This just in...

I'm taking a break from packing to fill those of you in who haven't heard yet. We're moving! This weekend! No, we did not plan it this way but were unfortunately forced into it. For the last couple of years, we've been renting our house with the intention of saving up and building in the next year or so. Circumstances (including my medical bills and the poor economy) have kept us from being able to proceed in the time that we had hoped to, but we were willing to be patient and stick it out in our current home.

A month or so ago, our landlord decided to put our house up for sale but promised to honor our lease which is not up until June of next year. With the news of the baby (which is due June 3rd) and the possibility of being booted out of our house, we began to consider our options. We knew we couldn't afford to build the house we wanted right now, so we thought about buying this house when our lease would end. Our landlord knew that we were considering this and said he would give us first dibs. As a precautionary move, we began casually looking at other homes (both sale and rent). We found a few that we were interested in, but we weren't going to consider a move this close to the holidays.

As it turns out, we're not in control of our lives, and God had other plans for us. =) We had been praying over the weekend that if our decision to wait until the new year was not what God wanted that He would show us in a very definite way what we should do. Yesterday morning, our landlord called Jason and informed him that he had let the home go into foreclosure and that it was currently in short sale. He asked that we move out by Dec. 1st. Well! If that's not a sign, I don't know what is! =)

So, yesterday afternoon, we looked at 3 rental homes that we had found and chose one of them. We let the realtor know that the monthly cost was a little higher than we wanted to pay, so she called the homeowner and he knocked off $125 to put us right where we wanted to be. So, we will now be saving $225 per month, and we will be gaining 600 square feet of living area! Sweet! God is good! We may not understand His timing right now, but we can trust that He is in control and that this did not surprise Him.

Our plans before all of this happened were to spend the week of Thanksgiving at my parents' house, and we would still like to do that. That is why we have chosen to move this weekend. Please pray for us that we will be able to get everything packed and moved by this weekend and that everything will go smoothly and relatively stress-free. =}

Have you had your vitamin P today?

For those of you who go to the same church that I do, you already know what I'm talking about. Yesterday, our pastor and his family were out of town, so the assistant pastor and youth pastor took over the morning and evening services in his stead. The assistant pastor preached Sunday morning, and during his sermon, he made a statement that was not necessarily profound, but it compared the importance placed on taking care of our physical needs (ie. taking vitamins and other supplements) to the importance of taking care of our spiritual needs (ie. spending time in the Word). He said that along with all the vitamins that he takes in the morning, he makes sure to get a good dose of vitamin P---that's Proverbs.

Proverbs has always been one of my favorite books to read in the Bible. Every chapter seems to be filled with a little bit of something for everyone, and it doesn't matter what trial I seem to facing or what sin I seem to be struggling with, God finds a way to speak to me on such a personal level. Today's Proverbs contains two very well-known verses that are some of my favorites.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

I love these verses, because they not only remind me that I'm not in charge and that I need to trust the Lord with everything, but they also give me a promise from the Lord that if I do trust in Him and acknowledge Him in everything I do, then He will show me the way that I should go. As those of you in our Sunday School class know, we requested prayer for some decisions that we will be facing in the next few months. These verses were an encouragement to me, because I felt like God was gently reminding me that He's got it all under control and there's nothing for us to worry about. Praise the Lord that He loves and cares about every little detail of our lives (Luke 12:6-7)!

Make sure that you take the time to get a dose of vitamin P today!

Is it normal...?

...For the "tow truck guy" to get to know you? Well, ours does! I think we have to put him on our Christmas list now. =)

Last week, Jason was driving home from an appointment and noticed that the gas prices at Wal-mart had drastically dropped. He decided that he would take my truck out after the kids were in bed and fill it up. 45 minutes after he left, he was still not home. I tried to call him, but he did not answer. I became a little worried since Wal-mart is only 5 minutes up the road. I walked past one of the windows on the front side of the house and noticed my truck pulling up to the mailbox very slowly. It stopped, and I saw Jason talking to someone that I didn't know. Come to find out...Jason had never even made it out of our subdivision. The truck broke down just before the entrance, and this guy (that I saw Jason talking to in front of our house) had offered to help Jason push the truck back to our house. It took them 45 minutes to push that monster of a truck all the way back to our house. Wow! Good Samaritans do still exist! Thank the Lord, He was looking out for Jason that night.

Long story short...we had the truck towed to Car Max (again), had it checked out and got it "fixed"...AGAIN!!! We picked it up last Saturday, drove it to church on Sunday and didn't have any problems...UNTIL....

Wednesday, when I had my doctor's appointment, I drove my truck to the doctor, but when I went to leave, it wouldn't start! Aaargh! I wanted to cry...I felt so betrayed by my beloved truck. Jason was unable to come to my rescue right away, because he was an hour and a half south of us and still had something he had to do before he could break away. He did, however, call Car Max and the tow truck guy to get everything scheduled for me. The tow truck guy said he could be there in 20 to 30 minutes. I really didn't want him to, because I didn't want to go back in the waiting room with all of our paraphernalia or sit in the parking lot waiting for Jason to come get us. I immediately started praying that God would work out the timing, so that we could wait in the truck. It was 65 degrees outside, so we just propped open a couple of doors and felt great. The girls and I ended up having to wait about 2 1/2 hours, but I didn't mind too much. God did work it out so that the tow truck guy pulled into the parking lot just a couple of minutes before Jason arrived. Isn't God great? He cares about the small stuff. =)

The tow truck guy waved as we were walking to Jason's truck and said, "Sorry we had to meet like this again." How sad is that? He knows us.

We are very thankful that we decided to purchase the extended warranty on the truck when we bought it from Car Max. We only have to pay $50 for each trip to the shop, and the amount that we payed for the warranty has been well exceeded in the cost of the repairs.

We're not sure when (and if) we're going to go pick it up. It's (supposedly) fixed right now, but we are seriously considering a trade-in with both vehicles. Since Jason has a company vehicle again, we don't need his truck (except when mine breaks down), so we thought we could save some money by trading them both in on a more reliable vehicle. Pray for us that we'll make the right decision and that God will lead us to what we should do.

Were you wondering? Well, I'll tell you anyway...

My goodness, I cannot believe that it's been almost a week since I posted last, but to be quite honest, not much has happened around here. Jason loves his new job and is already doing great--Praise the Lord! We don't see as much of him during the day since he's busy with appointments, but he doesn't have to work late nights with this job, so that's great! There were many nights that I didn't see him until midnight when he was working for Sears, so the kids really enjoy being able to tell their daddy "good night" at bedtime instead of at 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. =)

Today is the first day that all 3 girls have felt up to getting up off of the couch. Yesterday was quite miserable for Sydney. She started complaining of her ear hurting, and I just knew for sure she would end up with an ear infection (she's notorious for that). I put some over-the-counter ear drops in her ear, gave her some ibuprofen and told her to go to sleep. After much crying and moaning, she finally was able to go to sleep, and BOY did she sleep! She fell asleep in the 2 o'clock hour, and I had to wake her up close to 6 o'clock so she could eat something before she needed to go to bed.

Just about the only thing I enjoy about my kids being sick is the fact that they become much more cuddly. Alyx took this picture of Sydney resting on my lap. Isn't she precious? =)


Poor thing! She ran a fever for several days, and in this picture she woke up from a nap drenched in sweat. She's attempting a half smile--what a sweetie. It looks like she had been crying, but I think her eyes were just watering. She looks pitiful nonetheless.


Thank you for those of you who prayed for them. They seem to be doing much better today. They still have their coughs and sniffles, but I haven't heard any complaints about earaches and they've been up playing around, so they must be feeling somewhat better. =) I've been popping the vitamin C like crazy in an effort to keep myself from getting sick. My throat has been sore for several days, and I just CAN'T get sick! Please pray that it will just clear up so that we can get out of this house. I'm going a little stir-crazy! =}

We're still alive...barely

I'm beginning to get a little bit concerned about the coming cool weather and the sickness that it inevitably brings. My girls seem to be catching everything that's going around. This is the third time in the last 2 months that they have been sick. Sydney is running fever again, and they have that deep, painful-sounding cough. I hear that other people in the church have the same thing, so I guess that's probably where they caught it.

This has served as a reminder that I need to teach them (again) about germs and the importance of washing hands and keeping their hands out of and away from their mouths. You would think that once they get past the baby/toddler phase of putting everything in their mouths, you wouldn't have to stay after them quite so much, but I have caught them so many times just this week sticking one or two fingers in their mouths. Ewww, gross! I can't stand it!

Do you think they could be doing it on purpose? They know that when they are sick, we don't do school, and they get to lay around and watch movies. Surely they aren't that smart, yet! =)

Oh, well...this too shall pass. Please pray that they get better soon. I think I'm going to go work on some crocheting. I recently started Sydney's Tooth Fairy Pillow, because we anticipate her losing her first tooth in the next few months. We're enjoying "Toy Story" right now, so...."To infinity and beyond!" =)

God is amazing!

We are just dumb ol' sheep, but we have a loving shepherd who loves and understands our human nature. Is it just my personality, or does everyone stuggle with waiting on the Lord and understanding His timing? I think as humans we have become increasingly impatient and want things done "our way right away". (Do we all aspire to be burger flippers at Burger King? "Ding! Fries are done! Ding! Fries are done!" Have you heard that parody? So funny!)

Yesterday, God revealed Himself to us in a very real way. Our prayer for the last month has been that God would bring the perfect job to Jason, and that God would not allow any job to accept Jason unless it was God's perfect will. Jason applied for this job on a whim. The company is only a few miles from our house, plus Jason knows fences inside and out and knew he could do the work. There were some concerns discussed before he decided to call them the other day, but we decided to just leave it in God's hands and if He didn't want that job for Jason then it wouldn't work out.

When Jason met with the owner last night, the owner looked at him and said, "I've met you before." He proceeded to tell Jason that when he first started his company 4 years ago, he was "shopping" the competition and requested a fence estimate from Danielle Fence. Who do you think the salesman was that "just so happened" to meet with him? It was Jason! (Okay, that was obvious.) He said that Jason's presentation that day was really impressive, and he could tell that Jason knew what he was talking about.

Later in the interview last night, the owner told Jason the story of what happened the day Jason sent in his resume. When the resume came off of the fax, the guy (who Jason would describe as a sales manager) took it and was walking through the hallway of the office. He met the owner in the hallway and said, "I just got a resume from a guy who used to work at Danielle Fence." The owner asked what his name was, and the other guy said, "Jason Downs." The owner immediately said, "Get him in here now!"

Wow! Isn't it amazing to watch God work? He had that all planned out 4 years ago! During the last 6 months to a year, we've questioned many things, like...why things turned so sour all of a sudden at Danielle Fence and why God led Jason to Sears just to make us feel like we were stranded with no income. The thing is, Jason probably would not have made the decision to move to another fence company while he was at Danielle Fence (for loyalty reasons), and if life had been "peachy keen" while he was working for Sears, he would not have felt the need to look for another job.

After interviewing for 2 hours and 40 minutes last night, the guys told Jason that they would let him know by noon today whether or not they would want to bring him on. Jason felt pretty sure that they would hire him, but we still continued to pray that if it wasn't God's will for him to work there, then we didn't want them to offer it to him.

Today, just a little before noon, Jason got the phone call, and they did offer him the job. Yay! Jason was asked how soon he could start, and Jason was able to tell them he could start Monday morning. Once again...another work of God. Sears is planning a computer training for Monday through Wednesday for their salesmen, so there are no appointments scheduled for those days (as well as NO PAY!). He verified with his manager at Sears that it was okay for him to start on Monday, and it is.

Praise the Lord! We are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for all of your prayers. We really appreciate the love and concern that has been shown to us in the last few weeks.

Update on Jason's job situation

So far, Jason has interviewed for 2 jobs and has applied for over 50. Times are becoming desperate, so he called up a local, reputable fence company, since that is something that he really knows. This is kind of funny, so I'll share the story...

When he called, he asked to speak with the hiring manager. The man who answered asked how he could help Jason. Jason asked if they were currently hiring, and the guy said that they really weren't, but he could send in his resume to be kept on file. Jason said, "Well, I have sales experience. Does that help?" The guy responded, "Yeah, sales is good. We're just not looking for anyone right now." Then in desperation, Jason said, "I worked for Danielle Fence for 3 1/2 years..." The guy said, "Oh, well, send in your resume, and I'm sure someone will be calling you." Jason immediately faxed over his resume, and he was getting a phone call within 5 minutes! LOL!!!

The guy that called him talked to Jason for about 20 minutes and set up an interview for today at 4:30pm. He seems to think that Jason will be a perfect fit for them, because Jason loves to do residential appointments and the other salesmen don't---they prefer the commercial side. I don't know if I shared this before or if you already knew this, but one of the main reasons Jason left Danielle Fence is because they made him move to the commercial side and wouldn't let him move back to the residential side. The commercial side was just too slow, and the sales just weren't there. The guy told Jason that he could almost guarantee him 5 appointments a day! Wow! That's more than he's getting in a week right now with Sears...He's lucky if he gets 1 a week!

Anyway...If you could pray for Jason (again) that the interview will go well and that if it's God's will he will get the position, we would appreciate it. We'll keep you updated...

Prayer Request Updates

First of all, I want to thank you for all of your prayers this week. Last night, we called my brother-in-law, Richard, and he said that Kelly's surgery went just as planned (with the exception that it took an hour longer than expected, totalling about 9 hours, I think.) She doesn't seem to be struggling with pain at this point, so that is a good thing. The next couple of months will be rough, though, as she begins to heal. The surgery she had done was an oral surgery which now requires her mouth to be wired shut for 6 weeks. The only way she can eat is through a straw. After they open her mouth up, she will only be able to eat soft foods for a couple of weeks. If you think of her, please continue to pray that her swelling will go down quickly and that she won't have a lot of pain to deal with.

Thank you also for praying for Jason as he had an interview this week. The interview went fine, and he is actually on a "ride-along" today to see if it's something he would be interested in doing. He feels pretty sure that they will offer him the job, but we'll just have to see if it's what God would have for him. He did get a call yesterday from another company that he applied with, and they want to talk to him. That position seems to be better than the one he's trying out today, so he may just have to wait until he talks to them before he makes a decision about this first interview. Please continue to pray that God will lead Jason to just the right position to take.

Philippians 4:19 - "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Matthew 6:34 - "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

Last minute request

As some of you may already know, Jason's work has been dwindling over the last couple of months. In general, the leads have just become very scarce for all the salesmen, so as a result, Jason has been looking for another job. He's got to feed the "hungry mob" at home, you know. =) Yesterday, he got a call for an interview, and it was scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 1:00. This morning he got a call from the actual guy that would be doing the interview and was asked if the interview could be moved up to today at 1:00 instead. Well, since there are no leads at Sears (meaning, Jason has no work today), he gladly accepted the change.

Please pray that God will give Jason the wisdom in knowing what to do (or not to do). Our goal is not for him to "jump ship" on his current job unless we are absolutely sure that it is God's will, but at the same time, he can't just sit around and expect God to drop something in his lap.

This "trial" has taught us (yet again) that we have to relinquish ALL control to the Lord, and even though we may not understand His timing, we can praise Him for the fact that He is in control of everything and He will not forsake us. He loves us and cares about our needs. How awesome is our God!

Prayer Request

My niece, Kelly (the one on the right), is going in for surgery tomorrow morning around 10:30. Please pray that all will go well, that the surgery will be effective and that she will recover quickly.