Miracles, Mountains, and...Rain! (I couldn't think of a word for rain that started with M)

Ok, so it's taken me a few days to actually get over the past week. I briefly mentioned that we have been spared major CREDIT DOWNFALL by a friend of ours and that I'd tell the whole story after I could, you know, breathe again! So, here's what happened.

I suppose I should go back to when we had company for about a month. The company we had was wonderful but the only problem was that she was used to blasting the a/c. So, in our house she blasted the A/c. I kept warning Jules that the power bill was going to be HUGE, but it didn't matter, because if we turned the air up, our guest would turn it down or complain about being SO! HOT!! So, we got the power bill and sure enough it was about DOUBLE what our normal power bill is. And while Jules is not working, my paycheck is all we've got and so I was concerned about having groceries since the small amount of left-over paycheck was going to buy us a few morsels of food. But, nonetheless, we went on with life. A few days after the power bill arrived I viewed my online statement at Comcast and noticed that it was FOUR TIMES what the bill was supposed to be this month. I had had some trouble with our internet service from Comcast, so after NUMEROUS phone calls with Comcast I got the internet fixed and they pro-rated my service for only the days the internet was working. So, we were expecting the bill to be 45 dollars, after all the pro-rating goodness. This turned out to be perfect when I saw the power bill, and we were thinking we could just use that money we didn't have to spend on the comcast bill for the power bill, still keeping us in the positive. All this was BEFORE i viewed my online bill. Turns out they didn't get the check I sent last month, adding last month's OUTRAGEOUS charges (part of the trouble I was having) to this month's measly 45 dollars. Making the bill $180.00. On top of this, both our cars were out of gas, and stuff kept coming up. Before I knew it I was in over my head. On Wednesday of last week was when my finances came crashing down at my feet. I knew there was no way we were going to make it this month, and job searching was not going great for Jules (not her fault, tho). So...I was angry and frustrated and hopeless. We have our weekly commUNITY group over on Wednesday nights and I even thought of cancelling that because I was so down-and-out that I just couldn't pretend things were okay. But we decided that it wouldn't do any good to cancel because it was so close to time for everyone to come over, and that night we were playing kickball (which could help me burn off some steam). So, after kickball I was feeling a bit better (mainly because of the endorphins, not because the situation had changed). Everyone was starting to leave when our friend Mike turned to me and quietly said that he needed to talk to me alone whenever possible, but he didn't want it to look weird or suspicious. So, I helped him carry some things out to his car and he handed me an envelope. He started talking and this is what he said,

"Each time my paycheck is deposited I go and get a little money out of the bank and put it in an envelope beside my bed. I keep this envelope of money and tithe every month or so with that money. For two months now I have been praying for y'all and I have felt like God wants me to give y'all this money. This is not a decision I have made rashly, and I don't expect it to be paid back. I just know that this is not my money, it's God's money. And He wants me to give it to y'all." So, then he said some things about how much we mean to him and his fiance and how he couldn't stand by and do nothing when we were having such a hard time.

So, once I peeled myself off the floor and thanked him as much as I could, I went inside and waited until everyone left. Once they were all gone I told Jules what Mike had done, and immediately she started crying. We called Mike and thanked him again, because now we would be able to pay our bills AND have food to eat. He just kept saying it was God's money.

We will never be able to express what this has meant to us. Mike and Erin have not known us a year yet. They have been the closest friends that we've had out here, and we have loved them dearly, but for them to do something like this for us just boggles our minds. We will forever be grateful.

After telling the church that we would not need to borrow money from the benevolence (spelling??) fund because of what Mike did, they asked us to allow them to tape us telling the story. Because our church is all about some community. And what Mike and Erin did for us is the perfect example of commUNITY.

So, that was the miracle part of the week. Here is the mountain part:

Our friend Ben was telling us on Wednesday night that he was hiking a mountain that was 14,000 feet high (we call those 'fourteeners'). He asked if we wanted to go, and after much discussion about how we might slow him down and how we aren't experienced hikers, he assured us that if we wanted to go then he'd love for us to come. So, we decided to go with him. After a series of random events we ended up at the wrong mountain. This was a blessing in disguise since this mountain was virtually empty contrary to the one we were going to hike. This mountain was 13,700 feet, and we hiked and pushed and heaved and sighed all the way to 12,500 feet and then I said I just needed to turn back. We travelled so far, and I knew that each step I took was another step I had to make back in the other direction, so I decided I better quit while I was ahead. So we headed back, only after having one of the BEST times we've had in Colorado. Ben was so patient and encouraging with us. He was nice and fun. We had a great time. I can't wait until our next hiking experience.


And, after 21 days of temperatures over 90 (this was a record folks) and not a single drop of rain it finally rained yesterday. The ground was actually WET! We haven't had precipitation at our house since the snow, so it was a much welcomed shower! Still, the temp rose steadily above 90 yesterday too. Tomorrow will be our first break with a high of 86. :) It's still not miserable like Alabama heat is!


So, those are my updates. Thanks for reading (all 2 of you).