Saturday, July 24, 2004

All sorts

I had to go to Anchorage yesterday to pay for our new insurance policy. Very happy to have that over and done with. When I walked into the office I realized my agent was really familiar. When I said, "I know you!" she said "I know you too!" But neither of us could figure out where we knew each other from. It took me a while before I remembered the daycare's I worked for and thought maybe that was it. Sure enough! I watched her daughter Julie when I was working at Little Red Schoolhouse. Last time I saw Julie she was 1 and a half, she was one of the sweetest kids, not to mention very easy going. Her mother showed me pictures of her and it made my day. Julie is 6 now and will be going into 1st grade this coming year. She was a very cute toddler but she is a beautiful little girl now. I only wish Julie had been there, I would have just ate her up!

After I went to dads house and did some laundry. Since dad got a new Mini Cooper its even easier to get him out of the house then it was already. We went out and had lunch together and after a worry-some few days I found out my dad is not having strokes. But unfortunately they still can't say what is happening. He is almost to the point of not caring what's wrong because he's put out so much money on several very expensive tests. I hate that, I just want to know what's wrong. But we had a great talk which made lunch the best. After lunch we went back to the house, I switched out my laundry and we took my brother to the zoo! Getting hang time with my brother and dad was best, we all haven't spent time together like that since my brother and I were in school. Tuli the camel came right over to the fence when we got to her spot, she stretched her neck through the fence and dad and I got to pet her nose. The polar bear was up and playing in the pool with his new toys, we could have watched that bear all day. Then right across from the polar bear they had 2 orphaned cubs. That was the funniest thing to watch, they took turns charging and tackling each other and testing their water pool out. My dog is twice the size of them with the exception of their little pot bellies. Makes ya just want to go snuggle with them. I took lots of pictures to remember it.

After the zoo we stopped in and saw the new water-park in town. We didn't have swim suits but just wanted to see what it was like in there. Right off the three of us were ready to go get our suits and come right back.... Till we found out its $20 a head. $60 for the three of us to hang wasn't justifiable in these broke times so we went home. I know parents who've had birthday parties for their kids at that place and yesterday I wondered what kind of loan they had to take out to do something like that! The time me and the boyz got to spend together was so nice though. I love doing family hang outs like that. Sitting at home with them just isn't the same. Its important to mix fun with family so we can all appreciate each other and want hang out again.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Unexpected Gift from God

Since we are insurance again shopping we're gonna have to pay a hefty down payment to start with a new insurance company. Read my last post to find out why we suddenly have to change companies due to our current companies huge mistake, lol. So with the washer breaking down and me needing to get some new office clothes that fit, ug. All that added to visitors and all the events of this summer, money is tight. In order to afford the down payment for the insurance switch Marty got a $500 advance on his paycheck yesterday. Really though, this is not such an ideal plan, it will cut into his next check and we can't afford to be short $500. We just don't have room to budge right now.

We were both really worried, we haven't been this tight in years. Marty said something along the lines of "I'm not sure how we're gonna make things work" referring to the bills and a shortage of $500 in the coming paycheck. He was really worried. As the stress overwhelmingly welled up in my chest a flash of thought struck me, I said "Well, there is nothing we could possibly do about getting extra money now, I don't think we can do anything but pray." I told him if God had in mind for us to go through some hard times, we'll just have to trust him. We prayed over it and both decided to not worry another moment about it, it was in Gods hands and he'd always be there to take care of us. When we got off the phone Marty went on to start his work on the night shift and I had taken all my worry, trust, and faith and laid it in Gods hands. I think it was somewhere around 11:30 and Midnight.

This morning I received an email from Marty...
"So it took a while to figure out how to come up with $500. You wouldn’t believe what happened to me when I got to work. The company has a drawing once a quarter and every one in the company that hasn’t had any vehicle accidents or any first aid’s is eligible. My name was drawn and I won $500!! It was just a shock because I didn’t even know anything about this drawing before today"
So now there is something to cover the advance. What an unexpected gift! I don’t believe in coincidences and I really feel God's hand at our back, working it all out. God is AMAZING!

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Edited to Add:
12-23-10

I just read this post today and had to come back (over 7 years later) and add a bit that makes this story even more Amazing.

In my excitement I forgot to add that Marty later found out this was in fact the FIRST of many drawings the company had planned to start in an effort to fuel excitement for safety. As mentioned the plan was there was to be a new drawing each quarter. What I had no way of knowing all those years ago is that there would NEVER be another drawing again.

It's now over 7 years later and Marty still works in the same building doing the same work - well he's a supervisor now but he's overseeing the same job he was working all those 7 years ago. The company was taken over by a new company a few years after this post, and again a few years ago but there has never been another drawing held by any of the 3 companies

I always knew God had moved a mountain for us that day.

This is one of those moments I love to remember.