~His work in the past year

Today is July 5th, 2005 and I would like to kind of recap what God has done in my families life over the past year. This could get pretty long depending on how well I am able to express myself and how long my Kai will allow me to write. He is actually throwing a fit as a write so it might not be as long as I originally thought it would be. You know what, I think they have this radar that detects when Mommy is going to sit down and have a little me time. Oh okay He is distracted so I will begin.

Okay let me start at the very beginning. A little over a year ago my Rick and I had a very rough time with a lot of things that were going on in our lives. I was pregnant with Kai and he was very depressed for some reason. We are still not sure why till this day but it was all in God's plan. After Kai was born some things were brought to my attention that shattered my view of my life. I had always viewed it as perfect and with out any evident evil, well there had been a lot of evil lurking around for quite some time. Through this time Rick and I were able to see God more clearly and eachother. Rick started to come out of his depression and started to have a great desire to become a more godly husband and father. About 6 months later Ricks dear grandma became very ill due to her ongoing struggle with cancer. In December she was hospitalized and went home to be with the Lord on December 23. It was extremely sad for everyone who knew this beautiful woman known as Huzzy to our 4 year old. Rick immediately turned to God and began to see life in a whole new perspective and so did I. God had started His work in Rick. It was becoming clear to us that He was trying to move Rick to make a decision about how he is going to live his life. Rick began to think about how he would like to one beable to see his grandmother again and I believe that this is where it really hit him hard. He realized that he needed to change his ways and that is when God began His work in Rick's heart. A seed was planted in him and he could no longer see himself doing anything else but work for the Lord. Praise God. I can't tell you the joy and shock I had when he first told me he was thinking about going into the ministry! I was going crazy inside with so many emotions, but I didn't want to get to excited cause I was afraid he might change his mind but God was in control and he didn't.

So now let me tell you the road that we have traveled since then. Okay first off I need to introduce 2 other families the Groomes and the Swinsons. The BJ and Rena Groome are the preacher and his wife who are very close friends of ours and Allen and Dena Swinson are close friends of there's and ours. I will start with Rick decided to go look at a school in Dallas which is where BJ is from Mesquite to be exact. It was supposed to be a very good and very cheap school. Now in Mesquite there is a church that would help support a student going to the school in Irving Texas, it was a ministry they had. So we decided to go and look at the school and try out for the position at Meadowview Church in Mesquite. There were 3 other guys who wanted the position as well so we really were not expecting to get it. Well later Rick was accepted into the school and then after a long wait was chosen to intern at the church there! We were in shock. During this time another church had mentioned that they needed a song leader and well we knew of one but he was not planning at the time to go into the ministry, but we told him about it and casually and jokingly Rick told Allen he should come to Dallas with him. Well, a few days later Allen came to Rick and said I think we just might! We couldn't believe it, could this be. Well He also was accepted into the school and the position at that other church who needed a song leader chose Allen. We were all rejoicing and praising God. It is amazing how perfectly everything was going. So, Rick and Allen told their bosses about what they were planning to do and they were both surprisingly calm about it and even happy for us. We put our house up for sale and were all planning what came next. When here came a shocking curve ball that none of expected. The school a 40 year old school was going to close! What! Now what are we going to do. We were a little worried but continued to trust our God and started looking for other schools to go to. Well after a lot of looking and advice Rick found a school in Austin Texas and Allen found one in Dallas. Now, listen cause here is where God is just so amazing! Now we didn't know exactly how we would live in Dallas and Rick would go to a school that was 3 hours away. Well, BJ and rena had months earlier tried out for a preaching position in Taylor Texas which just so happens to be about 40 minutes or so outside of Austin. They were not sure about this and if they would get it or not. Well, a little while after Rick decided to go to Austin and figured out his classes which would be on Mondays and Tuesdays, he would just need a place to stay on Mondays, BJ and Rena got their call from Taylor that they wanted them to come and become their preacher. Can you believe it! There was Ricks place to stay and me and the boys could come down to sometimes. And it just so happens that Eli and Soren which is the Groomes 3 year old boy, are best friends!

Okay, now we have a plan. Rick will go to Austin to school and we will live in Dallas. But, we were once again thrown another curve. We were asked by the church to calculate how much more it would cost Rick to go to Austin than if we had been able to stay at the school that closed. It came out to 11,850 dollars more than what we budgeted! O man, what were going to do now. Where would we come up with that. Well, the school that closed decided to give the student who had just enrolled in the school some money and just guess how much? 12,000 dollars! Almost exactly the amount we needed, Praise God! For He is awesome and wow does He take care of His children. Okay so that is pretty much where we are right now. We just found the perfect aprartments for us last week and they are right down the road from Allen and Dena our friends.

Now the only thing left is to sale our house. No, it has not sold yet, and we are expected to move by August 11. I am trying to not worry and lean on my own understanding, for I trust God and I know that He is faithful and that He is going to take care of us. So, that is what God has done in our live in the past year. He has brought us out of depression, grief, brokenness, hopelessness and a lack of direction and into His illuminating joy, love, fullness and Has showed us His direction for our lives! Thank you God, You are truly awesome and you give me more than I deserve.

*Glory be to God*
~Kelli~