Thanksgiving

This week is Thanksgiving and my mind has been wondering about all the many things for which I am thankful. Here are ten things that I am thankful for:

1)   my husband
2)   my children
3)   a house of my own
4)   vehicles that run
5)   a full time job that allows me to stay at home
6)   my husbands job
7)   our little church
8)   my work christmas bonus this year
9)   a healthy pregnacy so far
10) the chance to be able to school my children at home

This year has had alot of ups and downs. There were times that we didn't even know if we were doing the right thing, but we put one foot in front of the other and tried our best to walk through the doors that God opened to us. Since January of this year, we moved from a very very large house to a tiny little cabin on a campground. 90% of our stuff was in storage and the rest of it was in a little 3 room cabin with a full bathroom. We lived there from the months of February to the end of July. We thought that Chris would get a teaching job over the summer, but due to budget cuts, that never happened. We had been driving an hour one way to pastor our little home mission church in the town of wellston. We looked and looked for a place to live in Wellston, but could not find anything. We didn't know what to do. Finally, we found a place that we could afford on a land contract as long as Chris got a lot of substituting jobs. So we took the house not knowing where our next house payment would come from.
Chris' work began to pick up and I was able to keep my job that allows me to stay at home. God was providing for us. Things were tight, but our needs were being met. When we took this house and moved to Wellston, it was a huge step of faith. I felt like that it was time that we placed God and his ministry before our own financial security. Then all of a sudden just about a month ago, Chris got a full time job with ohio virtual academy as a special ed high school teacher. God has shown us that if we place Him first and what He wants us to do, then He will meet our needs and take care of us. I am so thankful for God's guiding hand. We, many times, want to know what God is going to do way in advance so we can prepare ourselves. But that isn't how God works. We must trust Him and fully rely on His leadership to take us where He wants us to go. Even if that means that we must step into the unknown and trust Him on every little curve, hill and bump. This year has been a big huge step of faith and trusting for me, but it has been worth it every way and I'm so glad that I finally decided to put my little hand into His Big hand and follow him into the unknown part of life.  Thank you God for you wonderful blessings, your love, your grace, and your healing power.