Tenants

It's amazing how much God has done for my relatives, particularly my mother's brother's family.

It was awesome to Facetime with them again this morning and I found out a big prayer of theirs (and ours) had been answered.  It's kind of a popular (may not be the right word) thing in China now to own 2 apartments.  One to live in and one completely furnished to rent out (logically, that doesn't work, but anyways).  My uncle bought such a second apartment about 6-7 months ago and we'd been praying for a tenant to quickly rent it.  Month after month, no one did; not many people even came to see it.

I will admit, even when I was often reminded to pray for them, I didn't, not even a short 30-second prayer, let alone pray for them everyday.  I'd only remember when we called them or when we had family prayer time.

But God is faithful, even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13) and last week, my uncle finally rented it out to a tenant!! HALLELUJAH!!  Now that's off our shoulders and my relatives once again see how God provides.

I like reminders that when we ask, we receive.  God is good.

~CJ

Everyday Provision

I haven't posted on here in a while, and part of the reason is I haven't had any "BIG" prayer requests answered lately. I haven't felt like anything God has done is worth sharing. Wrong! :-) God has been doing so much for me lately! I got plenty of sleep last night in a comfortable bed. I have eaten two filling nutritious meals today, with the virtual guarantee of a third one. I am dry amid the pouring rain we have been having thanks to our cozy house. I have a wonderful family that I get to spend my time with. God is continuing to prepare the way for my internship in the fall and for a possible summer job. Even in the "little" things, He has faithfully provided!

Thanking God for His faithfulness,

~Mac

Milk

This morning, we got to do Facetime with an aunt, uncle, cousin, her husband, and her baby boy!  SO SO cool to see family that you haven't talked with for almost 6 years.  And to meet your cousin's husband... and their MOST ADORABLE BABY that looks just like your younger sister when she was a baby.  Really wish we thought to use video-chat earlier, since we knew we both had iPads. *rolls eyes at self*

Anywho... on to how God answered prayer.  Like I said, my cousin had a baby about 6 months ago.  Everything was splendid until her mammary glands got infected and TZJ (his initials) could not feed on his mother's milk.  Just so you know, a couple years ago, a scandal was surfaced where baby formula was found to have been poisoned by manufacturers to add mass and increase "protein" levels.  Several baby's deaths were traced back to this formula and my cousin was really hesitant to feed her baby that.
So, my Mom and I searched the grocery stores for good, organic baby formula, and shipped about 10 boxes ($100 in shipping costs) hurriedly to Beijing.
And of course, we prayed all the while, that my cousin would be healed and that TZJ would eat the new milk (some babies can be picky at an early age).
Not sure of the specific time periods, but this morning, after talking with my cousin, we found out that after TZJ finished about 2 boxes, my cousin was healed and she could breastfeed again.  And NOT only that, she has SO much milk, they have 2 freezerfuls and are giving some extras to neighbors!  Is God not good and gracious?  He did MORE than we asked for!  Hallelujah!

I feel really really happy!

So - anything in anyone else's life that shows God does more than we expect and it's amazing and great?

~CJ

School and Future

As CJ said, we've been terribly lax about updating this blog! I haven't really had any single big prayers answered in the last several months, but I have had quite a few smaller ones answered:

1. I still have yet to fail a class or test! I got 2 As on my 2 classes that I have finished since September and I passed the Marketing Communications TECEP. So far everything has transferred smoothly, so that's a real load off my mind :-)

2. All of my classes lined up so that I can finish my schoolwork in April!

3. God has been making things clear about what I should do for at least a year after I graduate, and has been opening the doors for that to happen!

Yes, He is good :-)

~Mac

Repost...

Not a thing on here since the end of September LAST year... this place needs a little livening up.

Anybody wanna join?  Lemme know and I'll send invites.

I have an answered prayer, but I'll link to it, because it's long and it has some rabbit trails on dessert. Link -->{It's like an awesome CLEP score...}

~CJ

A New Van! (x2)

For the last few months we had been searching for a replacement for our 2001 Chevy Express 15-passenger van. Since we calculated that we will need a 15-passenger for several more years, we needed to upgrade sooner rather than later. Well, a few weeks ago, we found the perfect new van! It's a 2010 Express with a bigger engine, FlexFuel, better mirrors, and other exciting additions. We got several thousand dollars for our old van as a trade in. It's perfect for our family!

Then, yesterday, the dealer contacted us to get some paperwork straightened out, and mentioned that our old van had been sold - to a family with 12 children who have been looking everywhere for a good 15-passenger van! The father drove almost 6 hours to get it, and was very happy with it.

2 answers to prayer for 2 families! How cool is that? :-)

losing things...

So the title doesn't really make sense, but I was never a good title-maker...

I don't lose things that frequently... ok, maybe that's a little too relative, but I don't lose things as often as the other females in my family :P .

However, if I do lose something... here comes "terrific" (as in terrifying) frenzy.

I look EVERYWHERE for that one object... notebook, nail clipper, guitar pick, special eraser, ... occasionally my cellphone or permit, etc., whatever.  It's awful.  I look in every place possible... even the places impossible.  At least, that's what it feels like.  And it often happens when I most need it (of course, that's because you only find out when you need it).

And I've noticed, my problem with losing the object wasn't as big a deal as getting upset about HOW it got lost.  I would always try to figure out who was the culprit of misplacing my necessity, why did they misplace it, and of course, where did they misplace it.  Sometimes, I made the mistake and sometimes others and sometimes no reason could be found for its disappearance or misplacement.  Regardless, I got upset.

Honestly and shamefully, I confess I showed my frustration in an un-Christ-like manner.  In fact, it has happened soo many times, I got fed up with myself.  It's obnoxious to both me and those around me. I wondered how in the world I was going to stop sinning in this area.  Kind of hard when I can't force myself not to lose things.

*ding ding* Why not just ask God to help me find my things?  He never said we couldn't do that!  It would save both me, the innocent bystanders, AND God, the aggravating grief.  

And what do you know?  When I started asking God to help me, HE ANSWERED.  That's not to say, I sat back and waited for my lost things to come floating into my hands, "Ooo, thanks God, that was easy."  No, I still did my part, but calmly asked Him before I started searching, "God, please Please PLEASE, help me find ----. I need it pretty soon but I have no idea where it is.  I'm sorry if I misplaced it and I'm sorry I wasn't more careful, but please help me!"  And I knew I would find it.

Sometimes, within 5 minutes I will find that "thing".  It's amazing, I didn't even have to ask every single person in the house if they had seen it.  Nope, God knew where it was and helped me find it. It saves time and effort.  Other times, I realize in a couple minutes, "Ok, this isn't working, but I don't have to worry.  I'll find it later."  And on my next attempt, I will find it in <30 seconds, or even maybe "chance" upon finding it.  It's so amazing, it's weird.

It's mind-blowing to think, "Wow - God just stooped down to help me find my guitar pick... the little plastic chip no bigger than a memory card... why in the world did You do that, God?"  Why? Because He is faithful to His promises.  He will never back down on His Word:

Mark 11:24 (ESV)
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Soli Deo Gloria,
~CJ