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Marble Art

Garrett really wanted a bag of marbles he found at Dollar General, so we got them for him. He said he wanted to play with them with Morgan. I don’t know how he knew it, but he was right. Morgan loved them! He played with them for hours and made some nice pictures with them. Here they are:

This is the artist responsible

A Prophetic Word that Hits the Mark

This prophetic word comes to my inbox every day. There have been so many times that it has been scary accurate. Right after we lost our house to foreclosure back in 2005, the first time I was able to go back online, I checked the “Small Straws” for the day we had to leave our house. It said something like, “See, I told you things were going to get crazy!” It went on to say that God was still with us even though it didn’t look like it. And to keep trusting and believing Him, for He was going to be with us through it all.

And He was. We kept trusting Him and believing Him for miracles of provision and for better days to come. And He was faithful. We have a history with Him. He has done impossible things for us in the past. He will do them again.

Once again, it has “hit the mark”, and our faith is very encouraged.

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns — 12/17/2010:

Maintain strong faith, and keep moving forward taking one step at a time in the strength and power of My guidance. I will not lead you astray, but like an arrow shot from a bronze bow you will hit the mark and achieve the goal. Refuse to waver through fear and unbelief. Trust Me in all things, says the Lord, for I will direct your steps on a straight and narrow path.

Isaiah 42:16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.

Website: http://ft111.com

God’s People Are Here

We have met some of the nicest people here. Almost every house we have looked at is owned or has been shown by a Christian. We have met Christians and seen Christian bumper stickers every where we’ve gone. I commented on this to one of the homeowners whose house we looked at, and he said, “Oh, yeah, Jesus is Lord here.” I was amazed! I liked the sound of that.

Last night we were invited to the home and family Christmas party of a wonderful couple with an amazing ministry of giving homeless and troubled people a temporary home while God is dealing with them. Many people who have stayed with them have ended up getting saved. They let us come to their beautiful home and soak in the decorations and trappings of a family Christmas for the night. They heard my message and called me right back and invited me without stopping for a moment to think about it. They just knew that they wouldn’t want to be in a hotel with 10 children at Christmas time, so they blessed us with a change of scenery and a change of diet. Their names are Morgan and Joyce Ilgenfritz. Morgan even came to pick half of us up in his van since we turned the rental van in Tuesday.

They told us bits and pieces of their story, but then they gave us two books that have been written about them. And they gave us a book that their daughter-in-law wrote. She has 16 children. So, guess what I’ve been doing today? I’ve been reading about these amazing people who opened their home and hearts to us.

They have had 411 different people stay in their home over the past 30 years. The books about their ministry are called I Was A Stranger and… by Anthony J. Bachman and Divine Appointments by Bonnie S. Grau. They call their house the Lighthouse. It is a house with 19 rooms that God gave to them through Joyce’s job as a personal nurse to an elderly man who happened to have a huge house and a very bad disposition so that no other nurse could handle him. He asked her to move into his house with her family and take care of him as long as he lived. It was a very trying time, but it ended up providing the means for the ministry they would have for the next 30 years. God just sends people to them. They never advertise or try to get anybody to come to them. Their story is full of divine appointments and God’s provision as they obey Him every time He tells them to reach out and help a needy person He puts in their path.

They told us they weren’t afraid of large families because they have a son who has 16 children. They told us a little about them. In fact, two of the 16 children are living with them right now. One is 22-year-old Hannah who is attending nursing school at the college 4 blocks from her grandparents’ house. So she is able to save money and spend lots of quality time with her grandparents while getting her education.  The other is Esther.

Joyce was a wonderful hostess and gave us gifts for our children even though she had only heard of us one hour before we showed up at her house. Morgan was a generous host, too. We enjoyed our time with them. The kids have been playing with the puzzles they gave us and writing with the Christmas pencils and eating the yummy food they sent with us.

We watched a movie with them, “Christmas Child” by Max Lucado. It was really good. Megan Follows and Stephen Curtis Chapman were in it. Then Joyce loaded us up with gifts and Morgan took us back to the hotel. What an amazing couple with a wonderful ministry!

I Am So Blessed!

I walked into Walmart tonight and heard “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” playing on the speakers. It hit me that I am still not in a house or able to do any of the traditional things we do for Christmas
– and it’s almost Christmas! Tears came to my eyes, but I didn’t let myself get too upset. There are several things that keep me from giving in to self-pity. The news that a Facebook friend and fellow homeschooler lost her young son in a tragic accident Sunday makes my situation seem like the most blessed place I could possibly be in. Safe and sound with every one of my children healthy and whole and close to my heart.

A friend told me about some troubling attitudes in her sons that have hurt her deeply, as they are directed at her personally and make her feel like her family considers her a mean, angry, hateful mother. That, combined with the distressing housing situation she has lived in for the past year, took her to the edge tonight. I prayed with her and reassured her, and again realized that my situation is a blessing from heaven.

I have gotten messages from several people asking about our housing situation. We still haven’t heard anything from the owner of the house we would like to rent. The man who is renting the house called today to ask if I had heard anything from him yet. I told him I hadn’t, and he said that he had an email from him that said he was looking at several applications and he would let him know what he decided. The wonderful man who is currently renting the house has gone to bat for us and told the owner that we would be good renters. He is even willing to move up his moving date so that we can get in as soon as possible. He is waiting to hear from the owner or us and he will call his moving company to come and move him Saturday instead of the previous moving date of Dec. 22nd. He is willing to do this to get us into the house sooner, even though it would cost him a couple hundred dollars more.

Surprise! He’s a Christian, too! He’s Asian. I’m not sure what country he is from, but I never would have assumed that he was a Christian. But he asked me if we were a Christian family. He thought we were, even though we never said a word about it while we were looking at the house. I guess he could just tell. So he has been doing the best he can to help us, his brothers and sisters in Christ, to get into the house. It really touched my heart when I realized what he was doing and was willing to do for us.

And the care and concern that I feel from so many who read my status updates on Facebook and who read my blog has been a blessing that helps me to stay full of hope and faith that God is with us and loves us. He is showing His love for us through His people in so many different ways. I feel your prayers, and I’m strengthened by them. Thank you so much. Thank you for the messages letting me know that you’re praying for us and for the encouragement to my faith. I know that God is up to something wonderful. I can’t wait to see what it is!