Answered Prayers

With the falling prices of housing over the last few years, Tracy and I began to think and pray about potentially buying property. With the way prices have been over the past few years of our marriage, we came to the point of contentment with renting indefinitely. As the prices have fallen, we began to realize that we actually might be able to purchase something after all. We recognized that since God is the owner of all things, that He would have to give us a home and that we would not be able to afford one without his help. Tracy said it best when talking to someone that if God doesn't provide us a house and if it isn't His will, that we don't want it as it would only bring trouble. We thought through our list of needs in a house and began to pray specifically for them. We talked to a realtor and friend of the Herman family who helped us think through our options. We continued to pray specifically and began looking at neighborhoods and properties on our own. The time came for us to go look at places. We selected six and began looking. Only one of those properties met all of the needs we had been praying for. It had the lowest home owners association fees and had the least damage internally. We prayed about it and talked to some more people before making an offer this last Tuesday. Our realtor called the sellers on Friday to get a status check on our offer. We had placed the first offer, but four others had followed. The property is bank owned, and the selling realtor had been authorized to accept the highest offer. He looked and we had the highest offer - by a few hundred dollars. God came through and provided us a new home. It proved to us that God is the owner of all and that He gave us this property. One person told us that this was an example of being faithful with little and being given something greater (with more responsibility) in response to this. This process has been a great opportunity to trust and God and see Him answer prayers specifically. We hope that our experience can be an example of God's faithfulness and the power of prayer. We will keep you updated as the process moves along, and I will do my best to keep this blog updated more consistently. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon. Oh, and our place is the one in the middle by the lamppost.

2 down, 7 to go

Well many of you have pointed out that we need to update our blog. Yes, we very much do! I was trying to post at least once a month, but school got a bit crazy and I haven't been able to get it done. With my duties as an officer for my class, leading a community group, being on the sight and sound team at church, staying on top of my studies and going to class, I got a bit pushed to my limit. I developed shingles due to my stress among a few other physical symptoms of stress. I buckled down and did my best to do everything with excellence and tried to persevere under the pressure, knowing that perseverance will build character. The temptation under duress is to bail on responsibility or cut corners. I have been encouraged in the past to endure under these times of pressure and to rely on God for strength. He uses these hard times to develop and strengthen us for even harder times to come. With some encouragement from others and a lot of hard work, I made it through. My shingles cleared up and I got good grades on my exams and for my final grades. I am now working full time for 3 weeks at Salinas Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Yorba Linda. I am learning a great deal and thoroughly enjoying my experience. Working with and helping patients has reminded me why I wanted to be a physical therapist. This experience is truly re-energizing me and I look forward to going back to school to learn more so I can become a competent therapist.

New Year, New Changes

I'm sitting here trying to stay focused on the pile of books nearby, thinking to myself that I'll never get it. There's so much to learn and so little time. My vacation flew by so fast and I'm already flying through this trimester. At the end of this one, I will begin my first clinical. It will only be 3 weeks long (a teaser) but will give us a chance to give the things we have learned some context.

God was gracious enough to provide Tracy with a new job that she will begin this coming Wednesday. She is working hard to tie up the loose ends in her current role before moving forward in the next phase. She's excited about the change and is ready to start.

Texas gave us a good opportunity to step out of our routine and enjoy friends and family. We even got to see the rapidly growing Gabriel Catalano, who turned 1 right after we left. It's a different world in Texas. It's hard to pinpoint exactly way, but it was refreshing. Maybe it was the lack of traffic. Maybe it was all the nice people with their southern hospitality. Maybe it was being around people we love but rarely see. I don't know why, but it was nice.

God has been good to us and is teaching us how to rely on him each day. We're faced with many decisions and many opportunities to trust in him. Life is good right now. I'd better quit procrastinating from studying. First round of midterms hit Friday. Take care all!

Refreshment at last

Finals are finally over and Christmas is almost here! Man, this year has flown by. Finals lasted a couple of weeks sporadically with the final week consisting of the final 6 tests. I did well, overall (thank the Lord) and could not be happier to be done. The picture I attached was edited by my sister for one of my presentations on a patient who had suffered a CVA (stroke). The picture is depicting the proper positioning in bed with the involved (affected) side up. We leave in a few days for Texas to visit family and friends. We are very excited to get out of our routine for a few days and to get some time to have fun and relax. I get about three weeks off from school before having to go back. Most of my breaks will only be about a week long, but they extend it during Christmas for us. It'll be great to not have to spend quite so much time studying. Our community group also got to get together last week and enjoy looking at Christmas lights and getting to spend some time together. We have a great group of people in our group and are really enjoying getting to know them better. It's a weekly lesson for me in leading, as well. For you who I won't get to see over the next few weeks, I wish you a Merry Christmas and pray you have a wonderful time with your friends and family. May you too find refreshment during this season.

Red Cups already??

It’s November 8th with only two weeks till Thanksgiving – and yet all around me I’m already seeing (and sometimes hearing) Christmas. Where has 2007 gone? I saw my first Red Cup from Starbucks today and couldn’t help but smile, knowing that for the first time in over five years that I will not have to endure the retail torture of the holidays. With 2007 nearly gone, I can’t help but get slightly sentimental and retrospective about life. Today is Tracy’s 25th birthday and marks the five years to the day that we have been officially a couple. It’s startling to see how much change has happened in five years and how faithful God has been throughout the years. Tonight was also the first night of our Community Group meeting. Community groups within Church in the Valley (CIV) are small groups that meet weekly. The purpose of these groups is to encourage one another to love God and to love others. One of the ways that we do that is by meeting together weekly to talk about what is going on in our lives and how the Bible helps us to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him. Beyond group stating, Tracy and I are plugging away at life. I just went through some grueling midterms (welcome to grad school!) and Tracy is adjusting to new responsibilities at work. We are definitely looking forward to the holidays – a time we can spend with our families and take a quick break. In the meantime, I plan to enjoy the brisk weather and hopefully sneak over to Starbucks for a cup of coffee in my first Red Cup of the season.

Watching Him Come Through

It's been interesting lately. Time is flying, the weather is cooling, and life is moving along at a rapid pace. Tracy and I have been going through some interesting transitions lately as I entered school full time and have quit working. Living in Southern California on one income after living on two can take some careful planning and some adjustment to your regular budgeting habits. We have seen God provide for us time and time again over the past few years and He has again proven Himself faithful.

Not long after Tracy and I went down to one income, I was offered a part time position at school being an official note taker for my program, getting paid for every hour I spend in lecture just to take notes. Knowing what books, tuition, equipment, etc was going to cost, I've been praying for financial provision for some time. This was an amazing answer to prayer that I was very happy to accept.

In Tracy's last blog, she let you know about the stability of her income at work. She mentioned that this has given her a chance to again trust God. Well, a week and one day after she posted that blog, I was approached by one of my former employers who is currently one of my instructors. She offered me a part time position in her facility where I worked 4 years ago working a few hours a week on Saturdays. This will not only provide us with some money but give me a chance for a few hours a week to apply what I am learning in school. Being a kinesthetic learner, this is doubly beneficial for us! God is good and has once again proven that He will take care of us.

Trusting God

Most of our friends and family know that Jace stopped working back in August of this year. God has helped us to save enough money to supplement my income while he's in school. Recent circumstances have threatened the stability of my income. Normally, my first reaction would be to panic or to be upset with the people who are making the decisions that effect my pay. However, God has been teaching me over the past few years that He is involved in my life and He wants me to trust Him with every circumstance. It's tough when you can't see the whole picture and you don't know what the outcome will be. But God has proven faithful to us over the past couple of years as we prepared for this time and we have every reason to believe that He will continue to do so. Please pray that God will work in this circumstance to provide what we need and for us, that we will continue to trust Him and make a wise decision of what to do.

"And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:19