I had an interesting, eye opening experience last week as I prepared to go on a date with Dan on his birthday. I waited all week and I wanted so bad to have a new shirt to wear so I could look really special for him. Boy did God have something to teach me. Each and every time I hit a sale rack...and by sale I mean a $5-$10 shirt...I would try it on, look in the mirror, admire it, put it back on the rack and walk out the store empty handed. I probably did this about three times that week. I got to the point that I was actually mad that I was so convicted to NOT purchase the shirt. It was just one shirt that I wanted! The night before our date I spent a good hour going to three different stores to find that silly shirt that was going to make me feel so good. Once again I came home empty handed and just sat down beside Dan with tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe that it took me so long to have a revelation like the one I was having. It was just like God was whispering in my ear every time I looked in the mirror in the dressing room, "Julie, I love you with an unconditional love. Your clothes do not make you who you are. This shirt might look cute, but it will not fill you with eternal security. You are not what you wear. You do not need new clothes to be beautiful." I feel the Lord transforming my heart and this was one of his mini lessons that although I didn't like it at the time, I am very grateful for the power of His whispered words. I have good news. We went on our date, I wore an old dress, and Dan still thought I looked good. But above all, my heart was stretched and I came out with a softer heart.
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."
1 Peter 2:1
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
We're Staying!
Dan got a call from his recruiter last week who had great news for him. The hospital offered to raise Dan's pay if he would sign on for another 3 months and we happily accepted. We feel very blessed here and feel like this is the place where God wants us right now. So...most likely we will be here at least through Thanksgiving and possibly to Christmas. We have made good friends here, found a great babysitter, and love our tiny church. We are excited to stay at a place where we feel settled and very comfortable. Praise God!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Happy Birthday Dannyboy!
Today is Dan's birthday and we are on our way to take him a smoothie and surprise him at the hospital. Hopefully we can find him at the hospital...they don't let you page any employees.
Yesterday we had a birthday party for him at the apartment. The neighbor kids planned the party for him. I baked the cake and they decorated it. Then they decorated the apartment with pictures that they colored. We had fish, baked potato and green beans for dinner. Somehow I was able to feed all 6 kids that were at our apartment. After we ate cake we swam at the pool for a couple hours. It was a fun evening. Now let's talk about the cake. The picture doesn't do it justice. One of the neighbor girls had a design in her mind so I let her execute her plan. If you can't tell, there are gummy worms coming out of holes, gummy bears sitting in the grass, and purple flowers all around. It was quite a sight!
Yesterday we had a birthday party for him at the apartment. The neighbor kids planned the party for him. I baked the cake and they decorated it. Then they decorated the apartment with pictures that they colored. We had fish, baked potato and green beans for dinner. Somehow I was able to feed all 6 kids that were at our apartment. After we ate cake we swam at the pool for a couple hours. It was a fun evening. Now let's talk about the cake. The picture doesn't do it justice. One of the neighbor girls had a design in her mind so I let her execute her plan. If you can't tell, there are gummy worms coming out of holes, gummy bears sitting in the grass, and purple flowers all around. It was quite a sight!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Unexpected Gifts
I woke up this morning complaining about not having any clothes to wear to church since we are abstaining from shopping for a while. And since I don’t have foreknowledge I had no idea what was to come of our morning to put things into perspective for me. I was reminded of how awesome it is to live a life with a God who does have foreknowledge. How neat to wake up to a new day, every day, and know that God has great plans for our lives. We don’t know what each day will bring, but He does something for us every day and it is exciting to just wait and see what is to come.
We started getting ready this morning and Dan suggested that we go to breakfast before church. So we packed up the kids and got in the car. I asked Dan where he was taking us for breakfast and he said, “I’m not sure yet, but I have been told that the bowling alley has good food.” What??? The bowling alley in Porterville is not my idea of a good place to eat. So we drove around the town for a little while trying to find the place. We turned down a side street and happened to come upon what looked like a very worn down, empty parking lot and bowling alley. But at the corner of the bowling alley was a tiny cafĂ©. We drove in, parked, and sat there for a while deciding if we wanted to go in or not. It looked risky. But we saw some nice cars in the parking lot, a Hummer and a Mustang, so we figured it couldn’t be too bad. We took the plunge and went in.
What seemed like a crummy place turned out to be a sweet little diner with very nice people. We sat down and chatted with two regulars, Max and Victor. They were older men who took an interest in our family and talked with us the whole time. We didn’t pay much attention to our waitress, although she seemed nice. She offered good service and checked on us periodically to see if our meal was okay. The food was excellent and the girls ate everything on their plates. As we were finishing our meal, the waitress approached us and asked if we were Christians. She said that our kids were so well behaved and wondered what church we attended. We told her where we were going and she wanted us to know that the work we are doing with our kids goes noticed. She said that she has worked with the public, in many settings, for a very long time and she can tell a lot about families based upon the kids’ behaviors. We were grateful for her comments. A little time passed and we were ready to leave so I sent Mya up to the counter with our Visa card to pay. At this point we hadn’t gotten our bill yet but we needed to leave to get to church on time. Mya went up to the counter and asked to pay and the waitress shook her head and told her to return to her seat and that she didn’t need our money. I saw this happening from a distance and couldn’t believe what was going on. I caught the waitress’ attention and told her we could pay for our meal. She came over and told us that the meal was on her. She said that she can see Jesus in our family and she wanted to reward us for that. We looked at each other and shared some tears. Then I looked at Dan, told him what was happening, and he teared up too. I just couldn’t believe the moment that we were having. I gave the waitress a hug and thanked her for being so generous. We told her we would be back again soon and she gave us a warm smile as we walked out the door. It turns out the waitress is the owner of the restaurant.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Comfort
On our family vacation before we left for California, Dan spent the second half of the week on the phone and computer trying to find housing for us. It was pretty time consuming and frustrating for all of us. But I have a new found respect for how much work he did. Yesterday I was on the phone most of the morning trying to research housing at other sites. We might extend our contract here but we might also move on. Now is the time to start looking. We are considering a place called Walnut Creek by San Francisco or the other option is Hollywood. But...the way this works is that in a couple weeks we could have a whole new site to check out. It just depends on what gets posted to his recruiter. It is frustrating to find a place in a town where we have never been. But we are getting quite the education on this travelling thing. I have since discovered that Dan is much better at finding apartments than I am. His laid back personality becomes very handy! So I think I will be leaving that task up to him. I was so frustrated because I lost a whole morning with the girls yesterday. I was occupied and they were hungry for my attention.
Now we have to start considering where we want to live, how much we want to pay, and how set we are on sticking with our goal to pay the house off in the shortest amount of time. If we choose more expensive housing at the next site, then we would have to travel longer than the 15 months that we initially decided on. With all that said, the bottom line is that it is all in God's hands. Thankfully Dan keeps me grounded with that kind of thinking. Those of you who know me well know that I can be just a tiny bit high strung....just a little. Okay, maybe more than a little. Not knowing what the future holds and my personality don't always click so well. This is when I am so grateful for Dan's spiritual leadership. And for the bible. I was reading scripture this morning in 2 Chronicles about king Jehoshaphat. He was told that a vast army would be coming to kill them and what did he do? Did he get his gear together and go fight? Nope....he brought his people together to seek help from the Lord. And the Lord said, "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's." Then he went to fight. Now we certainly aren't going to battle, but we are up against many uncertainties as we travel with our family.
Now we have to start considering where we want to live, how much we want to pay, and how set we are on sticking with our goal to pay the house off in the shortest amount of time. If we choose more expensive housing at the next site, then we would have to travel longer than the 15 months that we initially decided on. With all that said, the bottom line is that it is all in God's hands. Thankfully Dan keeps me grounded with that kind of thinking. Those of you who know me well know that I can be just a tiny bit high strung....just a little. Okay, maybe more than a little. Not knowing what the future holds and my personality don't always click so well. This is when I am so grateful for Dan's spiritual leadership. And for the bible. I was reading scripture this morning in 2 Chronicles about king Jehoshaphat. He was told that a vast army would be coming to kill them and what did he do? Did he get his gear together and go fight? Nope....he brought his people together to seek help from the Lord. And the Lord said, "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's." Then he went to fight. Now we certainly aren't going to battle, but we are up against many uncertainties as we travel with our family.
Chloe's Firsts
First tooth......
First time commando crawling.....
First time signing for "more".......
First time commando crawling.....
First time signing for "more".......
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