Yee Haw!

I want to just title all my blogs "Provisions!" because God is so good to provide! But alas, I try to be creative.  You'll understand the title here shortly.

Michael has accepted a wonderfully, fabulous job as a simulator instructor for the KC-135. He's been wanting to get back to teaching, back to working with the military, and back to his beloved aircraft. An opportunity was placed on his lap and he accepted.  The job is in Altus, Oklahoma, at Altus Air Force Base. Three-fourths of the Corsar's are staying in North Carolina until Evan graduates high school in 9 months while the other 1/4 of us is living out west. We'll all join him in June next year.

Michael drove a company car when he lived in North Carolina, so there was no vehicle for him to take to Oklahoma.  Funds were all locked up to pay for his move and setting up an apartment, so there were no funds for a vehicle for him for a while.  He had resigned that he would ride his bicycle to work and home. He worked out ways to ride to grocery stores every few days to only buy what would fit in his backpack.  It would be an inconvenience, but it was literally his only choice.

(Side story time because our stories of provision always have a back story God has been working on  for some time.) Michael's sister, Jaime who lives in Omaha, is married to Jenean. Jenean's family lives in Altus, Oklahoma. Jaime told her father-in-law, Jim, that her brother was moving to town and gave him Michael's phone number.   Jim called Michael and invited him to church with he and his wife on Sunday, picked him up, introduced him to tons of people, and they all took him to lunch after church!  Of course, my extrovert husband was in heaven having tons of new people to talk to! At lunch, Jim discovered  Michael doesn't have a vehicle right now, so he offered Michael his "hay-bale" truck to use until he gets something of his own.  The only caveat is Michael has to come out to the farm once a week with the hay-bale truck and help Jim feed the cows and horses.

If you know Michael, this story is pretty comical because he is 100% city boy. There is not a country bone in his body. But Jim's Christ-like generosity touched him so much, that he agreed to the terms!

(Those spikes on the back are what crack me up, but apparently they are on hydraulics that come down to pick up the hay bales.)  

Michael has not only been provided transportation, but he has a family who cares for him, feeds him, and values him and he's only been there for one week!  A family that God had been putting into place in our lives long before He called Michael  to move to Altus, Oklahoma.

God may not provide in ways we think He should provide, but He 100% provides in ways we NEED Him to provide.

When I see my husband in a month, he may be wearing camouflage and chewing on straw when he picks me up in this miraculous truck, but YEE HAW! God is good!

"And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others."

         2 Corinthians 9:8

Great is His Faithfulness

I haven't blogged much this year.  And though it's not a good excuse, life just gets so busy. And I've really struggled with mood and motivation this year, if I'm completely honest with you.  Getting older does things to ya, ya know?  I've actually spent tons of time with my Father this year in so many ways.  Things have just been so personal, that I haven't wanted to blog about them.  Although I probably should have done so in my spirit of transparency.

This week, though, I am so overwhelmed by emotions and the goodness of God and I just can't contain it all in my body any longer!  It must come out on paper...or a screen, you know what I mean!

Last week, my neighbor went to be with Jesus following a few days in the hospital after a massive stroke.  I was listening to a podcast about grieving widows after that happened and a certain widow's testimony really struck me.  Before her husband died she asked God for help, and His answer was "Praise Me." She was angry that was how God had chosen to answer her because she was praying for healing!  Being obedient she began to praise God and even though her husband died, the praise is what sustained her through the grief.  I've been meditating on that concept all week.  Little did I know it would be preparing me.

While my neighbor was in the hospital, my dad's older sister, my Aunt Nola, whom I love dearly and has always been such an encouraging rock in our family, was put in the hospital struggling with kidney failure and a plethora of other health issues.  My dad has been by her side for weeks now. Her children came in knowing it might be their final farewells. Today my dad tearfully called me saying today was probably going to be her last day day due to some complications. I cried out to God and asked Him to give me a song so I could praise Him as I grieved.

Silence.

I made my breakfast and sat down to do my bible reading for the day, and that's when God gave me my song, because "If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find Me." Jeremiah 29:13  The Psalms overwhelmingly reminded me of God's eternal faithfulness and steadfast love through the ages.  Great is His faithfulness. He gives strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!  Both my children are reading in the Psalms right now, and Evan commented the other day that most of the songs we sing in church come right out of the Psalms.  I love when God shows up to my kiddos!

I had been feeling discouraged because I had been fervently praying for miracles and healing for both my neighbor and for my aunt.  I felt my prayers had fallen on deaf ears as it seems God did not answer either of my prayers.  James 5:16 says "The prayers of a righteous man avails much"...so maybe I'm just not so righteous.  But then I began to walk through my mind of all the times God has been faithful.  Faithful to my family in providing a legacy of faith, faithful to me to provide me with such amazing neighbors who always have our backs, faithful to my children to be their good Father, faithful to my husband to provide financially for our family, and the list goes on and on and on!

"The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.  Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made? Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. "~Hymn "The Love of God" 

This afternoon, my Aunt Nola also entered the presence of Heaven.  As my dad texted me, "She is looking into Jesus' eyes right now." What a comforting fact that she is now healed.  My neighbor is  also now healed.  God did answer my prayers. I am righteous because Jesus made me righteous through His death and resurrection, so my prayers did avail much. Great is His faithfulness unto me.

I'm so thankful that the faithfulness of our great God allows me the hope to hug my neighbor Jim and kiss his cheek when I get there, and the joy when my Aunt Nola is standing at the gates of Heaven when I arrive to show me around and introduce me to everyone. God is so good to us.

Found

Written July 2018: Taken from another blog I wrote and added to this one



“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14

Every momma’s prayer is that God will find her children and never let go. In her years and years of seeking hard, God finally allowed Alex to see Him. It’s the coolest story. Ready?

In 2016, Alex went on a mission trip to Ukraine pretty much kicking and screaming.  She adamantly stated she did not have a calling for missions and this trip was a “waste of time”, but she agreed to go because her dad was heading up the team.  She found herself repentant after spending just a few days at youth camp with these Ukrainian people.  She fell in love with them, in love with the country, in love with the mission, and gave in 100% to the overwhelming call she was feeling.  It was literally from darkness to light.

Receiving a calling doesn’t necessarily mean God lays out everything in a nicely tied package for you.  For 2 years, Alex has sought God in the deepest ways with what she is to do with her life.  She has prayed and received no clear answer, she has searched the scripture, she has read books about God’s will, she has sought counsel with no peace in the answers.  We have reminded her over and over again that God will reveal what He wants from her in His timing.  Just keep seeking, keep praying, keep walking toward the call that you feel so strongly in your heart. Wrestling with God and begging Him to give her answers has been exhausting.

After a few months from high school graduation with no direction and no future plans, she was really downcast and confused.  She felt everyone else in life knew exactly what they wanted to do with their future, but she had no idea.  We began the admission process as a non-degree seeking student to The College at Southeastern so she could take a few classes with the hopes of God opening clear doors. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted to return to Ukraine because she felt such peace when she was there. She was finally able to return to Ukraine July 2018. Her heart was now captured and encouraged even more, and the calling was been stamped even harder on her soul. Upon her return home from a great week with her Ukrainian family and having spent an exceptional time in the presence of God, she had decided that she wants to return to Ukraine to teach English as a second language for those youth who can’t afford to take English classes. That is something more reserved for the wealthier children in that country and she feels called to minister to the least of these. She feels adamant that she is to return there and immerse herself in the culture, be ready with the language, and have the heart to do whatever God readies her to do. Her graduation mantra that she painted so beautifully on the top of her graduate cap said, “If the wind goes where You send it, So Will I.”

Just a week home and she began searching all the options of how to get back to Ukraine, how to obtain a student visa, how to afford living there (even though she has a Ukrainian family who already has agreed to let her live with them), downloading apps to further learn the language, finishing her application for admission to Southeastern, and so forth.  She has been praying diligently and the answer that keeps coming back to her is teaching English. While she has been busy with all the aforementioned things, I found an opportunity for her to teach ESL with the refugee ministry here in Raleigh.  She emailed the director and they will be more than happy to have her gain experience teaching a small group there.  But then we questioned “how” exactly do you teach English to those wanting to learn?  There has to be some classes somewhere to learn how to teach it. So tonight, as I’m scrolling through Instagram, I happen across Southeastern’s page that says: “Do you have a desire to reach the nations with the gospel through teaching English?” Lo and behold, Southeastern is now offering a Teaching English as a Second Language certificate. It even laid out the classes for this Fall and the classes for the Spring to complete the certificate.

So, as Alex has blindly walked in faith going the direction the Spirit has led her, God has, in one week’s time, given her a clear direction and even laid out the schedule of events for her to complete the task.  She will take the certificate classes at Southeastern to learn how to teach English, all while gaining the experience of teaching English to refugees. Then I know in my heart that God will swing open wide the opportunity for her to return to Ukraine. Our family verse in Psalm 37:23 says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly and He delights in every detail of their lives.” Earlier in that Psalm it says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

As Alex said to me tonight in joyful tears, “I now see how when you follow God in obedience, He literally lines up everything for you when it’s time.”

“I will be found by you, says the Lord.”