We're moving for real!..... I think

God has been so faithful to us. In the last month or so, He provided a house for us to rent in the town that Dad is working in. Although I cannot go into all the details of the house, it was truly a God thing! And just this week, my Dad's job went "permanent", and God brought renters to us without our even having to advertise! He has provided for us in his perfect time!

We are planning to move about the second week of April! I'm excited in a way and sad in another. Moving means I'll be closer to my best friend and cousin Mariah. But it also means that I will be farther away from my good friends Gabby, Hannah, Trent, Rylee, Mike, and Joe. This I am sad about, but I know that I will be still be able to see them frequently (the town we're moving to is only about an hour and ten minute drive away from the town we live in now).

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know! I'm praising God!

In Christ,


P.S. If you would, please pray for my family. We are going through some hard times right now (not exactly related to our move).

A Long Overdue Update

To those who read this blog (if indeed there are any): I am very sorry that I have left you in the dark for so long. I have been busy with school and such, but I have no good excuse for not keeping you updated as I should have. Well, here goes.

You probably think that I am now moved to Texas. I am not. Let me explain. Our house was indeed in escrow, and we were planning to move shortly after Christmas. But our plans were not God's plans. The deal with the house fell through (it did not appraise for our bottom price), and we were back to square one. Dad continued to search for jobs. We began to feel that perhaps God did not want us to move to Texas after all. We still knew that we needed to move, but where was uncertain.

You see, when God first called us to move, we thought that he was calling us to Texas. That was where we felt him directing us. We didn't want to move there very much. It was far from our family, our close friends, and everything that we had ever known. But we were willing to sacrifice everything to follow him. In the end, he didn't require it.

After the sale of the house fell through, Dad started applying for jobs pretty much everywhere. (He had a temporary job working as a landscaper, but it didn't pay much, and he needed to find a permanent job that could provide for our family.) However, no amount of resumes, cover letters, and applications could prevail. He just couldn't find a job!

Then, on New Year's eve, we went to a party at my Aunt and Uncle's home. There was another family there, and Dad started talking with the father of the family about our situation. The man said, "Well, I've got some job openings at my company." And that's how it started. Dad sent in a resume, interviewed for the job, and was starting the next Monday. It was incredible how God worked it out! Needless, to say, he is now working in a town only about an hour's drive from where we live now. That town is where my cousin and best friend lives! God is amazing, isn't He?! The only thing about this job is that it is a so called "temporary job". It is expected to turn into a permanent job in 3 - 6 months, although there is no guarantee that it will. We are waiting until it does "go permanent" before trying to rent a house there or anything. For now, Dad is commuting.

We are praising God that He has so provided for us, and that He did not ask us in the end to move so far away from the people that we so hold dear. I think that it would have been harder than I could've imagined.

Well, there is the update. Again, I'm so sorry I haven't posted in SO long. God bless you!

A Winter Tip For The Day!

I know that we all learn from our mistakes. I definitely did today. Maybe you can learn from mine and not have to learn it yourself.

To all my homeschooling friends out there: Never, ever, drink hot chocolate at your school table! I don't care how convenient it is! Don't try it! I did today, and the results were disastrous.

I took quite a bit of time getting my hot chocolate ready. Half milk, half water, 1:45 in the microwave, one and a half packages of Nestle hot chocolate, stir until completely mixed.....
It was ready. I took it over to the table where I was doing my school. One slip of the hand, and suddenly, my perfect hot chocolate was all over the table, the floor, the chairs, everywhere. My cousin Mariah was with me when it happened. She uttered a simple, "Uh oh." I gasped and just stared for a few tormenting seconds. My mom yelled from the other room, "Please tell me that wasn't hot chocolate."

Then began the cleanup. First I got all the books off the table. I set them on the counter and my mom began working on them. I wiped up all the chocolate liquid with a wet rag and waited for that to dry. I then swept the whole floor, and when that was done, I mopped. Meanwhile, my mom had taken care of the books. Only one book was severely soaked, but unfortunately, it was a borrowed book. My mom wiped it up and blow-dried each page, but I will have to pay for a new one at the end of the year.

Needless to say, that was my little experience this morning. I hope you learned something from it. Just remember to be very careful where you set your steaming hot chocolate.



P.S. My brother discovered something hilarious today that I quickly want to share with you. He looked up directions on googlemaps.com for getting from our house to Tibet, China. He just wanted to see what it would say. He was surprised when he did. It told him to drive through California, and up through Oregon and Washington. After that, it said to kayak across the Pacific Ocean. That would be about 2,500 miles of kayaking. I don't know if you laughed, but we sure did.

Sale Pending

God is faithful! Our house is in escrow. We got a full price offer, and we took it. Believe it or not, the offer came from a family that goes to our church! It's kind of strange to think that my friends will soon live in my house, but I'm so glad that God is finally selling our house. The close of escrow date is December 17th. I'm a little bit bummed that we have to be out of the house before Christmas, but I'm just glad that God is moving us forward.

So far, we still do not have a job or anything in Texas. We're praying. And praying. My mom puts it this way. She says, "We're taking the next big step. Right now, our foot is in the air, ready to set down. As of yet, there is no ground where our foot will land, but we are trusting God to materialize ground there before we set our foot down." And that is pretty much the way it is. We're trusting in God to provide for us.

So, our job right now is to pack all our possessions so that we can leave in one month. One month! I can hardly believe it. Please pray for us. Pray for wisdom for my Daddy and Mom as they make huge decisions for our family. Pray for a job for my Daddy. And please pray for us to have faith, no matter what, come what may.

Courageous

I have a very exciting announcement to make! Actually, it's not really my announcement at all. But anyway, Sherwood pictures, the creators of Fireproof and Facing the Giants, are coming out with their fourth film! Yes! It's called Courageous, and it's all about challenging men to rise up as strong fathers in their homes. I'm way excited! I guess the movie is scheduled for release in 2011. They're only in the writing stages right now, but I already can't wait to see the movie. Here's a link to the website. Check it out! Click here.

Amazing Guitar Playing

This is an amazing video. It's an unusual way of playing the guitar, but it sounds so beautiful, and is really amazing. My Dad saw this and decided to start learning how to play it! He is still in the process, but he's getting better. Hope you enjoy it!

Let There Be Green

A couple of weeks ago, we overseeded our grass. We had let the Bermuda (the summer grass) die out, and we then raked it all up, and put the rye (the winter grass) seed on. I've decided to show you the results.

This is our grass before we overseeded it.



Okay, I've got to admit, it wasn't really grass at all. In fact, it actually crunched under your feet when you walked on it.

But here's the lovely part. This is our backyard 10 days later after some very hard work, some time, and lots of water. . .

No Bites Yet. . . . . .

Well, ever since we told the congregation that we are moving, we've had an open house every weekend. We've had a couple people come and look at the house, but no one has yet been seriously interested. I can't speak for the rest of my family, but I know that I'm starting to get just a bit discouraged. Sometimes I feel like things will never move on, and we will never move. I keep reminding myself to trust in the Lord like Proverbs 3:5-6 says. It's difficult sometimes.

Last night we sang a song together as a family. As we were singing it, I was making it my prayer. I don't know the name of the song, but these are the lyrics:

I know you can do all things
You have been faithful and true

You are my mighty God and King
I will not fear what man can do

When no fruit is on the vine
I will trust in you
I will trust in you

This life is no longer mine
I will trust in you
Lord, I will trust in you

God bless you and please keep praying!



P.S. Isaac has pneumonia! Yeah, it's pretty crazy. So he is supposed to be resting, but of course, he is refuting it. He doesn't seem too sick, but they think the X-ray showed fluid in his lungs . Please pray for him.

Christian historical fictions that are worth reading

A couple of years ago, my Mom bought a Christian historical fiction book for my brother. He and I both read it, and we loved it! The author of the book is Douglas Bond. Since then, we've bought several of his other books. They are amazing! I would really recommend them. Of his books I've read:

*Hostage Lands
*Guns of Thunder
*Guns of the Lion
*Duncan's War
*King's Arrow
*Rebel's Keep

They are all amazing books and I would so recommend them! Douglas Bond has a blog as well. You can visit it here.

Our trip is over and I present to you........... Pictures!

We are home. We are exhausted, but we are home. Thanks to all of you who were praying for us; we had no major incidents on the road. We did have a bit of trouble with our air conditioning and we still do not know what is wrong with it, but we were able to fix it temporarily without much difficulty.

So, where did I leave off? Oh yeah, somewhere around Friday evening. Ok, well Friday night Jen came over with her girls, and Kim came with her four kids. We had a nice time hanging out together.

Saturday morning we took Aunt Marilyn to the airport. She had to go to Iowa for about a week, so we didn't get to see her at all after she left. After that, we drove around some areas for homes again. Then we went to Chik-fil-A (one of my favorite fast food places) for lunch! It was good. Saturday night I think Jen came over with the girls again. (Forgive me, the details are beginning to be muddled a bit in my mind. All the days are sort of running together.)

Sunday morning we went to church. It was really nice. The people there were extremely welcoming, and it felt so good to be with so many like-minded believers! One of the deacons at the church invited us to his home for dinner, so went there after church. We hung out with his family until later in the evening and had a really wonderful time of fellowship. This family had four daughters, one of whom was about my age. We played games, and just fellowshipped in general. We had a really nice time. After that we went back to Uncle Frank's house where we ate cookies and played with Elli and Abri.

Monday, we didn't do much of anything at all. I think Dad was trying to call people about jobs and stuff, but we pretty much just had a very lazy day until we went to Red Lobster (or Dead Lobster as my Uncle Frank calls it) for dinner with Uncle Frank, Jen, Kim, and the kids (except for Michael who was at Ju-jitsu) After dinner, our family hit the road and headed back to Arizona.

So, that's pretty much it for the narrative. Now for the pictures.........

My friends Gabby and Hannah made us cookies for our trip. This is me eating one. After sleeping for a while in the car, Mom, Isaac, and I woke up simultaneously and were hungry. So we got out the cookies and had a midnight snack. At that moment, those cookies were the best I had ever had in my life. Thank you Gabby and Hannah!



And what do you suppose my Mom is doing in this picture? You guessed it! This is her infamous cookie face.



Taken at 6:00 AM. The sun is beginning to climb up behind the mountains. Isn't it beautiful?



Here are lots more pics of the drive on the way there.....





















This is my cousin Elizabeth. We call her Elli most of the time though. She is 3 years old.



This is Abrianah. She is Elli's sister and almost 2 years old. One of the funny things about Abri is that whenever you take her picture she immediately says, "Lemme see!" in her cute baby voice. Then when you show her the pic on the digital camera screen she stares at it intently and says, "Aaaaaahhhhhhh...."



Dad was playing the guitar and singing some worship songs and Elli was dancing.



Abri enjoys trying on other people's shoes. She usually chooses shoes that are way too big for her. She tries to walk in them too, but usually she just ends up tripping over herself.



These are two of Kim's kids, Mikayla and Michael. They are twins and 5 years old.



That's Michael on the left there, and on the right is Kamden, Kim's youngest. He is 3 years old. And of course in the middle is Isaac, my brother and a wonderful babysitter. He's good with kids.



These two pics were taken when we dropped Aunt Marilyn off at the airport.





Abri was hiding from me in this pic, but she decided to peek out just long enough for me to snap her picture.



Dog pile!


Jen was trying to get Abri to jump into her arms, but she kept falling into her arms instead. For some reason she just couldn't get her feet off that counter.



Deer walking through the backyard one morning.



Abri, sweet baby.



Me out in the backyard.



Abri playing the piano..... with her elbows?



Elli at the piano. She wasn't doing much playing.



Kaytlin, Kim's oldest, at Red Lobster.



Mikayla and Abri at Red Lobster.



And finally (I hope I didn't bore you with all these pictures) this is a pic of the family at Red Lobster right before we left and hit the road.



God bless!