Consider it all Joy!

We're nearing 9 months....... and I am amazed that many of you are still visiting this blog and remembering us in your prayers. You are troupers! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart! I know that I get tired of praying about our situation, so you are surely tired of it too, at times. But, I selfishly ask that you continue to remember us... continue to pray for God to meet our needs and direct every step we take. He is using this trial to shape us... what a difference I can see in my faith and in my walk with Him after 9 months of total dependence on Him. When I realize that, I just have to do as the apostle James says and CONSIDER IT ALL JOY!

No responses to any resumes Mark's sent out over the last couple of weeks. Some of you have written to me and asked what he does for a living. If I had to label it I would say he is a GIS specialist and specifically a GIS trainer. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems. Because he is very specialized it narrows his options, hence the biggest challenge in his job search.

Others have asked about my daughter-in-love. She is doing well, besides having a lot of morning sickness. They are needing to find a bigger apartment or small home to rent, assuming all continues to go well with the pregnancy. That is *their* challenge, as they are both still students and affording a bigger place while continuing college will be quite difficult. If they come to mind now and then, please pray about their housing situation.

Thank you again for all of your prayers!
Our God is GREAT and MIGHTY and ABLE!

The Peace of God

Remember in Matthew 8, when Jesus and the disciples were in a boat and storm suddenly came up around them? They feared for their lives, the waves were washing over them, but Jesus didn't act immediately. Yet, Jesus had absolute control of the situation. All He had to do was speak; the raging storm around them stopped immediately. The disciples were awestruck; even a storm would obey His voice! I was reading over this account and I realized something.... Jesus could have prevented the storm from occurring at all. Or He could have told the disciples it was a bad time to go out in the boat! He could have saved them from even experiencing fear and anxiety of the situation!! So, why did He allow this to happen? He had something important to teach them, something they may have never learned without the storm. In the midst of their fear and anxiety, they learned about their own helplessness and their dependency on Jesus. And most of all, they learned about HIS sufficiency and HIS power!

I'm sure the disciples thought they might all die and wanted the whole frightening situation to end the second it began. But, if they had avoided this storm, they would've missed this amazing demonstration of Jesus' power over the wind and sea! It was proof of Jesus' divine nature. You know what? God wants to show us His power through our trials, too! And He has!

Praise Him for the storm!! He has infused us with courage, bolstered our faith and has taught us about His love, power and provision.

Please praise Him along with me for the following things:

• Our flour and oil still have not become empty!
• He continues to show us ways to stretch our food and money every day and multiplies our "loaves and fishes"
• He takes care of every true need we have! Last week, he provided a gift that took care of our groceries.
• Our kids are in a Madrigal Dinner and the tickets are expensive so we didn't plan to go... but we were gifted tickets to the show.
• We've had strep throat going around this week and we are especially thankful we still have health insurance.
• Mark had a good meeting with a recruiter this week. Continue to pray for God's direction!
  

O TASTE and SEE that the LORD is GOOD!

My phone has had intermittent problems ever since it fell in the sink and now is no longer showing any signs of life. Last week, Mark's phone began to shut off whenever he talked on it.... which isn't good because he used that phone number on his resumes! It became urgent to get new phones! We checked at a nearby Cingular store and they still didn't have any free phones. Ugh! What to do? Then, I got a Cingular advertisement in my email and it caused me to go to their web site and low and behold... free phones if you upgrade online! Problem solved, in God's timing!

Today we were blessed with a gift from friends that will allow me to go to Shop 'n Save tomorrow and take advantage of the $10 off coupon. PTL!

We received a delicious loaf of whole grain bread... what a treat and so nourishing, too.

I forgot to mention several weeks ago, a dear friend gave me a box of laundry detergent just when I was getting low again! (God really cares about my laundry, I think!)

This is such a little thing... but our orthodontist wanted me to get Hannah a peroxide-based oral rinse to care for her gums under her new "tooth". I looked at Target and it was really expensive! I prayed at the store, as I often do when trying to decide what to buy and what to leave.... and I had a thought.... to check at Walgreens. Would you believe they had the exact rinse I needed FREE after rebate! And to top it off, I had a gift card from last month's rebates to purchase it with! Our God takes care of *everything*!

O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good!
Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied)
is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.

The young lions lack food and suffer hunger,
but they who seek (inquire of and require) the Lord
[by right of their need and on the authority of His Word],
none of them shall lack any beneficial thing.
(Amplified Bible)

Psalm 34:9,10

A Beautiful Smile!

Hannah got her braces off and our orthodontist made a temporary false tooth for her... he says it will probably last 6 months or so, so it is only a temporary solution -- but one for which we are thankful for! She is a happy camper, as you can imagine!

Blessed are all who wait for him!

Mark and I have been marveling, once again, at God's power, love, and provision. You see, just a few days ago, we reached the 8 month mark of his unemployment. Logic would dictate that we would not have been able to pay our bills, to feed & clothe our children, to heat our home this cold winter..... Logic would dictate that we would not have been able to give any Christmas gifts or birthday gifts to our children.... But, our situation has defied all logic. Every true need we have has been met and even a few things that were not needs.

And, some might even say it would be logical to lose our faith in God after 8 long months of waiting and praying for a job, without one materializing.

But, on the contrary.... it has given our faith wings.

Can I say it has been easy? Absolutely not. The trial has come with many physical sacrifices, we've shed tears, and have suffered countless fears, and even some humiliation. Just like clay in a potter's hands, some days I feel I've been smashed, pushed, pulled, and prodded. But, we've also had a glorious front-seat witness to God's power. We've tested His promises and found them to be true! If we SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM, He will take care of all of our necessities. We've floundered at times, but God's strong arm has always pulled us up and set us on a firm footing once again.

He's developed in us, a trust we never possessed before.
We know His purposes are valuable and His plan is worth the cost of a delay.

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him! Isiah 30:18

In terms of a job search update, I'll share a couple of things. Mark had a job interview this week that went great! The problem is, they won't be ready to hire for the position until maybe April, and the pay is not good. Mark also has a phone interview next week for another job. So, it seems like the search is picking up pace a little. I really feel a new job is just around the corner.

If you think of us in your prayers, please pray that God will direct our paths in this!

The Blessings Are Many!

God continues to answer prayers regarding provision for all of our needs. Mark should get a commission for the house sale soon which I think will take care of next month's necessities. We also expect to get a nice tax return that will extend our ability to manage a little longer, yet! I'm amazed at the timing of everything and how nicely it all lines up to take care of each need as it comes.

Youth trip deposits were due on Hannah's birthday. Parker was able to make a down payment for his summer youth trip through his job at the Columns, thank the Lord! Hannah has made arrangements with the youth minister to pay hers off as she is able and I am thankful for the youth minister's flexibility with that!

Mark has more "irons in the fire". We are feeling optimistic that God will bring the right job at the right time... and maybe even soon! :-)

Nothing to do with job search, but...

Our son and daughter-in-love came by our house this week to tell us that they found out she is pregnant! Of course we were shocked and surprised... but very, very happy.

Yesterday, I heard from my "dil" that her progesterone levels are too low which is bad for the pregnancy. They are going to put her on some progesterone supplements and hope that it will solve the problem. The neat thing about it all is that her Dr. appointment was Wednesday and she knew she'd be hearing from the doctor the next day.... so it was difficult to get up and go about the day like it was "normal". She went to her voice class at the college on Thursday, and she and her teacher always begin by talking and praying together. So, she told her teacher about the pregnancy and the progesterone levels, and poured out her worries. The teacher told my dil that she'd miscarried once due to low progesterone levels.... which was hard for our dil to hear, of course. But, it was also good for her to have someone to talk to who had been through the same worries and concerns. Then, her teacher began to talk about about God's will and how important it was to follow Him in every detail of our lives, even when He seems to be telling us to do something that doesn't make sense. The teacher then told my dil that when she was getting ready to leave for work that morning, she felt God was asking her to put something in her purse that didn't make sense. But, she it in her purse anyway because she had such a strong leading to do so. And now, she said she knew what she was supposed to do with that item. She then reached into her purse and handed it to my dil... it was a little stuffed baby bunny. An amazing reminder that God is aware of what is going on.... and that He is sovereign and in control of it all.

I'm thankful that her voice teacher was sensitive to God's voice and most of all, obedient in doing something even when it didn't make sense to her. (Who would think that it was reasonable to put a stuffed animal in your purse to go teach at a college!) What a lesson, huh? It seems to be a lesson God is showing me again and again. When God puts a thought in my head or a nudging in my heart... I should not hesitate, but rather, just do it.

Please pray for our son and daughter-in-love and the baby. And most of all... please praise Him for his lovingkindness.

God bless you all.