Blown Away....again

SO, of course I should not be surprised by the fact that God shows up in huge ways.  We all hear the stories in others' life, but when He does something so apparent, directly in my life, it still gives me chills.

Here's the situation:
Summer-time, lots of free-time and vacations.  Weird Escrow with our new house has our house note increase by almost 50% for 12 months starting in June.  Weird accounting procedures at Amy's job has her salary cut by over 50% for 2 months starting in July.  Some of this we knew, some of this we didn't.  No big deal...in addition to our normal savings, we had been putting back a little to cover for the summer.

One week before our annual trip to Port Aransas, I took my truck [insert-Tow Vehicle for travel trailer we are taking to Port Aransas] into Discount Tire to get them to fix a slow leak.  When they called me to let me know it's finished, they also ask if I have had any trouble getting my truck into reverse.  I had not, but after they backed it out of the bay, it wouldn't go in reverse at all...just sit there and whine. I filed an incident report with Discount Tires Corporate office and then 'limped' my truck to the mechanic...on Friday afternoon...of 4th of July weekend.  The next Thursday at noon [the day before we left for vacation], I picked up my truck, with rebuilt transmission and picked up our trailer.

Amy and I were a little 'shell-shocked' by the $1700 repair bill.  Talk about put a damper on the start of a vacation.  We had not heard from Discount Tire, but were not counting on them.  I mean, my truck is 9 years old with 125,000 miles on it.  We did have $1000 in an account ear-marked for auto repairs, but this was still a big hit to our tight summer budget.  We both decided we had done all we could do about it, so we prayed that He would show up, and then we let go of the burden.

We had an amazing vacation at the beach.  Enjoyed time with the girls, ate great seafood and got plenty of Vitamin D [insert-SUN].  When we got home today, there was a stack of mail.  In it was a large envelope from FEDEX which contained a letter from Discount Tire, and a check for.....guess how much....$700.

For those like me who might be 'mathematically-challenged'.

• $1000  +  $700  =  $1700

                                        OR

• Auto repair account  +  Check from Discount Tire  =  Truck Repair Bill

Throughout our marriage we have always committed to put God first.  This is not always easy and doesn't always happen in every part of our lives; but when it comes to finances, we have been very faithful.  This is just another example of how God will provide in the areas of need.  I think the important thing is to understand who is in control, then let Him do His thing!

 

Not the Best ...but Funny nonetheless

This is not normally the stuff I write about, but it was too long for a FB status or tweet.  Here is recap of about 2 minutes of my morning with my two girls.

Me:did u poop? 

Ella: no! 

Me: what is that in your diaper? 

Ella: poop 

Me: lets change it. 

Ella: no, we don't need to change it. 

Me: what are we going to do with it? 

Ella: I'm just going to walk around with it....

(1 min. later, in Ella's room; Addy crying in living room) 

Ella: we are coming addy.  Daddy had to change my nasty diaper. 

Ella: we are coming addy.  Daddy is putting my diaper straps on. 

Ella: we are coming addy. Daddy is putting my pjs on. 

Ella: we are coming addy.

Without sacrifice...

there is no love.

This is not meant to be a cheesy Valentine's Day post.  Just something that was reveled to me last week sometime.  

So, to have love there must be sacrifice.  First forget about the human/personal/relationship definition. Let's say you LOVE CocoKrispies.  You have to sacrifice eating other cereals like AppleJacks, Trixs or any other sugary breakfast goodness.  You also would have sacrifice some of your health and well-being.

What if you LOVE a certain car?  Let's say the new Chevy Camero.  If you truly LOVE it, you will probably own one.  In owning a new Camero, you would sacrifice some money (about $25k-$45k). You would also sacrifice the ability to haul a trailer or move plywood.  

LOVE your wife and kids, there are sacrifices to make.  LOVE God, other sacrifices to make.  The word 'sacrifice' kind of has a negative connotation, but it's not negative.  It is just a trade of one thing for another.  For LOVE, it means trading something you don't want for something you do want.

With LOVE, you must sacrifice.  They are sometimes easy sacrifices, sometimes they are more difficult.  I am not a 'perfect practitioner' of this idea, but being aware of it may help?!?

 

Disadvantaged Children

I want to talk about a different type of disadvantaged children.  It doesn't have to be related to poverty or education...what about dance?

After observing my beautiful 20 month old daughter enjoying The Wiggles, I am afraid to say, she is disadvantaged in the area of dance.  It is not her fault, I believe it is a hereditary trait.  Her mother and I are not dancers. In fact you can probably trace this handicap back to our parents.  Despite my parents taking lessons when I was younger, they are still very underprivileged in the dance realm.  

We will not give up on assisting our child.  I am planning on getting her dance 'therapy' once she reaches the appropriate age.

Like 90%

Like about 90% of all blog owners, I plan to post more in the first 24 hours than the next 24 months.

Unreal stuff in Haiti... My Aunt's brother was working there during the earthquake.  He was meeting some people at The Hotel Montana when it completely collapsed.  The family has gotten word through various media channels that he was found alive after 55 hours trapped.  There are reports that amputations had to occur in order to free him.

There is a Facebook page (Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana) dedicated to families who are looking for information on missing loved ones.  If watching it on TV doesn't make it real, go read some of the posts.

UPDATE:  Clint Rabb died from injuries related to the earthquake.  Here is a story about him.  While I did not know him personally, he obviously had a huge passion for the less fortunate.  I was told that while in a hospital in FL, that he was still concerned with others still in Haiti.  That is the kind of compassion to strive for.