What a wild week! I'm so upside down, topsy-turvy I don't know what to say!
And that's most unusual for me, haha!
I achieved my goals from last week, well, almost! I found the Christmas fabric and put it all in a bag, and then bought a little more because I'm addicted to buying pretty fabrics, :) ! But, I have BIG plans for all that fabric and while I was at Spotlight, I got inspiration too! I can't wait to get started on my Christmas projects now and I'll post pics as I go too. There, now I HAVE to do it, heehee! I actually went there to get some cord to finish off my little bags for the Christmas Shoebox Ministry. (I was planning on taking a photo before they were collected, but I was running behind schedule and forgot.) Wish I could see the faces of the children in Thailand who'll receive the boxes we sent this year. We have had such fun putting them together and I truly hope they love what they find inside! It makes me realize just how well off we are when each child in these third world countries, only ever receives 1 Shoebox!
The reason, I said I almost achieved my goals is because I fixed the overlocker to make the little bags, but it stopped working halfway through! Sigh! I had to leave it and keep going on the bags, or they wouldn't have been done by now at all! So I shall tinker again and see if it will behave long enough for my needs.
One of the highlights of this week has been the gift from a dear friend which has helped us out enormously! I was able to purchase a few extra goodies to go in the Shoeboxes and the fabric to get started on my Christmas plans. It also helped to pay for sending the boxes to Thailand. I am so grateful for this gift and hope I used it wisely to spread joy among as many people as I can. It made me cry when I realized how generous this gift was to us and it has helped in many other ways too. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, may God bless you and your lovely family with peace, joy and good health!
The darkest part of this week was when we had another appraisal done on our other house and the agent evaluated it $100,000 less than the previous agent! What a kick in the guts that was! Fortunately, Rob said we would need some time to think about whether or not we would sign up with this new agent.
Recently, I had prayed for wisdom. See what happens when you pray for wisdom? God answers!
We were both really upset and kind of lost. Our direction had seemed so clear before. Friends had helped out enormously to get that house ready to sell, we had toiled long and hard on repairing it. Financially it has just about killed us to run 2 complete households for the past 3 and a half years! We had all these wonderful plans for when "our ship came in", so many people to repay, others to help out, plans to make our house into a home we could be comfortable in and happy to welcome visitors and friends into, and dreams we wanted to pursue when we were financially free. So many things we've gone without for so long that I dearly wanted to have as soon as possible!!!!
Then I think again about those children who only ever receive that one gift and I am ashamed and convicted and so thankful to God for allowing us to be in THIS beautiful country, and so thankful for friends who have helped us through in so many different ways.
We have plotted a new course, turned the rudder to a new direction. One that will help us address the issues we need to deal with so that we can operate effectively for God in this world.
I had considered making my life insurance policies able to keep the rest of the family afloat, but I realized that was no answer. I would be too ashamed to face my Maker! I thought about selling a kidney, but I'd probably end up needing it one day. :) I thought about a million and one get-rich-quick schemes, the Bible has something to say about those ideas too!
It took us some time to get where we are, and it will take some time to get out of the red and into the black! It's going to be an interesting journey, exciting and scary all at once. Now I have hope for the future, that we will be able to achieve all that God has planned for us to do.
It's never too late to take the right path!
You know that only shows how huge your heart is that you put it into others rather than getting stuff you need! :) What a blessing you are to the world m8. Don't you dare let that devil tell you otherwise. It's horrible hearing you cleverly word that you had pondered dying. Praise God you are way too strong for that! Or, even better, He is, in you!
ReplyDeleteYou know you are so loved and your tribe is so blessed to have you as their Mother. We all fail, we all feel we can and should do more, and yet you are a soldier if ever I've met one. Them having a woman who strives to be a Godly Mother makes them the richest kid's in the world. Fact.
Money doesn't buy God, which means there are a sad tonne of nicely dressed families who are in fact desperately poor.
We need more of you. You stay strong my dear friend, and you remember Matthew 6:19-24. :)
Bless you guys! Miss ya! xox
(p.s: I've FINALLY started blogging properly! Sub? :) )