A Recap of God at Work!

Last night Elizabeth treated the two of us to dinner at Taco Bell and then to another showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to cap off our Girls' Night Out. It was the perfect way to finish off a day of blessings.

Most of you know about our financial situation. The state of the economy has greatly impacted Keith's custom-home drafting business of 25 years. Over the past few years it's been shrinking and shrinking until it basically came to a screeching halt last September. My medical debts made our situation even more formidable. Keith's dad has been helping us most generously, and my parents have been employing Keith to make improvements to their mountain cabin and install an elevator in their beach house. Friends have been asking him to do various jobs around their homes -- handyman work stuff: retiling bathrooms, redoing windows and doors, fixing furniture, painting interiors and some exterior trim, etc. But it's been very tight financially and especially so this summer when the food stores got low and we got behind on bills.

Trying to plan for homeschooling our four kids has been difficult with NO money for books. We've been part of the same home school private satellite program since 1997, Heritage Christian School, a group of hundreds of families with Class Day co-ops meeting in at least five locations in San Diego County. Being enrolled in Heritage also requires being enrolled in the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) which we have also belonged to for twelve years. All summer the $150 re-enrollment fee for Heritage and $95 re-enrollment fee for HSLDA have been hanging over our heads. When I received the latest e-bill from Heritage, I wrote back, relating our situation and assuring them that we would pay when we could (and hoping their would let my kids start co-op classes anyway). The accountant e-mailed me, advising me to check with HSLDA and ask if they would consider waiving the re-enrollment cost. I e-mailed them on Wednesday afternoon.

Around 11:30 on Thursday morning I received a phone call from a represenative from HSLDA (fewer than 24 hours after my e-mail), informing me that "an anonymous donor" had offered to pay our $95 annual fee for this year. I was in tears of joy and relief, and the sweet woman from HSLDA was, too. I could barely tell the kids the good news because of the huge lump in my throat. A huge burden had been lifted!

Within an hour I received a second call, this one from Heritage, telling me that "a family who wishes to remain anonymous" paid our $150 re-enrollment fee. We will still have monthly tuition to pay, but that re-enrollment fee had been hanging over my head since June. Again tears of joyous relief flowed!

Earlier this week I received a Sonlight box sent by a e-friend/blog reader/writer extraordinaire containing two books we really needed: a Saxon Algebra I test booklet for Timothy and the one book for Elizabeth's Sonlight British Lit program that I didn't own and wasn't available from our library system. This sweet woman prayed when I asked her to, and God told her to send books! We are so grateful!!!

The same day a longtime friend from Heritage (her daughter and Elizabeth started off in Kindergarten together and are both high school seniors this year) sent us a check for our needs. It was sooo wonderful to receive help from the family of God like this. And just a couple of weeks ago when our food pantry was quite low, someone in our church slipped an envelope with $50 in it onto my seat during our greeting time. Another friend is sharing her lit curriculum with us so our boys can have literary discussions together. And yet another friend is sending Timothy a few pairs of pants.

We still don't have all the books we need for school this year, but we have enough to get started. If anyone happens to have the Sonlight 530 (Brit Lit) program that I can borrow until we can purchase one, please let us know.

Also on Thursday, Keith's sister let our two older boys go through her son's closet (he's in the military and doesn't want the clothes anymore), and they came home with a backpack and four bags of clothing, including four pairs of jeans that fit Timothy, our tall boy! I'm so thrilled. And Elizabeth and I went shopping for our Girls' Night Out and she bought a few things for herself since she received her paychecks earlier in the day from her job at the Bible Camp. She's so sweet to treat the two of us to dinner at Taco Bell, candy for the movie at Target, and then a second viewing of one of my favorite Harry Potter movies.

We have been showered with blessings lately! God is sooooo good, and His people are incredible! Thanks be to God for His generous people!!! We love to give, and have done so in past years, and now it's our turn to receive. I'd much rather be on the giving end, but seeing God work out our problems through His people is truly awe-inspiring! Thank you so much -- you know who you are!