Soon

God’s different plans were for Ryan to be out of work from November 1st to March 1st. And during that time, God provided in more ways than I can list on this blog. We were never hungry, never without heat or electricity, not without a wonderful Christmas, never without wonderful friends and family, never without gas for the cars; basically, we were never without...anything!

And my God will meet all your NEEDS according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Not want you WANT but what you NEED!!!

God began a work in Ryan and I that would forever change our hearts. We began having quiet times. We began to pray like never before. I began memorizing scripture. We made a promise to each other and to God that we would not fear during this trial. We would press in and lean against God and let him teach us what we needed to learn. Pastor Tom had asked the staff to read a book on prayer and had challenged us to dig into God’s word. So we did. We decided that we would tithe on any penny that was provided to us. We decided that we were going to trust in and believe the words of the Bible.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure that you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 7:38

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Malachi 3:10

Every time we obeyed God and gave our tithe, God replaced that money almost instantly. One morning, when our checkbook was extremely low, I laid on the floor and begged for provision. When I got to work that morning, AG handed me a handful of cash that was “anonymously” given to Ryan and I…in the exact amount I needed. I can not tell you the amount of times things like this happened. God’s word is perfect and true…and He loves to show that to the children that love and honor Him. I had never experienced anything like this before…honestly, it was too cool!!!

While we were crying out to God for him to provide the perfect job, Ryan searched the internet…Ryan made calls…Ryan sent resumes…Ryan networked with co-workers from the past…Ryan did everything he could to find a job. While searching the internet one evening, he found a listing for a civil engineer position in Bells, TN (20 minutes northwest of Jackson). He sent his resume. They called. He had a phone interview. After the phone call, Ryan told me that the job sounded really interesting and he hoped they would call back for an onsite interview. But we did not put much stock into it. It might happen, but he did not want to get his hopes up. He continued to search and pray…and he continued to come up with nothing. And then a week or so after the phone interview, they called back. They wanted him to come to Jackson for the day. Ryan went and interviewed. Ryan prepped and prepped and felt good about the day. He thought the position was a great opportunity. It seemed like maybe a job offer would happen. And then we got an email. The dreaded “things are on hold at the moment” email.

Really, God, really??? We are praying, seeking Your word and Your will and really, “things are on hold”. So what did we do? Did we throw in the towel and stop doing our quiet times, praying and seeking God’s will? No…we pressed in even harder. We refused to worry. We refused to let Satan steal our joy. Does that mean things were easy? No. Does that mean that we didn’t continue to get on our knees and cry out to God? No. We decided that we would live by these verses:

Be joyful always; pray continually; give THANKS in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

My soul clings to You, Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You. Isaiah 26:3

In late January, during TSC’s week of prayer which was named the Genesis project, God decided to let us hear him by sending me a dream. Now, I honestly believe God sent me the dreams, because I remember dreams. I can even wake up angry or upset over dreams. Sweet Ryan does not remember his dreams. Here is the email that I sent out on the morning of 1/28/10…

I just wanted to share a little something with all of you this morning. Actually it is a big something and I really want to stand on a mountaintop and shout.

Ryan came home from Bible study last night and told me that while he and the guys were praying, God told him that our “trial” would be over soon. Soon, that was the word he used. I said, okay, so “soon”, it will be over “soon” what does that mean? He just hugged me and said I don’t know for sure but in my heart, God is telling me it will be over soon. God also gave Ryan this verse…Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” We have talked about that theory so many times, that yes this is a trial, and it is hard, but we are learning so much and leaning in and pressing towards God, and that how even though the process has been painful, it has also been an incredible and precious learning and growing process.

I am an early to bed kind of girl, usually 9pm-ish, but last night, I could not sleep. I tossed and turned and finally at around 11pm, I drifted off. I had the first of two very interesting dreams. I woke up around 3am-ish, checked the clock, and went back to sleep, which is when the second dream happened. Without boring you with the details of both dreams, they were extremely different but both had the same outcome of “Everything is okay. You’re fine. Don’t worry.”

When the regular 6am alarm went off this morning, I was lying in bed thinking…man, those dreams were so different, but so the same. That’s kind of weird. And my mind kept thinking about Joseph and the Pharaoh and dreams. I went ahead and pulled out the Journey book, my diet coke and my Bible. I read the page of the Journey devotional but really I wasn’t getting anywhere with it. So, I decided (well actually I had nothing to do with it, it was all the Holy Spirit) to go to Genesis 41 and read about Joseph and Pharaoh. Okay, so there’s a dream about fat and skinny cows, shafts of wheat, you all know the story…and then I read this verse…Genesis 41:32 “Now the reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.”

Hold up…did that just say two dreams, different forms, and God will do it soon!!! Talk about some confirmation!!! So, I called Ryan into the room, told him about the dreams, the chapter and read him the verse. His response was classic Ryan, “Well, that’s just awesome!”

How crazy is it that we are in the “Genesis Project” week? And our confirmation came from a verse in Genesis. WOW!!!! We don’t know what God is doing, but we both feel like he’s going to do it soon!!! So keep praying…We love you all!

Our answer was coming…and it did come soon…