Hi Y'all
I don't have much time...but please pray for Heather. She just had little Sarah Beth on Friday and now heather is back in the hospital for some sort of infection. They're not giving much info right now, but i'll post more when i can.
I know there are like 2 of you who read this, but please, if you are praying people please ask God to take care of her. I have no idea how serious it is...and if i had an extra 300 dollars i'd fly there to see her. I am so worried. I am just so far away!
So, please...pray for Heather. I need her to be okay. Please.
Showing posts with label miracles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miracles. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
House Sitting
We are house sitting for our friends.
They house-sat for us when we were gone to visit our fams in April.
They have a cat.
They're cat, as it turns out, is not Satan.
They have movies....and caramel popcorn...so we've been enjoying their house.
Yesterday when Jules went to check on the cat one last time before coming home...
The cat shredded a bag that held cat treats.
SHREDDED it. and ate EVERY treat. Of a FULL bag.
The thing is...the cat treat bag was up on a shelf.
A shelf with nothing around it.
No counters, fridges, desks, furniture of any sort.
Now, unless in the past few years where I have been cat-less cats have grown wings or frog legs that hide under they're allergen-infested fur, I just cannot understand how this cat got to his treats.
Perhaps someone broke into our friends' house, gave the cat the treat bag and left. Without taking anything. Because THAT seems more possible than the cat somehow getting the bag himself.
They house-sat for us when we were gone to visit our fams in April.
They have a cat.
They're cat, as it turns out, is not Satan.
They have movies....and caramel popcorn...so we've been enjoying their house.
Yesterday when Jules went to check on the cat one last time before coming home...
The cat shredded a bag that held cat treats.
SHREDDED it. and ate EVERY treat. Of a FULL bag.
The thing is...the cat treat bag was up on a shelf.
A shelf with nothing around it.
No counters, fridges, desks, furniture of any sort.
Now, unless in the past few years where I have been cat-less cats have grown wings or frog legs that hide under they're allergen-infested fur, I just cannot understand how this cat got to his treats.
Perhaps someone broke into our friends' house, gave the cat the treat bag and left. Without taking anything. Because THAT seems more possible than the cat somehow getting the bag himself.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Signs of Hope
So, Saturday night we went to church. (for the one person who reads this who doesn't really know a lot about me, my church is a Christian church but they are a very contemporary church, so they offer services on Saturday nights, Sunday mornings, and Sunday nights. This allows for a larger percent of the population to attend...especially if you don't do mornings..like me.) Anyway, we went to church and although the preaching was good, it didn't speak to me as much as the songs did. Lately my mood has been suffering. Not because I'm angry or depressed. I'm just "down". I am saddened by the misfortunes of Jules. If you've been reading lately you know that Jules quit her job because it was a very damaging environment for her. She did so with faith that she would find something else quickly. That was 3 months ago. So far, not an inkling of a job has come through for her, and we just can't quite understand why. So, we have passed the anger stages and moved on to the hopeless stages. Things have been rough, and even when good things happen we have a hard time celebrating because we are just waiting on that next shoe to drop. But Saturday, as we sat at church, the songs began to speak to me. They were words of hope. I felt a calmness that I haven't felt in a long time. Then, I began to remember that Satan would like me to feel forgotten. He will try everything to make me feel in a deep, dark, hopeless situation. But the truth is, we're not. In reality, we have NO IDEA what is in store for us, and God's plans are not to harm us. They are for us to prosper. So...I felt hope.
Sunday we went to the Rockies game with our friends from church, because it was Faith day and all the churches in the area bought tickets. After the game Steven Curtis Chapman played. He talked about how difficult it's been for his daughter to have been accidentally killed. He had his son there with him, Will Franklin. Poor kid. Anyway, SCC began to talk about how this song he wrote years ago called "Who's going to love Maria?" has new meaning to him. He was clearly fighting the emotion the whole time. Clouds started to roll in as he was talking. He made the comment that if we saw him take off towards the lightening to just let him go. He said he's ready to go Home, and see Maria again. The pain was clearly more than he could bear. So he started singing the song and slowly rain started to fall, like God was crying right along with Steven Curtis Chapman. Then, the brightest rainbow I've ever seen was painted across the sky right behind Steven Curtis Chapman, where it was impossible to miss. God created the rainbow as a symbol of hope and of a promise that he would take care of us. So...I felt hope (and I hope Steven Curtis Chapman did too).
It truly was a weekend of reminders that things would be okay. Yesterday the washer broke in our apartment. Luckily we rent, and the washer and dryer are included, so we don't have to pay for it. But, I think it was a desperate attempt by Satan to bring us down again. But, you know what, it won't work. I feel hope. Things will be OK.
And I will keep telling myself that until I am positive it's true.
Fake it till you make it. :)
Sunday we went to the Rockies game with our friends from church, because it was Faith day and all the churches in the area bought tickets. After the game Steven Curtis Chapman played. He talked about how difficult it's been for his daughter to have been accidentally killed. He had his son there with him, Will Franklin. Poor kid. Anyway, SCC began to talk about how this song he wrote years ago called "Who's going to love Maria?" has new meaning to him. He was clearly fighting the emotion the whole time. Clouds started to roll in as he was talking. He made the comment that if we saw him take off towards the lightening to just let him go. He said he's ready to go Home, and see Maria again. The pain was clearly more than he could bear. So he started singing the song and slowly rain started to fall, like God was crying right along with Steven Curtis Chapman. Then, the brightest rainbow I've ever seen was painted across the sky right behind Steven Curtis Chapman, where it was impossible to miss. God created the rainbow as a symbol of hope and of a promise that he would take care of us. So...I felt hope (and I hope Steven Curtis Chapman did too).
It truly was a weekend of reminders that things would be okay. Yesterday the washer broke in our apartment. Luckily we rent, and the washer and dryer are included, so we don't have to pay for it. But, I think it was a desperate attempt by Satan to bring us down again. But, you know what, it won't work. I feel hope. Things will be OK.
And I will keep telling myself that until I am positive it's true.
Fake it till you make it. :)
Monday, August 4, 2008
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).
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).
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