God's been working!

Hey, all. I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. Since my last post, we celebrated New Year's Eve at home (Ethan made it to 11 and Abigail to about 10 minutes passed midnight... she just couldn't understand why we kept her up to watch a quick tv show and give her a kiss. Talk about BORING for her! LOL!) Shortly thereafter, my mom came for a visit and we were able to celebrate Abigail's 4th birthday with a small party... toughest part there was that Pastor Randy called a corporate fast the weekend before... so talk about an interesting party! We made sure to prepare Daniel-fast-friendly foods... but with each person having their own convictions- needless to say it made for an interesting day. :o)

So, she turned 4 without a hitch. :o)

Then Grandma left and the preparations began for Grammie to come from Ohio. I didn't spend my usual time scrubbing and straightening up, but we did manage to work on some reorganizing. Got some shelves up in the craft room, the office, and the garage and got some boxes off the floor (finally!).

Had lots of adventures with Grammie here- went to Bakersfield on a day-trip to visit Uncle Ricky and Mema's grave, did a little shopping, visited the zoo (now that was fun!), even had Rob and Apple come through town a couple times (once for the healing service that I'll tell you more about in a minute...) She helped us get the garage organized- Nick finally got the peg board I had given him a gift certificate for a year or so before... and with the new-found space, he's jumped head-long into some much awaited projects (like refinishing the dayglow-orange cabinets throughout our house) and tackling some yard work on the nicer days...

Also, while Grammie was here, Nick was offered a new position at Fresno Plumbing (same company). This is the 3rd time this job has been mentioned to him in the last couple years... but this time, it was one of the owners who came to him. It sounded great from the get-go, but we were still hesitant because, well... what were the reasons we decided no the last two times? I'm not really sure, but this time it was much more "in your face." The owner showed him the stack of applicants he had already interviewed and said that he just really wants Nick. Then, Nick asked me if the reason no one else had panned out in these last two years was that this was his job all along and God was making that clear... So he asked me to pray and he was praying, too. I was concerned with the fast that this was a distraction from the enemy so I really pressed in and waited... then, the healing service came. While Pastor was anointing those who had a physical affliction, he stood up and said "there are answers at the altar." I asked, "God, do you have an answer for this position?" The answer was a resounding "yes, yes, yes!" I didn't tell Nick about that right away because Apple was there with me and there were too many awesome things that God was doing with her for me to worry about our stuff. So, after a few days, I realize I hadn't told him and went ahead with my story. He said that this was just confirmation for him because he thought God was saying the same thing to him. :o) He starts Monday.

So, as far as our dear friend, Apple, is concerned... she had tears rolling down her face the whole time we were worshipping and even into service. I knew God was doing something in her. She went up to be anointed with oil by Pastor and she was amazed at how many people were speaking in the Spirit as she went forward. I realized that she didn't have that gift yet and prayed for her (I remembered what Pastor Rick prayed when I received the gift of the Spirit and I basically followed along those lines...). I instructed her to open her mouth and let the noise come from deep within her. There was a deep grunt and she said she could feel it from deep inside. I was SO encouraged! We stayed to the end, you know, to honor what God was doing... and when we got home, Rob was there playing with the kids. We had In n Out for dinner, chatted for a bit, then all headed to bed. In the morning, while we were standing in the kitchen, Apple squatted down to talk to Abigail. A couple minutes later, she stood up and went down and almost jumped up several more times. She said "there's no pain! I didn't have to use anything to get up... this never happens!" She was so excited! God is so good! I know there is more that He's healed her of, I'm just waiting the reports to come back! :o)

Wow, what a post! So, tonight, we're celebrating Nick's "lateral transfer" (which I see as a promotion!) by having the Gibbs kids over to watch Madagascar 2 and eat popcorn. :o)

Love you all and thanks for not giving up on me!