Hunting Season is Here...

Hunting season for big game officially began on Sunday October 26! Mike left this morning for "hunt camp" and will be back on Friday evening, hopefully with a fresh kill.

If you had told me five years ago when we moved from Washingto to Texas that he would go hunting in Montana, I would have laughed at you. Isn't God great how He changes us!

We are fortunate to live where we can afford for me to stay at home with the girls. Each day is a gift that I need to start appreciating more. I am blessed with the opportunity to homeschool and need to be more thankful for that. Mike is blessed to get paid for what he loves doing-Preaching the Word!

When I look back at all the changes our family has gone through in the last five years, it amazes me. When Olivia was born in January 2003, we lived in Lynnwood in a tiny two bedroom apartment. Mike lost his job when Olivia was 3 weeks old. I went back to work when she was 6 weeks old. Life was a series of who was going to be where when, coordinating Liv's care when Mike was working (school bus driver) and running here and there. We were not happy. We were surviving, not living.

When Olivia was 9 months old, Mike began his first full-time paid ministry-in Big Spring, Texas. What a move! I went from being in a career where I was praised and recognized for my accomplishments to staying at home with Olivia. I went through a period of depression that was never diagnosed or treated. Texas was a place of tremendous growth and hard lessons learned. We were betrayed by people, a church and hurt very deeply. We were slandered, gossiped about and lied to. God stayed faithful. We always had enough food (enough for me to become overweight!), all our medical bills were taken care of, and we always had a handful of good friends. Friends like Tera, who was a great ear and shoulder to cry on. We are still good friends today. We also had each other. Mike resigned in May 2005. Emma came into our lives in July 2005. When she was 2 weeks old, we moved to Clovis, New Mexico for Mike's second full-time ministry position.

Clovis was not the place for us. Another season of growth and pain. Mike was "voted out" of the church in April of 2006 because he wouldn't play politics. Emma was 9 months old and Olivia was 3 years old.

We could have stayed in the south, but we were really wanting to get back to the north and my parents had a house sitting empty in Newport, Oregon so....we moved to Oregon, with no money, no job, just our faith in God...and He is Faithful!

Again, we were well fed, had a roof over our heads, were all healthy and were living on the Oregon coast, one of the most beautiful places I can think of. God provided me with a job and Mike the chance to stay home for 6 months with our two wonderful daughters. We were blessed to be part of South Beach Christian Fellowship. What a ministry there! Those people are in love with God and want to share it! Such big hearts and giving people. I met Ruthie at church and she happened to be my neighbor too, and she was my friend through a very rough patch in my life. We got the chance to visit their family when we were on vacation this year!

During this time, we were talking with two different churches, one in Brookings, Oregon a small coastal town and the other in Pablo, Montana. We had the chance to apply lessons learned in the south and when both churches offered Mike a position, we felt God was leading us to Montana for several reasons I won't go into here.

Ahhh...Montana! We've been here two years, Emma is 3 and Olivia is almost 6. We added Thor (our Yorkie pup) to our family last Christmas. This church is a good fit. We are at home here. Serving God is a joy again! We have a home with a beautiful view of the mountains, a great yard for the girls to play in, a vegetable garden, pretty flowers, a gorgeous maple....and Mike is hunting. I homeschool (which means I get to do fun science projects and lots of arts and crafts along with the 3 r's) We have GREAT friends here. Teresa, the preschool teacher, Mike's crazy mercenary friends, the folks at Pinehaven, Kelly, Alisa, Mandy, too many more to name. I have also lost 40 pounds with the help of Weight Watchers. I am in smaller jeans than I wore in high school, and healthier than ever! Five years ago, I would have cried tears of disbelief if you had told me all I would go through to transition from surviving to LIVING! Isn't there a Bible verse about Christ living in me? GOD IS GOOD!

It is said that a persons true character is displayed through times of trial, I pray that I came through mine with grace and can help others in their journeys. I would go through it all again if I had to to be the person I am today and to be where I am today. I AM LIVING!