visit so while we went to the ER to get John checked out the kids were safe and sound with grandma & grandpa!



• John and I both got to witness to the other driver and plant some seeds.

So, while this means we are inconvenienced to purchase another car, God has a plan in everything. We are just grateful that his timing is perfect and his provision is unsurpassed so that we have the ability to continue doing what He has called us to out here!

This is a scripture that pretty much sums up our thankfulness!

Philipians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

It is amazing to see the Lord's hand in a circumstance that could have been so tragic but yet due to his plans, we get to hang out here a while longer. He is so good to us!

We made it!

I wanted to share just a few thoughts to express how incredibly thankful that today, my hubby and I celebrate 12 years as husband and wife. I must admit that there were many times during those years that I wondered if we would make it. Often in our marriage, I wondered if we would join the very unfortunate statistics of divorce within the church. Neither of us, ever had biblical reason for divorce..... Apathy, self-reliance and selfishness are choices, yet for many years we had a marriage that could be labeled "Failure to Thrive". Reason being might be summed up in a inability to accept and apply these WISE quotes.

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.
Robert Quillen

I don't believe couples fall out of love - they fall out of repentance.
Gary Thomas

Forgiveness is the only way to break the cycle of blame--and pain--in a relationship...It does not settle all questions of blame and justice and fairness...But it does allow relationships to start over. In that way, said Solzhenitsyn, we differ from all animals. It is not our capacity to think that makes us different, but our capacity to repent, and to forgive.
Philip Yancey

Looking back on those years of wasted co-existence, I realized one rather disheartening fact:
During those years of 'doing time' in my marriage, Satan spent more time/effort trying to sabatoge my marriage than I spent fighting for it and investing in it.

When it came down to the "Last stand" so to speak, we made an appointment to see our pastor. As we went on to explained how both of us are tired of being hurt, both fed up with the other, each pointing fingers, spewing hurtful words and proclaiming in all the ugliness of pride and unforgiveness "I do not deserve THIS!" Our pastor stopped us short and without us even realizing at the time, shared with us the secret to a happy marriage. While the dream of a happy marriage died alongside our ability to forgive quite a while back, here was someone sitting in front of us that was not going to allow Satan to steal kill and destroy one more marriage. Someone willing to fight harder for our marriage's weakened and thready pulse, that either of us were. He did so by simply asking one very LOADED question.
"Given the fact that ALL you have been entrusted with is because of God and the very fact that you are breathing right now, is a result of God sending His son to die on a cross for you, WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU DESERVE?"
Both of us, with heads hanging low and eyes fixed on the floor in shame, answered much like a child..... "Nu-thing"
It didn't end there though..... further explaination chewing-out was necessary to turn our shame & self-sorrow into God-centered repentance.
"The penalty for sin is death and both of you are deciding to live in sin due to a lack of repentance! What you deserve is death, so everything on top of DEATH is a cake walk....... a gift from the Lord. In order for a person to really LIVE, the flesh MUST die. Stay where you are in your stench of pride, self-will and arrogance and this will be the legacy of your failed marriage that you will pass on to your children..... OR you can make a choice today to crucify your flesh and breath NEW life into your marriage!"

The proof that you love someone is not that you have warm affectionate feelings toward them. The proof is in your actions, your words and your sacrifice, your willingness to give the best of yourself and your willingness to get nothing in return.
Katherine Walden

Praise God for people who have the courage to hiold you accountable to God's word! For people who will fight fervently & prayerfully on your behalf when you are too foolish to do so yourself! So thus began a new chapter in our marriage. No more co-existing together but clinging to each other while choosing death so that we may grow and have an abundant marriage. While we are in no way perfect, our relationship only grows deeper and gets better with time. When we both have our eyes fixed on the Lord, everything else falls into place! We are learning together, year after year, how to better die as individuals.

The difficulty with marriage is that we fall in love with a personality, but we must live with a character.
Peter Devries

Many of you who know my hubby can laugh at this as he is quite the character. I thought he was a one of a kind till I met Sarah. Now that I see Sarah's 'twin' (Abby) develop more of his personality, I am almost out-numbered! So glad that the Lord is able to use characters like us to point others to the Lord.

Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.
Matthew Henry

This last quote is very poinant to me. John has never been an overbearing man even though he married a fairly head strong woman. Once God allowed me to see the protection provided me through submission, it is a much easier road. Although my flesh likes to tempt me to be equal or above him, the result is acheiving such a status, is loneliness. It is a pursuit of individualism rather than a partnership of cohesion. God has genuinely given me a man that has stood the test of time. I thank the Lord that He has seen us through these past 12 years. I pray that if the Lord tarries, we have many more years of growing more in love with one another as we actively seek to pursue all that the Lord has in store for us! Many Blessings & Hugs my friends!

The hunt continues

As many of you know from reading my last post we have begun house hunting. There in lies the premise for this post.
Just last week we literally stumbled on the ‘perfect house’. It basically had all of our heart’s desires in a home AND then some. It wasn’t in perfect condition, however, with some new paint and TLC it would be ‘perfect’ to suit all of our needs. (It even had one room that had Seattle Seahawk colors on the wall with SEAHAWKS written on the wall; who knew bad taste in football teams traveled THAT far away! YIKES. John shook his head in shame telling me that was the first room to get painted!) LOL! It was built in 2001, so this meant is was new enough to have a lower insurance premium, but not new enough to have the possibility of Chinese drywall! COOL! We had seen another home that was still in the back of our minds as a possibility but it was much older and missing several things things that this home had. Like a bigger yard, fence, pool, quiet street, ect. It seemed as though this one was the whole package and our search was over!
As John and I spent time with the Lord to ask Him if HE concurred with our thoughts neither of us got scripture about it being ‘the house’. John got scripture about going and dwelling in the Land again. Basically I got scriptures stating I needed to have faith. Maybe I am just a bit picky, but I asked the Lord for specifics. I wanted something along the lines of having the subject of a HOUSE in the scripture? Nothing, but we thought maybe John’s scripture was enough and that I just needed to have faith in the fact that God wants us to have this sweet treasure? To be honest, I got discouraged and basically gave up seeking to get confirmation. John felt like he got confirmation on a price/offer so we placed an offer on the home and the seller to pay a 6% concession. There was no peace as a result of that offer on my part because I knew I stopped seeking. I began praying for God to PLEASE protect us if we stepped out on our own and not under His direction. The bank countered our offer with only paying a 3% concession and we knew right away that this was above the offer John had peace with. We pretty much walked away from the offer all together and put it in the Lord’s hands. If we are to have it then God will make it clear to us through more scriptural confirmation AND the bank will accept our previous offer.
All the while God kept bringing to mind another property we had looked at, but fairly quickly dismissed. It was no longer even a caditate for consideration as far as John and I were concerned. However, the realestate agent kept asking our agent if we were still interested? It was owned by a church and they used it as house for recovering addicts and possibly visitors to their church. It was older, not well cared for, smelled of cigarettes, needed A LOT of work, not in the best part of town and NOT even in Lehigh but a little north of it (East Fort Myers to be exact). However, the home was much bigger than the others we had seen for the same price. It could accommodate an extra family and visitors to stay with us. It also had plenty of room for bible studies. So I felt the Lord tugging at my heart asking WHY we are here? Is it to have the nice house, huge yard, pool , in an acceptable part of town? OUCH! I know that we can accomplish both things in either home, but only God knows where we will have the biggest impact and what we will need, long term for what He is calling us to do. Oh, how our ‘hearts desires’ can sometimes be so short sighted looking only to the immediate need/wants rather than the fact that God has a LONG term plan going on. So we are continuing to seek more confirmation from the Lord. I am well aware that we NEVER “surprised God” by making a choice using our moderate understanding of what God thinks is best for us. However it is quite similar to old adage “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade”. However, we are the ones providing the Lemons for GOD to make Lemonade! Settling, not His first and foremost plan for us but He will make due with the effort we have given. Handing God ‘lemons’ and HIM orchestrating all those affected by our mess…….. We never make decisions in a vacuum and there are always casualties of decisions made without Christ. However, God is a God of redemption. It is God’s pleasure to have us submit to Him and give Him ALL our messes repentantly. Repentance is the key to getting our hearts back in line with the Lords desires for us.
I wish I could tell you that we HAVE confirmation on 'the house' God wants us to own, but so far we keep on seeking until our hearts are in line with scripture and attain the peace that only comes from making a decision based on the Lord's will for our lives. If you think about it please pray for us to get that confirmation! Love you all!

My Thankful List

Being that quite a few things have transpired since my last post I figured, in order to keep you from snoozing through a post I would keep it short and sweet…….. Never done that before so I suppose we will see how that goes!

1. I am thankful that I have a pretty amazing husband, 3 great kids that the Lord has blessed us with and an extended family that has been grafted into our clan through adoption.

2. I am so thankful for my sustained health and the fact that everyone else in our family is healthy! I have been seizure free for many years now, thanks to the Lord’s sweet provision and the ability to pay for the medication necessary to keep me well!

3. John, not only has a job in this uncertain economy, but it is a job that is truly a gift from God. He has had several opportunities to witness; mostly through acts of kindness, but those are rare between inmate and officer so they speak volumes. It also gives him time/energy to pour more into our family! This is just awesome to see the fruit from this happening as we become more knit together and indivisible for the work that God has called us to!

4. God is providing for us and continues to take care of us above all that we could ask or think!

5. I am so THANKFUL the kids and I got to go home and visit/recharge with my relatives and Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities church family back in August. Also, very grateful for opportunities to eat food (mostly ice cream and ranch dressing) that we can’t find here in Florida.

6. We seem to have some direction about the WHY behind being here in Florida. (To be disclosed when we have more evidence/direction)

7. A family from our church in the Tri-cities will be moving down, possibly within a year, to come alongside us in what the Lord has planned! We are pretty happy ELATED/AMAZED about this! It will be so wonderful to have fellowship for our family as we encourage each other to follow the path that God has laid out for each of us here!

8. As per the Lord’s direction, we have been house hunting again in an area that is about 45 minutes, yet only 20 miles, SouthEast of our current location. The town we are looking in/ around is called Lehigh acres.

9. The housing market is still pretty affordable here, but prices are slowly rising because investors are saturating the market. It has also been a bit tricky to navigate this market for these reasons:
~Foreclosures that have been ‘invisibly’ or visibly trashed. Some people are so upset they are losing their homes that they pour cement down the drains & toilets to make sure whoever buys the house has to “pay” for taking it away from them. They get back at the bank by selling off all light fixtures, pool equipment, AC/HVAC systems, kitchen cabinets, ect.
~Short sales: a term that basically says “I am trying to avoid foreclosure with my dignity and credit in tact. PLEASE buy my house for less than what I paid for it. However, since I really don’t want to HAVE to sell it to you, don’t expect me to let you see my house or negotiate a price for 1/3 of what I paid.”
~ Chinese drywall, which the government says is perfectly safe to inhale inert Strontium isotopes that stink like rotten eggs? It is in many of the homes on the market but is not disclosed since it is ‘safe’. Many of the homes built between the years of 2004 to 2006 are effected and since this was a time when there was a huge housing boom it is hard to know what is and is not a home with that drywall. It is so sad to see that people had to go into foreclosure on their ‘dream homes’ because they were unlivable. Even if you have one sheet of this stuff in your home it will cause BIG problems. It breaks down appliances, AC units and damages copper wiring within the year. People who have lived in these homes have the same health problems, however, even though the complaints are the same it is unrelated to the drywall? No worries though……. Obama will LOAN you upwards of 100,000 to ‘fix’ your unrepairable home. Many are struggling to afford their mortgages ‘as is’ and are then forced to foreclose. GRRRRR!
With all these obstacles in our path we are SO GRATEFUL we are seeking the Lord for direction. Only He knows what house we should have so when He says NO, it is easy to walk away KNOWING HE has our best interests at heart.

10. Ever since we realized that my seizure disorder would not be able to sustain another pregnancy, I knew that God gave me a hope that we would adopt to complete our family. John half-heartily agreed with this notion because, he saw how upseting devastating it was, for me. To have the desire to physically bear more children, but submitting that desire to the Lord, KNOWING it was time to let my body be done. However, adoption was MY hearts desire, not John's. After 6 years of praying for my husband to let the Lord speak to his heart on this matter, God has come thorugh. WE will be pursuing adoption once we get settled into the home God has for us here in Florida. The kids are VERY excited and pray daily for their new sibling(s) and that God would keep them safe till we meet him/her/them.

11. I am so thankful that the Lord has chosen this time of isolation for our family. Weird I know, but it has caused John & I to take a very good look at the fact that “you are going to get out of your children, exactly what you put into them”. Yes, we homeschool, yes we use Christian curriculum, yes, we talk about what the Lord is doing for us as a family and how He relates to us. However, how much of this is just scratching the surface? How much of this really cultivates a relationship with us AND more importantly, Jesus? Meaning if they only hear about the Lord through quaint little stories at church and via a short devotional in the morning before school, are they really equipped or are they starving spiritually! Since this has been brought to our attention, we have been doing family devotions in the evening. Just going through the word, reading and answering questions. I only wish we had started doing this earlier as it allows them to ask us questions without shame for not knowing. It gives us opportunities to diffuse all the worlds influences that creep to tempt their hearts. A place in our children’s hearts needs to be cultivated more proactively in the world we live in. The bonus is getting to see them grow in the Lord more fervently, turn to Him when they struggle in their sin AND, most importantly, get victory over those areas they give to the Lord.

12. This year we got to have someone over for Thanksgiving that we know from back home! A former co-worker of John’s moved here to Cape Coral about a couple months ago. We have gotten together a couple times to share our ‘confusion’ with the new culture here in Florida and swapping stories from back home. John and she also had a nice time swapping work stories of their time spent at Benton county as well as being so THANKFUL each of them no longer work there.

I know this is longer than I promised so I will stop there! I am thankful for more than just these things but I know you are already probably thinking “I don’t really care whatever else you are thankful for because you are so long winded” and ready to move along to check your Facebook page. Please just don't post a status update of that you now "need a nap because Theresa's blog is so long"! I will still chose to love you even if you do this but I may send you a poopy diaper in the mail. I work in the church nursery! :o) For those of you naysayers like Ryan, I, just want to let you know, there are 3 separate posts I started along these lines and never got finished because they were a bit too long individually. So, in a way this really is LONG STORY SHORT! He He! Hope you all are well and enjoying getting ready for your Christmas celebration! BIG CHRISTMAS HUGS SENT FROM FLORIDA! Especially because I am not sure if we will get Christmas pics out this year! Anyone want to come celebrate Christmas on the beach with us? Just let me know!

An additional puzzle piece

I mentioned a couple posts ago that I was pondering our puzzle pieces. Basically God was giving us some information to ‘sit on’. His plans get revealed to us before hand but it is only when circumstances follow that the plan actually looks feasible! One of puzzle pieces had to do with John’s job. While his job is a tremendous blessing, one thing about being a corrections officer, the hours are harder on the body as you get older. Don’t get me wrong, 12 hour shifts have their advantages and can be an amazing blessing. Only working 15 days a month is very neat, however if on the other 15 that you do work, you are present only in body, but the brain should be categorized as the ‘walking dead’, this is not so great. Also when the off days are spent recovering from the working days, many times this results in permanently working with an intellect that is a few fries short of a happy meal!
A little history for you….. When my hubby and I married in 1998 he was already a corrections officer. He had a ‘specialty position’ though, working with inmates on the road crew. The reason why it is such a great position for most, is that it has normal hours of operation. Back then, he worked Tuesday through Saturday 7am-3pm. Being that I was raised by a police officer who was on rotating shiftwork, this schedule was a piece of cake! These hours meant that he still had a little energy left when he got home for us AND enough ‘spring in his step’ to maybe attend an evening service at church or go to a friends house for dinner. In all his years as a corrections officer THESE were probably the most care-free and fun for him. You see, my hubby has the gift of evangelism and when he worked this type of job, he had so many opportunities to witness to people. It wasn’t like he had a ‘captive audience’ either. He never abused his position as an officer to shove the gospel down someone’s throat. He would merely have his bible in his work van, read it during lunch breaks and just live out his relationship with Jesus in front of the people on his crew. Inmates are pretty much used to being treated with disrespect and when you do not fill this role with them, it makes a big difference. Many of them would strike up conversations about the bible. After a short while of conversation, the barriers that were standing in between them and the Lord was eradicated. Being that many of them are invariably at a pretty low point in their life, they are already ‘seeking’ something that makes a lasting change or difference in their life. Talk about my hubby being in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately, after a couple years of being a work crew officer, my hubby tested for a supervisor’s position. He always regretted making this move as it felt like ‘trading in’ his most effective ministry for career advancement. Although, God still used him in his new positions, it never felt as right as when he was really being used with his work crew. As a supervisor, he was grateful for the fact of KNOWING from experience, that career advancement isn’t all it is cracked up to be. With more responsibility, comes greater headaches that are not worth the pay increase! He never imagined that he would ever be presented with the opportunity to do this former job again until just recently.
A month ago, there were two work crew positions that came available in the department here. They seemed to take forever to post them all the while John was just chomping at the bit to apply! He figured that maybe they would have to cut the program, since budgets around here are very tight! What is very neat about the timing of the posting is that it was a month after John’s one year anniversary and annual evaluation. One of the requirements for being considered for the position was that you had to be there over a year. God is so good and His timing is always so perfect!
He put in a letter of interest for the position as soon as it was posted. There were many rumors flying around that they already had in mind who they wanted for the positions. While there were quite a few applicants, there were less than a dozen interviews. Everyone who was interviewed was sent an e-mail of when they needed to show up for their oral board interview. A few minutes after receiving the e-mail, John got a radio call from the Captain asking if he got the e-mail and was planning to make the interview. John felt his heart jump a bit but didn’t want to read too much into it. No one else on his crew received the same radio call to confirm.
The interviews were today. He called me RIGHT after his interview and said that he didn’t think he did well! He was pretty bummed thinking he must not have made it. An hour later he called me again stating that the Captain called him and offered him the job. So beginning on October 5th John will be running a work crew and working 4 ten hour shifts. Having a set schedule opens up many opportunities for ministry not only at work but for home fellowship too! This is just one more piece of the puzzle that has been revealed to us and we want to share with you all! More to come as God begins to reveal more of His plan for us here!

Pondering my puzzle pieces & God's plan

Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Romans 5:1-5
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
For many reasons, I have been pondering these verses lately. What immediately caught my attention is the fact that our worldly definition of ‘prosper’ is so off base and opposite to the Lord’s. I looked up the word prosper, however in the KJV, the word that is used is Peace. When I dig deeper into that word peace, in Hebrew it means rest & safety. DUH, kinda sounds like another way of saying peace? After reading the first verse, I can see how awesome it is, that all I have to do is understand God has plans for us and all we need to do is rest in His plan. Seems simple enough right? He promises the end result of doing this is sweet intimate fellowship with Jesus and that He will hear our prayers which provide Him direct access to our hearts. (My paraphrase) With that kind of direct access, comes a yielding heart that is moldable to His plans over our own.
Then my mind slips into the realization of the second scripture. While God does have plans to give us peace and keep us from harm, He never promises that life will be easy. This is sometimes where my “heart to heart” kinship with the Lord gets tested. Many times, God’s plans have periods of refinement that do not FEEL like peace or safety. Dyeing to self through whatever circumstance is usually painful. Many times, those periods when dying is the only option that serves the greatest purpose, became so much harder because I got distracted with how I felt about dying. Just as a baby cries when they have a dirty diaper, we adults can kick against the Lord’s plan when the process gets uncomfortable. We question God’s process eventhough we KNOW He desires peace, rest and safety for our lives. Sadly, this is where kinship and the Lord’s direct access to MY heart gets muddled by self-loathing.
Hence the reason for this verse:
Philippians 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
If testing our faith produces a temper tantrum, isn’t is so awesome that God knows exactly what we need to do, to get right back on track. This verse functions a bit like the tazer/stun gun that cops use to disable a criminal. It jolts them out of their stupidity to get them to comply. This verse stings to the heart to get our eyes off our petty problems and onto the Lord. He is so faithful to keep it simple, for simple folks like myself. After all, God’s ultimate goal is very dis-similar to that of a police officer. He desires a heart that is more than just compliant. The ultimate goal of the Lord is not forced manipulation to achieve the task at hand but restoration. He wants that fellowship back that willingly offers Him humble obedience and that direct heart accessability again.
How come the knowledge that God HAS a perfect plan that suits our best interest, is not enough? How come that concept is not something we cling to while persevering through the refining process? Since not much has changed since the fall of man, I suppose it is much in the same manner by which Adam and Eve KNEW there was ONE tree they were not to eat from but ended up hanging out by that tree? Knowledge is not really good for anything unless it is preceeded by a trusting in, relying upon and clinging to, relationship with Christ.
As God begins to unfold His Plans to “prosper us and not to harm us” in whatever manner He choses to do this, I am praying for our family. That in the midst of His plan, to have yielding hearts that will hold fast through whatever refinement is necessary to achieve things He desires. Counting the cost of following Jesus in the times of comfort is never any challenge. However, when you begin walking according to the Lord’s plan you become a target for spiritual battle. Ergo the need to for this verse of which I am making my memory verse:
Ephesians 6: 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

What are God’s plans for you this year? Do you think He is calling on you to count the cost, in ways that you don’t care to be stretched out of your comfort zone? What scriptures have helped you when you were being stretched persevering through refinement? Feel free to share if you have any words of wisdom!

Pictures/story of the accident

For all of you's who wanted to know about the

accident, it was pretty amazing just how much the Lord protected us! I was driving the kids home Thursday from Ben's Karate lesson at about 5:20pm. It was raining really hard so this makes the streets really slick. Hydroplaning on streets are a reality to be aware of during the rainy season. I was stopped at a red light with about 15 cars in front of me when I heard/felt a big thud from behind. I didn't see it comeing, which is a small blessing since there would have been nothing I could have done to stop the impact and if I would have inched any closer to the car in fron this would have been bad too! The impact was very sudden as the lady in a small Ford focus hydro-planed into my back end. When I realized what happened I realized my foot wasn't pressed hard on the brake as it was when I had first stopped and I was slowly moving forward toward the car in front of me. THANKS TO MY DADDY, who taught me to never get so close to the car in front of you that you CAN'T see their back tires (gotta love those things that actually stick!)....... anyway, by the grace of God and maybe an invisable angel that worked as a sponge between the car in front and me, I stayed far enough away from the next car up to prevent a huge bumper to bumper mess on one of the busyest streets in town! The lady who hit me, her car was very damaged and didn't appear to be repairable while ours is still drivable. The back bumper will need replaced and the back door, while it still opens and closes just fine, will need to be popped back into the right shape. OTHERWISE, there is no other damage! No broken glass from the back OR side windows that could have shattered on top of the kids and there doesn't seem to be alignment damage! The girls parents walked in the pouring rain to the scene where they profusely apologized. I felt such sympathy for this poor 18 year old girl & her family. Probably because at the age of 18 I had 2 accidents that were my fault and where I totalled vehicles all because I was being too reckless...... Her family had to walk to the accident scene as it seemed that she was driving the only car. Can you please be praying for this girl as she recovers and heals from this traumatic experience. Being 18 and knowing that she put the family in a pretty hard predicament must be a lot of pressure so please pray that their insurance company would speed up its usual red tape battle for them to recieve compensation soon!The kids pretty much escaped without any harm done except for the trauma of being in an accident. Abby's first response as I dialed 911 was to ask "Mommy, can we pray". She is always my tender-hearted one! As I talked with the 911 officer her big sister prayed with her, however, shortly after this and after assessing the damage to the car behind us, Abby broke down. She started sobbing "I WANT MY DADDY" over and over, so I cut my 911 operator short to comfort Abby and let her know everything will be OK. Shortly after that the kids were on to a much happier subject..... "Mommy does this mean we will get to buy a new car?" Yeah, from that statement I KNEW they were fine as they shared their extravagant wishlist of what a new car will have (A TV for every passenger in the back). They were a tad bummed when their bubble was burst and they found out the car was fixable! :o) The fire, police and ambulance showed up which also provided the kids with the needed distraction and people asking if they were OK or felt any pain. Here is another so cool God~thing...... John gets off everyday at 5, but on Thursdays he usually goes straight to the church for Men's prayer to wait for others to arrive at 6. On this day in particular he took an alternate route to kill time and not get there early. It would just so happen that his alternate route was right beside the accident scene. Once he saw our van he was able to stop and come see if everyone was OK. This was so cool that God heard Abby's prayer for her daddy. It was also very neat that he got to witness the scene so that he knew about it before returning home at 7:30 & extremely exhausted from his full day. After finding that we were all OK and Abby was calm he was able to get to the church in time!Last night & today I was feeling the results of whiplash & the light-headedness never left so I went in to the ER to make sure everything was Ok. Somehow during the chaos of the accident I lost my liscense. I remember the police officer handing it back to me but after that where I put it I am not sure. After looking for a while with limited range of motion, I had to take a detour to the DMV before being scene...... Hospitals are kinda funny about not wanting to see people without ID? Anywho, I got in to the room......... after my spine was X-rayed & head CT, the Dr said that I had no new injuries that she could see! With the fact that I have osteoporosis in my spine this was a huge relief to know that there was no further injury! My CT was OK as well, which is another big praise for someone who needs to keep what I have left on my brain!! I am still pretty sore and probably will be for another couple weeks as my muscles heal. Thank you for all your concerns and prayers!I just ask if you would please pray for a couple other things besides the girl and her family..... Could you please pray that the insurance would be expediant at doing their jobs on our side as well and that we find a good shop that will charge within reason of what the insurance estimated it will pay for repairs. Florida has some weird insurance laws so this will be a learning experience but I am sure God has a reason for everything and that maybe we will have opportunities through this to be a witness of Him. I am going to go to bed now but tomorrow I will post this on my blog along with pictures of the damage! I have my blog set up with a widget on the side that allows you to sign up to recieve any new entries, via e-mail. That way you can keep up without having to constantly check. If you already get them sent to your e-mail address you don't need to sign up again! Thank you for all your prayers! Here was the song that was playing in my head soon after the accident was over, and the realization of how much God protected us was understood:

The Lord is gracious and Compassionate, slow to anger and rich in Love (2X)

And the Lord is good to all, He has compassion In all that He has made;

As far as the East is from the West,

Thats how far He has removed our transgressions from us (2X)

Praise the Lord, Oh my Soul, Praise the Lord (2X)

HUGS all!

Here is the lovely rainbow that appeared after the rainstorm!

Not the sharpest crayon in the box

This blog is going to be more of a praise today! I am just so thankful that God covers us in ALL THINGS. Even the things that we are unaware of. Although I try my darndest to use all the marbles I have left up in my brain, sometimes I forget that I am not the sharpest crayon in the box. Here was the situation where God totally covered me and filled in for my absent brain cells to which I am so grateful!
You see, last night I realized that my pharmacy made a mistake. While trying to save me & my insurance company some money they sent me the generic drug after I specifically requested over the phone and then sent in a payment for the brand name. Now please understand, I am not a brand name drug snob, but when it comes to maintaining a seizure disorder, the rule of thumb is you don’t mess with what is working! Especially when the consequences of learning that the generic prescription DOESN’T work like the name brand, comes at a pretty steep price. If I were to have a breakthrough seizure, even a mild one, I could injure my kids, myself, crash the car while driving and possible injure whoever was inside my car or whoever I hit with the car, or just plain scare my kids to death! The results of a seizure also means my driving privileges would be legally suspended (on my driving record) for 3 YEARS. As you can guess this means a break in insurance coverage which is spendy. In WA you are not legally suspended and it is more a system of ‘scouts honor’ to not drive for 6 months following a seizure. Not saying that I don’t see the validity in this law, but it just makes those of us who are honest and for the most part very controlled with our seizures punished with those that are not.
After ordering the drug I miraculously found another supply of my meds that I didn’t see before ordering. It was a pretty sizable amount too (1 ½ month supply). So when the new bottle arrived I just put it up and didn’t think twice about it. Didn’t even inspect it, quite honestly. A couple weeks later we ordered some more prescriptions that we didn’t have to pay for since there was a $50 credit on my account? I called and they didn’t really give me a definitive reason why there was a credit. I told myself that I would need to check on it soon but with all the things on my plate, I just forgot. I mentioned to my Dr about the insurance wanting me to try the generic and he explained that it was taking a risk. Although chemically it is the same, the bonding agents can be different which affect absorption, chemical reaction, effectiveness of the delicate balance (I know maybe too much info). I sent in my new script and looked up my account on-line where I spotted the differences between the new prescriptions and the last one filled on my account. I then looked at the bottles and sure enough was the generic name and the the pills were a little but different. However, not different enough to spot when I am half awake taking my meds so PRAISE GOD!. I am just so thankful that God let me in on the secret stash in the back of the cabinet and provided me ample time to figure out this mistake so I didn’t have to figure it out after having a seizure! God is so good!

Thinking outside the box

Since we have moved to Florida I have heard from several of you, that you maybe have had that same ‘inkling’ of God calling you out. Maybe you are not certain of the game-plan, but just prayerfully watching and waiting for God to reveal it to you. Ready to do the ‘next thing’ in whatever His plans are for you! I just wanted to take the time to share with you that this is a very exciting thing and I am glad some of you have taken the time to share this awesome blessing with us so we can be praying for you. If you are not getting this inkling quite yet, I hope that by my writing this you would be stirred to consider a small challenge. I want to encourage you that, you can do this in your own Jerusalem, wherever that may be at the moment! Being taught under Steve in CCTC, has equipped us ALL so very well that you can only get so ‘well fed’, before needing to act upon it and bless others. I shared in one of my original journals/blog from last year……….. when we first felt God tugging and He was going to move us, out biggest problem there in Tri-cities was contentment & complacency…….. Simply put, that amongst the awesome BOLD teaching, wonderful accountability & great fellowship that we experienced in TC, we got very comfortable in where God was using us. We were ‘giving out’ and serving but not beyond areas that were, honestly, out of our comfort zones. It was easy to do as we have always done, simply because we lacked the ability to think ‘outside of the box’ in many ways. We had niches where God was using us because these were the areas we ‘allowed Him’ to use us. Beyond this, was too far fetched and shamefully absent. To be honest, we put God in a box by allowing our comfort to me more important than the possibilities of what He could have done with us.In the loneliness of being ‘sequestered’ from everything I knew from TC, many of which were awesome, edifying and wonderful things, it is amazing how much God has revealed to me to begin thinking outside my comfort zone……… When it is no longer convenient to consult with a GODLY friend and down play how God would never tell me to do ________ because it would interfere with _________ or use the excuse that I am just not equipped to do__________. Well, then it is just between God and you. There are things God is calling me to do here, that I would have never even considered doing in TC. I had my ‘things’, my schedules were pretty set, the goals were very clear and there really was ‘no time’ for thinking outside the box back home. God forbid if I had begun prayerfully considered thinking this way and I am sure something shiney could have come alongside and distracted me since it is always Satans plan to keep us from having a true impact in the lives of others. When there is no one to argue with, but the Lord, and we 'get out of ourselves' long enough to find out where God wants us, that is the point where God can do show us what he can do with a lump of dirt. YOU TOO can experience the same thing we have experienced, without the need to move at all. Ask the Lord to reveal to you, if you are even open to thinking outside of your comfort zone. Sequester yourself from whatever talks you out of doing what is not comfortable or logical. Ask the Lord what distracts you from thinking outside of your comfort zone? I pray that some of you do get sent out of ‘the nest’ and go on to do some pretty awesome things with God’s leading. However, to those of you who are not being called out I challenge you to also be prayerful in the same manner. Until God sends you elsewhere don’t make the same mistake I made. Think outside the box and make an impact there in your Jerusalem while you still can! Evaluate your time spent? Are you spending time on what is eternally valuable? Are you investing in more than the everyday mundane or asking God to help you invest in the eternally valuable, beyond what you could ordinarily imagine? GOD BLESS ALL!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!