Disasters and Answered Prayers!

It is amazing how many things can happen at one time and it shakes your faith, but then God comes in and makes Himself evident in your life!

It all started when Justin lost his job right after Memorial Day! What a blow! We had our vacation coming up at the end of June to Cancun. This being our first vacation in 9yrs of marraige without the kids. Thankfully it was already paid for so we figured we might as well go. We were hoping that hubby would get a job before we left but after 4 interviews...3 being bogus (I am surprised that people actually post jobs and then have you interview for a different job!)...nothing was working. So we went...we had a good time...but REALLY missed the kids!

As soon as we got back a huge dose of reality hit the fan!! We got denied for unemployment. We were given our move out notice for the end of July. Hubby's mom's house burned down to the ground. They lost everything with no renters insurance including their car which completely melted in the fire's heat. We were so stressed out with no job, soon to be no place to live, they had no place to live and were going to have to stay with us.

I had already been praying and had been trying to strengthen my relationship with God when all this happened. In fact I had a priority awakening on the flight from Houston to Seattle coming back from Cancun. I didn't want to mess around anymore! I want to make God my priority and a priority in my children's life. No more Selfishness! I wrote feverishly on a scrap piece of paper all of my thoughts while on the flight...which I will put up later in a separate post.

So we started praying for these situations! I had been reading in Matthew in my Bible about how God says not to worry about the clothes you need to wear or the food you need to eat because he takes care of even the little sparrow. He sees us too! It just really hit home. I also read the verse that says "Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open to you". So I layed all our problems before God..because seriously what was all my worrying going to do?

And do you know what? God began answering one prayer after another in quick succession!

1. First our in-laws were able to stay in a hotel and have a house to move into today until they can get a place to rent. That was a stress relief...we totally would have had them stay but just having more people in the house while everything else was going on and having to move in a couple of weeks...was just to much.

2. We were approved for State Food Stamps for double the amount I normally spend on Groceries!!! What a releif!

3. Justin had a good interview with an insurance company that seemed promising but we still needed to wait on a job offer.

4. The unemployment denile was turned over and we got it retro'd back a month!!

5. Our current landlord agreed to keep part of our deposit to pay rent for this month so we wouldn't have to come up with it.

6. Justin got the job offer for the insurance company!

7. We found a house to rent through a friend who was moving out of it at the same time we were needing a place. It's half the size of what we are in now but has a great layout, massive back yard and other perks. Though we weren't sure if we could afford the initial first and last months rent, deposit and pet deposits.

8. The new landlord call us all excited and offered us the previous renter's rent which was less then it was listed for, and only a $250 deposit! He is very excited for us to move in.

9. (This is a prayer I didn't even pray for) I was looking for moving boxes on the Craigslist in the free section and came across a beautiful Cherrywood Dining Set and Hutch that someone was offering for free. I emailed them with my Mother-in-Law's story thinking that it was probably already gone. We the owner called me 20min later and said that she had gotten over 300 emails but picked mine because she really wanted to bless someone. She said she was a Christian and asked me if I was too! I was in tears over the blessing. Hubby and I drove an hour to get it and it is beautiful! I called my MIL and she was so excited!

Then my mom called and said that my Dad was in the hospital for chest pains and they were running tests. So we started praying for this too! My mom has been battling lung cancer for 10yrs now. So I was really worried!

10. My Dad's tests came out fine! His heart is fine, his lungs are fine. It seems he had a reaction to an anti-inflammitory he was taking for his shoulder surgery. Praise God.

So at this point we are packing and downsizing and it feels good! We move in a couple of weeks and I'm excited! I'm just so thankful and excited to see what God has planned for us! I keep reminding myself and hubby that when things get better that we need to remember what He has brought us through and not be like the Isrealites were and fall back into our previous pattern.

God is good! A song has been going through my head through this. It's by Kirk Franklin.

"If you can just hold on,
My brother just be strong,
My sister God oh God,
God's got your problem all in control,
He's working it out,
It's all in control"

There's more to the song but this was the portion that just kept playing over and over through my head!