GREAT news!

I  know…blog overload this week…sorry but I just wanted to give you a quick update.

Barry got a JOB!!!! Praise God!!!! Not just a job either, but the best job he interviewed for. To go into all the details would take too much of your time. All I want to say is this, I’ve been on my knees, begging God to give Barry the job he interviewed for weeks ago. I was positive that was the one for him. Then, this company contacted Barry out of the blue. This job was not even on our radar at all. He interviewed with them twice this week and they called this morning to offer him the job. This position is significantly better than the one I’d been begging God to give Barry.

Immediately after Barry got off the phone, we both acknowledged that this was so clearly from God. He was telling us the whole time to wait. He knew what I wanted but He had something better in store.

Barry will start the new job on 08/04. We are so happy, relieved and grateful.

THANK YOU so much for continually praying for us. We cannot begin to truly express what that means to us. Please continue to pray for God’s guidance as we look for a house. Also, if you will please be praying for the child God is preparing for us to foster.

We still attend our Florida church each week via the internet. Our pastor said on Sunday that God’s way may not be the easiest, but it is always the best. I couldn’t agree more!

When I deserve it least

Good Morning! I have to first apologize for being such a “Debbie Downer” in the last post. I don’t like it when I allow the negative circumstances around me to take the main stage. I am a normal person with real emotions. I have good days and bad, just like you, but I do apologize for using the bad day feelings to write a blog.

The circumstances we are in have not changed in the past couple of days since I updated you but my attitude has. I want to share with you why.

First off, Barry has been really great about everything. Clearly, he is stressed just like I am. Probably even more since the financial responsibility lies almost entirely on him. However, he has been so calm about it all. He asked me the other day “What is the worst thing that could happen? We lose everything? Things don’t go at all the way we’ve planned? So what! Things are just things. Plans are not ours to make, they are God’s. No matter what, we have each other.” He really helps me get my perspective back in line when I let it go bonkers.

Second, I got a phone call yesterday from a woman that I love and admire so very much! She helped to bring my chaotic mind back into focus. She reminded me of what we know God has done so far. She helped me to see how He’s moving in some of our current circumstances. She also pointed me back to the real source of hope for the future. When I told her that failure is what I was afraid of, she told me that as long as we were following God’s call as obediently as we know how, then no matter what happens, it won’t be failure.

Last, but most importantly, God spoke to me directly through His Word yesterday and I just HAVE to share it with you.

Psalm 62:5-8 ~ “Let all that I am wait quietly before God,for my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation,my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge.”

Here is what I heard:

Let all that I am (not just the parts of me that are easy to surrender but ALL that I am) wait quietly (I don’t need to be constantly begging Him to do things the way I want them. I need to be quiet. Not talking, not not begging, not moving…quiet) before God (sit in front of the Almighty) for my hope is in Him (My hope is not in me or in Barry or in a new job or in our plans but in HIM). He alone is my rock (rock – strong, durable, foundation) and my salvation (Praise Jesus!) my fortress where I will not be shaken (Such an amazing visual! I picture an earthquake shaking everything around me, but I am standing under the cover that is Christ – still and unmoved). My victory (there is one coming!) and honor (I don’t deserve honor at all) come from God alone (He is so good to me). He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me (Oh, Praise Jesus! He doesn’t say that the enemy wont try to reach me, that he won’t try to get me; He says that because God is my refuge the enemy won’t be able to reach me!). O my people, trust in Him at all times (Not just when things are good, but even when you are in Utah and things are all topsy turvy and you don’t know which way is up). Pour out your heart to Him (Go to Him! Pray, cry, sing…He knows what you’re feeling anyway so just be honest and pour it all out) for God is our refuge (I am sensing a theme here).

I am so blown away by how much God loves me. Even when I am being my poor me, pity party, Debbie Downer self, He still reaches out to love on me. When I deserve it least, He seems to lavish it most. What an awesome God we serve!

 

 

I asked for a floodlight, but God decided a flashlight was better

Being in Utah is different than I thought it would be in some ways. We aren’t storming Temple Square everyday or evangelizing in loud ways. (Though we do still go to Temple Square sometimes to try to get conversations going.) Still, we have more opportunities to reach the LDS community in quiet and personal ways than I thought we would.

From the girl that cuts my hair to the people Barry works with to the other Mom’s at the playground, we are surrounded daily by people that are following a false god. We have daily opportunities to share the truth of the Gospel and build relationships that will, hopefully, point to Jesus Christ. We don’t always take every chance we get and we struggle with that just like I assume a lot of you do.

The best and most concentrated way that we’ve had the privilege of being witnesses was by becoming a host family for Holding Out Help. (For more details see previous blog entries)

Our house-guest is no longer with us. “Boy” joined a job training program and is planning to pursue his dreams of becoming a nurse. He has a long way to go, but I am proud of his courage to at least dream of a future that doesn’t involve the FLDS.

In the short amount of time we had with him, we were able to share the gospel on several occasions. Through explaining the difference between religion and relationship, Christian music in the car and him waiting for us during VBS, I know “Boy” heard the truth more than once. I’m not sure if he truly understood all we said or if he was really listening, but I will continue to pray that those seeds are watered along his journey and that they will grow into a true faith of his own.

So…that brings us to today and what lies ahead. Personally, I am worried. I know I shouldn’t be. I am trying to remember to bring everything to the Father in prayer. It can be hard though when I can’t see a way to work everything out. The reminder that you’re not in control can be a tough pill to swallow.

We are now back on the waiting list for another child. In all reality, we are waiting on a girl. It is best for our situation to host a girl so that is the plan. Holding Out Help will notify us as soon as they have a girl needing placement into a foster home.

In the meantime, we need to move. Our lease is up here at the end of August. We will be moving further south as we shared before to be close to all the resources that Holding Out Help has to offer the kids once they are placed in a home. We are thoroughly searching for a place with enough space for our foster child to retreat for quiet time alone but we also need to be able to afford the rent =) We have seen a few options and we are hopeful that once the time gets a little closer, God will guide us to the right place.

I’m just going to be honest with you, one of the biggest obstacles is money. Moving is expensive even when you cut as many corners as possible. We have lived on a very tight budget since moving here and added expenses just aren’t in the cards. We thought we were on a fixed budget in Florida. Since our move, we are literally living on 1/3 of what we made there. It’s certainly been an interesting year.

This will also be our first attempt at moving without an army of helpers. Man, I am so grateful for everyone that has helped us in the past. We are loved and I know it. I’ll probably be even more grateful for all they did when I’m helping Barry carry heavy furniture up and down stairs.

Barry is also still looking for work down south. He had an interview this week and should hear back about that position by Monday. Please be praying that God’s will be done in Barry’s employment situation! We REALLY want him to get this job but if it’s not the one God has for him, I pray that we will continue to be patient. (That patience thing is difficult!)

Will you please be praying for us? We want to be doing what God has brought us here for. We are not yet sure all that might be asked of us in order to do that. I’m scared of the unknown. I’d prefer if God would show me the whole plan. Like maybe a floodlight view. Even if there are obstacles, I think I would be more comfortable just knowing it all up front. Unfortunately, for my taste, that is not the way it works. God’s chosen to only shine a flashlight on where we are standing right now. I’m not sure what the next step is. I’m not sure what I might be asked to let go of or asked to grab onto.

I do, however, know the One that CAN see the whole plan. Please be praying that we will lean on Him and wait for Him to move the light to the next step.

We appreciate you more than you know!