We Have Been Treasure Hunting!!!

Several years ago Chris and I decided we were done with car payments. We new we didn't need a new car, we just needed a car that we could trust if we took care of it and something that fit our family. It has been the biggest blessing not to have a monthly car payment because there have been times in the last couple of years after the economy crashed that we wouldn't have been able to make a car payment.

When we got pregnant with Amaya 8 years ago we bought what we thought was a family car that seats 5. Now that we have threee kids we quickly learned that it's not big enough. We have missed out on so many opportunities because our car wasn't big enough. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to ask a kid to go to church with us or to VBS or just wanted to be able to take one of the kids friends out with us.

One other thing our car was not big enough for was adding to our family. That's right, we believe our family is not finished growing yet but we needed a place for another one to come home.

I have also dreamed of having a car big enough to put a wheelchair in just in case God has a child planned for us that would be in a wheel chair.

We also need a vehicle that could tow since we buy broken cars.

After a couple of years of dreaming and dreaming of having a big car but not willing to buy until we had the money we finally got our new (OK, not really new it's a 96) car that will be able to hold our dreams, passions and anything God has planned for us. This car has room for three more kiddos!!! The best part is that we know God had this one picked out for us because when we called about it without Chris saying anything the guy said he would drop the price by $1,000 and the car was well worth what he was asking before he dropped the price. I love how God provides!!!

Help! We Need Fans :)

Yesterday a customer said they found us by searching Facebook. I went to our Facebook page this morning and  Facebook said we had to start a new page so we could do it with the new system. As I was getting the page ready it said we need 25 fans to get to be able to do the next thing.

So....if you want to help me would you please come like our fan page so I can do whatever I need to do next. If you are in Indiana, Ohio, northern KY or even southern Michigan would you share our fan page on your Facebook. Chris specializes in some things that people are willing to drive for. Thank you!!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/​A-to-B-Automotive/173109126089​428

Kids In Action

Something that gets me excited it to see kids in action, working for GOD. Something I learned when I was about 19 was that God used kids in a way that he cannot use adults. I think sometimes God calls children to do the big stuff because to be honest, as adults our faith is much smaller than it is for children.

I learned a big lesson last fall when Amaya did her project for Operation Christmas Child that when God uses children that you better watch out because he can be big.

Yesterday Megan posted on her blog that her children have a very special project going on and I wanted to share it with you. You could be part of God using children to make some big things happen. You could also be part of encouraging children in doing God's work. Click here to go check out what they are doing. Megan said yesterday that the kids get so excited and dance around everytime they get an order.

INJUSTICE

Wow, you don't even need to watch the news anymore to know what's happening in the world. I open Facebook to find many, many people very upset today. I will not state my opinion because to be honest I don't watch enough news to make an opinion. I have also learned that the news is usually anything but accurate and the true story is rarely told.

What I do know is that many, many people are very mad because they feel a certain person is guilty of murder. Aren't we all guilty of sin? Isn't there times we should all suffer the consequences of something we have done but for one reason or another we have gotten away with something when someone else has paid a high price for the same thing.

John 8:7
7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

There is a judge much bigger than any judge here on earth that can outpower any judgement made here on earth.

While people are busy watching and yelling at the news, many children are dying right under our noses because we chose a starbucks coffee, a nice steak dinner, we chose to have a calm life of just a couple children, we chose air conditioning, we chose the easy path. There will be a day when all will be judged including me. Should we be held responsible? I think God will hold us responsible and I know I have failed many, many times.

This child has HIV and will probably die without a family. Are you willing to fight and get angry about the injustice of this child in the same way you are yelling about the news or will you let her die. You are angry that the child on the news died and her mother wasn't found guilty but yet thousands of kids wait in foster care in your own backyard and yet you do nothing.

          Who is guilty? 

Missing My Friends

Last night as I was getting ready for bed I went to close out my computer for the night when I noticed a message on Facebook saying I won a Kindle from the Millions of Miles blog. I couldn't believe I won it and needless to say I was really, really excited because this is something I would never have bought for myself. I was so excited, bouncing off the walls a bit, that Chris told me to get out of bed and go downstairs and have fun looking at books I could download on this when I get it. I started looking at some books and then I started thinking about some friends of ours that are very dear to our hearts.

Honestly, due to something that happened a couple of weeks ago I have been thinking about these friends many, many times a day for the last few weeks but last night I was really missing them.

Rob was a pastor at a church we attended. When I first met Rob, to be completely honest, I never thought I would be close to him because he was sooooo smart. When I say smart I'm talking walking dictionary (kinda like my dear hubby). Well to be honest I have never been book smart but at least I have common sense. I went to a Sunday School class he had and I thought I needed a dictionary to be in the class. I later found out that I was pretty much the only one in the class that wasn't a walking dictionary so he was teaching in a way most people in that class would learn.

Rob and his wonderful wife Mari then started a Bible study for young adults. I was sooooo scared to go because I didn't think I was smart enough but my hubby talked me into going. Boy was I shocked to learn that Rob and Mari were the most down to earth people I have ever met in my life. Not only was Rob able to turn off the dictionary teaching but Rob taught in a way that anyone in the room could learn, be challenged and  most of all be accepted for who they were.

Mari had an amazing ability to make everyone feel like they were just one of her kids and she accepted ANYONE.

Rob and Mari were there for some of the hardest times in our lives. 

Last night as I was praying for Rob and Mari I found a sermon that Rob just preached a couple of months ago. I was just talking the other day to someone about how people are so different outside of church walls and Rob talks about that in this sermon. The sermon was so good that I want to share it with you. You can click here to listen and you can even listen while your doing other things online.

Rob and Mari, if you are reading this I just wanted to say THANK YOU! Thank you for teaching me that pastors are normal people too. Thank you for always opening your home to those that need to be loved. Thank you for being there for us whenever we needed you in the very dark moments of life. Thank you for never giving up on God even though life hasn't been easy for you. Thank you both for being YOU and for being so real! We love you guys and miss you very much.