John John

I did something new today that I've had floating around my mind for quite some time. I was at Costco getting groceries and instead of going somewhere else to eat dinner before class I decided to just get a multi-person tray of pre-made turkey wraps (don't ask me why, I don't even like turkey) so that for not much more I would have a bunch of extras to give to the homeless guys on the street. So after class I found a parking lot and walked up to a corner feeling rather silly carrying a tray of food. I met John John, a 30/40ish man with a cardboard sign telling all the drivers to smile. Half backpedaling, (I don't know why, who cares if a stranger thinks I'm crazy) I said "Sir, this may sound very odd but I think God has told me to bring you supper tonight." I don't know if I thought he was going to laugh at me, say 'no, I just want money', or think I was trying to poison him, but I was quite shocked when he was grateful and took the food. He first said "I'm going to pray and eat this right now" but then stopped and said no he was going to wait for his friend (Michael "Savage" Savick) so they could both share it. He then asked me to pray for him. I don't have the humility to ask for that! I guess that's one of my weaknesses/sins. We talked for about 20 min...he couldn't quite tell me how he got to where he is now, but I know he came from the southwest. It seems most of the homeless come to Anchorage from somewhere else in Alaska. He had already stayed at the shelter for 30 days so now he wasn't allowed back for another 30 days so his goal for the night was to find a warm place to sleep off the concrete and out of the wind. He had a small plastic shopping bag with a thin blanket in... I wished I would have had another one to give him.

Maybe next time I'll get a pizza and find someone to share dinner with and actually listen over a meal.

God is Good, God is Holy...God is INVIGORATING!!!

It is amazing how much work you still have to do even when the construction business is slow and you don't have to go to work everyday (or much at all :-( I guess everyone thinks you have all sorts of free time now and can do every volunteer project they can possibly come up with. The good side is I get a little extra income from the fire department for that, the bad side is I didn't have a day off for a month. Between the fire department, church, school, side projects for friends, and a little work I was exhausted and didn't even realize how much I was doing...

So this last weekend I decided I was going to Kenai to at least get out of Girdwood. So I took a tape measure, chainsaw (for working on the property), my school books, and the fire dept. lesson plans I needed to write. Some vacation, eh? Well God was riding the navigation seat, and it was awesome! I got my new beater car registered at the DMV, got to see the Baldwins, met one of my new neighbors, and spent a lot of time wandering through the woods with a compass and tape measure marking property lines. And then I got to saw down a tree for the first time ever. If you have never gotten to hang out with God in the middle of nowhere with drizzling rain playing with a chain saw...you ARE MISSING OUT. Talk about invigorating! I cut down trees, trimming them into fire wood and brush piles for 4 hours. My shoulder didn't even hurt, my back was a tad sore from bushwacking out with armfuls of firewood, but no complaints. In the end I was disappointed it was getting dark and I couldn't play any longer. I grabbed a hot cup of soup and then took a hot shower at the Baldwins. It doesn't get any better than that. Go ahead, give it a try. I can't wait to have enough time to go dancing with the chain saw again. And I'll thank God that he kept me incident and injury free...a tall order when you've got an over-excited Alaskan girl in the middle of nowhere with a heavy-duty power tool she's never used before. And thanks Nate, for that quick overview of how to cut down a tree three years ago...

God will Provide again and again

Status update: God is great, he's taking care of everything, and I love being back at school.

So here's the background story....I bought a piece of land in Kenai, I started class at UAA, and there hasn't really been any work since I've got back from Ecuador. I've gotten little projects here and there and a few shifts at the fire station, but nothing like the income I had budgeted for because we had a bunch of projects lined up. Well the bank pulled financing on construction projects here pretty much across the board leaving me with only new student and property bills and no income. The insurance company was still jerking me around and not paying accident bills from way back in March even...

This previous week I was trying to go through expenses and realized I didn't have gas money to go to class anymore, I had just been putting it on the credit card (great eh?) and hoping some work would come up soon. I needed a car with better gas mileage than the truck but the initial investment there was just too much. Then my friend Jamey was leaving for Oregon, so I went out to Hope to see him where he was bartending. Another guy, Mike, there I talked to liked to trophy hunt, but only if he had something to do with the meat and was always looking for someone to give meat away too. There's the groceries.

He was also selling a descent little car for relatively affordable--just not for me. Then Jamey says..."Becki, you can just have my car". He had replaced it with a more reliable one a couple months back and wanted the old one out of his driveway. I still say it was the Holy Spirit he was listening too whether he knew it or not. So I bought a $40 battery and Jamey put it in and delivered a running car to my doorstep. Yeah, he says it has problems, but no more than my truck right now and I'll rely on God to help with that when they come up. I'm extremely grateful to be able to go to class for a few more weeks. One more little hint that God does want me to go back to med school.

I told the condensed car story at Girdwood Chapel Sunday when we where offering up joys and concerns...and Ida felt moved to help me out with a couple more tanks of gas.

Part of the insurance check finally came through...Adam drove me to class yesterday...

And finally, I had my first Anatomy and Physiology test which I had prayed about and done a lot of studying...I got a strong A...the class average sure needed a lot more help though.

I'm still praying for work, especially steady work...but I know it's going to work out just how God plans it. Don't be afraid to trust him. Phillipians 4:6 says "Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything. And the God who is your father will provide for all your needs" (might be slightly paraphased)