So Many Blessings #241-260

 

The blessings continue to pour:

241. Our orders changing from Minnesota to Wisconsin.

242. God shedding His grace upon us as He delivered us from the blizzard in the Canadian Rockies.

243. Arriving safely to our destination in Wisconsin.

244. No flat tires or mechanical problems on our cross-country trek.

245. Our new home.

246. Living without our stuff for awhile. It allows no distractions.

247. Our family time.

248. Being closer to family.

249. Our new town...very Mayberry like.

250. Our neighbors. A Christian homeschooling family with a daughter my daughters age.

251. My husband meeting his newest nephew whom is almost two years old.

252. Watching my nephew meet his uncle for the first time.

253. Surprising my nephews with our arrival.

254. Hearing my niece say that she is excited we are finally home.

255. What we thought was a major mechanical problem with our one vehicle turned out to be a $28 fix.

256. The bakery outlet in our town.

257. The Lending Library on base because of this service we have dishes, microwave, and air mattresses.

258. The opportunity to choose our home.

259. God showing me where I am lacking.

260. God taking a piece of me each day.

In Our New Home Without Our Furniture

This past week we introduced the blessings and of course Manning, to our new home. I am so happy to hear the blessings say how much they love their new rooms and home. I really like the home as well. The new home is much smaller than we are use to, but I have a feeling God is helping me in the area of simplicity. Most of our furniture will not fit on our main floor, so whatever does not fit will make its way to the basement. I believe that those items should then be sold, but these are pieces I would like to keep for when we purchase our first home. If then they do not fit, I will sell them, but until then, the basement is their home.

Our household items are here in town, but unfortunately cannot be delivered until the 6th. Prayerfully a cancellation will occur this week, which then will bump up our delivery date. So as of right now we are enjoying the open space of our home. Thank goodness for the Army Community Serivces! These services have a lending library that allow us to check out dishes, air mattresses, a table with chairs, and a microwave. My brother blessed us with a television that he was not using, so we are able to watch movies by hooking up the Xbox.

The past couple of days have been a real eye-opener for me. We have been out picking up items that we need for our home and I am overwhelmed by prices. Yes prices in Alaska tend to be more expensive, however, we have found some items to be cheaper. I have started my hunt for coupons and discount stores. I saw a bakery outlet and my daughter mentioned we should go in. I at first, was "eh." I just did not feel like going in, but decided "why not?" I am so thankful we did! I was able to pick up four loaves of bread for $1.80! Did I mention that it was 85cents for one loaf and it was BOGO for free? Did I also mention, the bread bought was priced at $2.85 at Wal-Mart? We also walked away with the same brand of hot dog buns for 79 cents each. I was super giddy for our purchase.

After leaving Alaska our pay has decreased tremendously and I need for the family to jump on board this new lifestyle I'm trying to incorporate. The lifestyle of less spending and living simply. My main concern is our finances. So I started a game with the family, which is to see who can find the best deal while we are out. The blessings have found this as a challenge and are eager to find the better deals and are hoping they can beat me. I am happy to say I am in the lead ;)

What do you and your children do when it comes to frugal living?

Enjoying Family And Target Shopping

We have been visiting family since the 12th of January and it has been very refreshing. The hubby has been able to catch up and reconnect with family that he has not seen in over two years. The two blessings are enjoying and loving their time home with family. I, of course, enjoy it also.

We have signed for our new house, picked up our other vehicle, and brought the vehicle we drove cross-country into the shop for some TLC. I have done a little bit, or some, okay, a lot of shopping at Target. Hey, I've been frugal while I've been there, or most of the time.

We are still waiting on our household items to arrive. A winter storm has held up our items, so hopefully early next week we will receive a delivery date!

I do have to say it is quite an adjustment moving back to the lower 48. I have forgotten how fast-paced life is here and all the choices that surround us. Yes, it's nice with all the choices, but somewhat overwhelming.

I'm sure we can handle it!

Awwww Back In The USA

Phew!

We made it back into the United States!

I have been told by a couple people that Alaska is part of the United States. Yes we lived in Alaska and it is part of the United States, but we had to drive through Canada. So I just wanted to clarify ;)

The rest of our travels since the blizzard has been good. A rock has chipped our windshield and broke our fog lights. I would take that instead of the blizzard! We are excited because as I type this we are about 8 hours from family! Hubby has not been home or seen family in over two years!

Thank you all who have prayed for our trip and our safety. God is so good!

Almost Half-Way

Wow!

What a trip!!!

Thank you all for the prayers.  We definitely felt them and they were greatly needed.  We are 1200 miles into our 3,030 mile trek.  Our first day was good, and our second day, well God was with us.  We entered a blizzard in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and literally almost drove off the cliff.  God sent us a semi and lead us out of the storm.  We referred to it as God leading Moses out of Egypt.  Once we get to our final destination of Wisconsin I will write more about the storm and our trip.

Overall, we are loving our trip and have seen much wildlife.  Our count so far is 7 moose, over 50 buffalo, a herd of caribou, a snow hare, and wild horses.  Thankfully the wildlife have been on the side of the road and close enough to take pics but far enough away to be safe.

The best part is seeing God's beauty.

Thank you for the prayers and will post in a few days.

Blessings!

The Trek Begins

The hugs have been received.

The prayers are being said.

The truck is being packed.

The kids are sleepy and parents too.

It has been snowing since yesterday morning.

The trek begins.

Today we begin our 3,030 mile trek across North America.

Today we begin our new path that God is setting us on.

We do not know what to expect, but we have faith that God will get us through.

Our trip should take about a week. 

Will you please pray for us?

The journey will take us into the territory of very little, through mountain passes, and a separation of 300 miles between each town.

God will get us through.

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."  Philippians 4:6

I wanted to write posts and schedule them throughout the week, but unfortunately I did not.  So next time you see a TFN post, we will have arrived safely in the lower 48. 

Until then my neighbors; blessings to you all!

No Coincidences With God

Today we have hugged and said our goodbyes to close friends.  Tonight we do the same with another family.  Tomorrow four more families.  Army life is hard when it comes to leaving our friends, especially those who are considered family.

We were to leave Tuesday of next week, but there has been a change, and we are now leaving this Sunday.  This PCS has definitely kept us on our toes.  We keep changing dates and God changes the duty station.  No matter what has been thrown at us, God keeps us moving.  He continues to show us a little of His plan each time. 

Two days ago the hubby and I were in the lobby speaking with another Christian, and we were telling him that we are feeling that missionary work is in our future.  We already have an area of ministry that we would like to work in, and we feel God placing it on both our hearts.  The gentleman went on to tell us that he knew the perfect person to contact in this area of ministry.  Later that evening I received an email with the contact information.

Some may say that was a coincidence, meeting with the gentleman in the lobby, but I say "I think not!"  God placed that gentleman in the lobby for a couple of reasons.  One was because the hubby need a piece of paper signed and the other was the contact information.  Nothing is a coincidence when it comes to God. 

Nothing is a coincidence.  This morning I opened my email and read KLove's encouraging word.  Can you guess what it was? Proverbs 3:6.  Coincidence? I think not!  He is showing us pieces of His plan. 

As long as we keep our hearts and eyes on Him, He will reveal the whole plan in His time. 

What has God shown you lately?

He Is Directing Our Path

The excitement has set in since December 13th when we found out that we were going to be stationed back in my home state of Minnesota. 

Plans have been made.

House hunting had begun. 

The field trip opportunities for school had been researched.

 Two hours away from family. 
 
Target would be right around the corner. 

IKEA. 

We were finally heading home.

Then....

Lazy Days

In a world that is fast-paced and on the constant move it is important to me that my family and I have a lazy day.  On lazy day we do absolutely nothing.  No cooking. No laundry. No chores. 

We do nothing. 

We may lounge in our pajamas all day.  We snack all day.  We watch television or movies all day.  Sometimes we play board games. 

On lazy day the house may become messy and needs to be picked up, but that waits for another day.  Lazy day is a day to absolutely nothing.  A day to rest and rejuvenate for the days ahead.

This works for me!

For more WFMW jump on over to We Are That Family.

Reimbursements

I believe the worse part of moving is the stage of turning our house over to the housing office, and staying in a hotel.  We usually stay in our home up until the day we leave, so we do not have to pay for a hotel and eating out.  This move was no different, until the first night in our home sleeping on an air mattress hurt my hubby's back.  We then made the decision to move into the hotel for the last 11 days of our stay in Alaska.  Obviously, the health and well-being of my husband is more important than trying to save some dollars.       

Multitude Monday #222-240

 

 

The list continues:

222. The official word that we were moving to Minnesota.

223.  Having hubby home for CHRISTmas.

224.  Watching the blessings open gifts.

225.  Watching my daughter grow in Christ.

226.  The movers packing our home.

227.  A warm house to protect us from 40 below weather.

228. Card games with my children.
 
229.  A well-groomed Manning (our dog). .He was in desperate need of a grooming

230.  Quiet spiritual-filled talks with the hubby.

231.  House hunting.

232. Setting new goals for the new year.

234. Flexibility of homeschooling.

235.  Warranty on our vehicle.

236.  Playing words with friends with hubby, daughter, and sister.

237.  Minimal packing for our trip.  Moving to Alaska we were overpacked.

238.  Finding a good home for our young dog who could not travel with us.

239.  Learning from mistakes.

240.  Auto-start for our vehicle.  A true blessing living in Alaska.

For more Multitude Monday please visit A Holy Experience hosted by Ann Voskamp.

New Year, New Goals

Video Credit

Happy New Year to you all! May this new year bring you blessings!

My family is starting the new year in a hotel. We leave for "Minnie-sota" in nine days. So the start of the year is focusing on finding a new home and settling into our new life.

A new year means new goals. 
 

Yes She Is Different

Yes, my daughter is different.

Yes, she chooses to read her Bible every night and every morning.

Yes, she chooses to listen to Christian music over other music choices.

Yes, she is homeschooled.

No, she is not into boys.

No, she will not go against her beliefs

No, she cannot tell you about Harry Potter or Twilight.

Yes, she is different.

But who is she different too? Other people?

If that is the case then let her be different. My daughter is 11 years old and has such amazing faith. Just recently she was in a situation where she was put down because she chose not to participate in certain things because she believed that those activities would disappoint God. Her decision to obey God was then ridiculed by others.

My daughter discussed everything that happened and as I sat there listening, I became angry. My momma feathers were ruffled. I told her I was calling the mother and her response was "no mom because I did what Jesus wanted me to do, I offered my other cheek."

Sigh.

My 11 year old has more wisdom than even I do.

After she said that we prayed together. We prayed for those who hurt her and prayed that her heart will heal. After our prayer she says "thank you, and I need to make up for my Bible reading I missed last night and this morning."

My 11 year old daughter is showing me what it means to have faith like a child. She chooses to read her a Bible twice a day. She prays on her own. She asks God to help her minister to others. Yes, she is different to others, but she is loved by her family, and by God. She is more concerned about being accepted by God than people. Did I mention she is 11 years old?

My 11 year old daughter has taught me a lot today.

"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7