I Remember You...

I admit it, I was feeling down for the last several days. We feel that we are proceeding down the path God has laid before us, yet I was praying that God would reassure me that he would care for all of our needs between now and the time when this business can support us. He reminded me of the many things He has done... the cross in the wallet, the spending money for my kid's mission trips, going to the grocery store with very little money but leaving with everything we needed, his provision of cleaning supplies, and most of all God's reminder of His assurance that He will not let our flour and oil become empty until the rains come again.

I ended up rereading through much of this blog. May I suggest, whether you are going through a trial or not, to consider keeping a spiritual journal? For Mark and I, it has helped us to look back and remember when God spoke to us or provided for us during these difficult months. It is no surprise really.... God seems to put a lot of importance in remembering. He is often telling the Jewish people to remember this or that. Many times in the Bible he'll have them make a visual reminder -- for example, when He instructed them to make piles of rocks as a reminder of the day they crossed the Jordan on dry ground. In addition, if you get out a concordance and look up the word REMEMBER you will find a long list of scriptures. WOW! Remembering IS something God wants us to do.

I received great encouragement through remembering.... but to top it off, when I went to the mailbox yesterday I found that someone had given us a gift to help with groceries. (Thank you!)

I am praising Him, not just for this gift, but just for WHO HE IS! That He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient... that He is loving and kind. That He sent Jesus as our Savior. Through Jesus we can have a direct and close relationship with God. We don't have an impersonal God!! We can know Him intimately and can talk to Him and walk with Him every day.

From Psalm 63:

2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.

7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

~*~

May the People Know that YOU, the LORD are GOD

I was about to write a request that you pray that our tax return arrive because we needed it to live on this month. But, just as I started to write our mail carrier came and it was here, finally! I resisted the temptation to worry about the money by turning it back to prayer whenever I felt worry coming on! I learned we were running out of money about the same time I noticed our dog's food was almost gone. As I often do, I said, "Lord, I know you see that!" About two days later, we received some WalMart gift cards in the mail so we bought some food for them and some food for us! God is a God of lovingkindness to even have concern for our pets.

We have made our decision. We're proceeding with the business and April 9th will be the official day we begin. I was reading the story of Elijah yesterday.... where the flour and oil were promised to not become empty until the rains came again.... I noticed that the passage is in I Kings. I told Mark it was an interesting coincidence that the company just happens to be Kingdom Inspections Network Group (KING). :-D Not that it necessarily means anything, but a neat coincidence that made me smile.

I was moved by the prayer of Elijah in the following chapter when he wants the Lord to move to show that Jehovah is the ONE TRUE GOD after a long drought......

...."O God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I'm doing what I'm doing under your orders. Answer me, God; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God, the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance."

Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.

All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming,

"God is the true God! God is the true God!"....

Elijah said to Ahab,
"Up on your feet! Eat and drink—celebrate!
Rain is on the way; I hear it coming."

Update -- LONG post, sorry!

1) All doors to "jobs" have stayed solidly shut and it seems that it may not be what God has in mind for us. We've talked about many different things and different business ideas and did not have any real leading or direction about any of the ideas we had. But, some things have developed the last two weeks or so.

2) Mark took a personality analysis test, hoping to get a little insight into what he should do. Also, I sold a couple of books I received for Christmas and used the money to buy him a book called "48 Days to the Work You Love", hoping it might help. Turns out a lot of this book is about working for yourself rather than getting a J-O-B!

3) A cousin of a friend contacted our friend to see if he might know of anyone who might be interested in starting a home inspection business in the St. Louis area. Our friend thought of Mark and contacted him.

4) Praying over this, we both felt some level of peace over this idea, but didn't come to any decisions. One of our biggest hesitations was health insurance since we both have preexisting conditions and have three kids at home.....

5) After a few weeks we were contacted again about the home inspection business and then a few days later we saw Facing the Giants. I felt God was using the movie to encourage us to "face the giants" of fear and failure and to "prepare our fields" for the rains He has been promising. Mark felt the same way. He pulled out the personality analysis and saw the many of the elements of this type of business were a good match for his personality and skills.

6) The following day we took the next step towards the home inspection business by filling out some paperwork and sending it in. An hour or so later the phone rang. Another friend of ours contacted Mark about a job... at first I was so confused as to why God would bring this job to his attention NOW. I was on my knees asking God, "What in the world are you doing? I don't understand!" The timing seemed contradictory to everything we'd been sensing. But, as Mark learned more about it we realized it might be another God-thing. The job is an entry level, low paying job and is probably temporary. But, it would provide health insurance and as we are fond of saying around here, "It's more money than he's making now!" If Mark was offered this job, he could probably work there during the day and do the home inspections in the evenings and weekends until he was busy enough that he could quit the job. And, the truth is... if this were a job that paid really well, we'd probably forget about the home inspection business altogether. So, maybe God is using it to meet our immediate needs while guiding us towards starting the business.

7) Our friend's cousin who is in the home inspection business will train Mark.... Mark just has to go out there for 3 weeks. In another God-coincidence, he is located in Ohio, near Mark's parents. Which means Mark could stay with them while he is getting training, so it wouldn't cost us more than gas. Because we'd be going into a partnership with thie company, we have a contract to look over. But, it's written in "lawyerese" and was hard to understand all the elements.

8) In praying over the contract Mark asked God to show him in his Bible study that day something that spoke to the situation. He said that the thing that stood out was the need for "counsel".

9) We talked about who we should "counsel" with and eventually came to the conclusion that we should call my attorney-cousin. I called her and it was clear that God was paving the path before us. She said that she had visited my family photo blog last week to see if there were any new photos up. She noticed that there was a link to my "I Will Learn to Fly" blog there and followed it. She hadn't ever seen that blog before and after reading through it she said she was praying, "God is there anything I can do to help them?" And before long, I called and asked her if she could look at this contract! She said this must be what God wanted her to do! Mark laughed when I told him, and said it was just God again showing us that He is taking care of everything.

10) The job still hasn't been offered yet and we're still in negotiations and prayer over the contract w/ the home inspection business. The entire scenario I've laid out above may or may not develop in the way we are anticipating. And we're okay with that, we just want GOD'S best for us. I just ask that you PRAY for us that we might make wise decisions and that the Lord will give us eyes to see whatever He wants us to see.

This has been a LONG road for us, but I can testify that you CAN consider the trials all joy. Trials draw you closer to Him as you rely on Him for every need. It is an amazing way to live, in total dependence on God.

Which, I have a feeling, is the way we are always supposed to live, anyway.

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. Phillipians 4:6

:-D
And now..... bless you if you've read this WHOLE THING!!
..

48 Days to the Work You Love
(This is the book Mark read... recommended!)

Preparing the Fields

Our church showed the movie, Facing the Giants, last night. If you haven't seen it, I would certainly recommend it. What a powerful message! It was easy to insert our circumstances into the theme of the movie and make applications to our own life. So many of the things the characters said and did were things we've said and done over the last 9 months... the parallels were quite amazing. The coach's team philosophy was similar to ours throughout this job search.... "When we win, we praise Him. When we lose, we praise Him." It is so contrary to human nature, but a vital part of learning to trust in God.

During the movie one of the characters told a story about two farmers who both prayed for rain... but only one of them went out to prepare his fields. Which one of them believed God would send the rain? Of course, the one who prepared his fields! What a light bulb moment. If you've regularly read this blog, you know that "the rains" has been a theme in this blog and a theme in what God has been showing us throughout this trial. (Your flour and oil will not become empty until the rains come again...) So, this illustration felt like a huge billboard from God. Prepare your fields!!

Mark and I are talking and praying over some options... but we could really use your prayers for wisdom and eyes to see what He would have us see. I would also ask that you praise Him for all of the "closed doors" we've encountered so far and praise Him for the fact that when HE opens a door NO ONE can shut it.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43:5