Belief or Dishonor?

                                       We took a trip to the Kenai beach last week

                                           Justin climbed the bluff & jumped down

                                                          Clay mud!





I found a quote written in the back of my Bible last week that said,
"A person who doubts God's goodness dishonors Him."
It was based on James 1:7&8. It struck me as so true! The world looks at worry and anxiety as legitimate side effects of taking care of yourself and planning ahead. But the Bible says that if we think we won't receive God's goodness, we are like a wave of the sea-which is powerless and never in itself amounts to much.Worry and anxiety, even if they are understandable, are a sign that we're not entirely leaning on God for everything we need.
So that has been our theme of late- believing that God is good. That doesn't mean that we will have it easy. But there is always an ultimate hope and joy that we can see beyond present circumstances!
God showed us His goodness last week by landing us an apartment! I truly believe He orchestrated it. When we had originally talked about getting this place, the landlord would not agree to anything less than a 6-month lease. It is a 3-bedroom apartment in an ideal location for a great price. Well, a couple of weeks later the landlord had suddenly changed his mind and agreed to let us rent for as little or as long as we needed! We are definitely praising God for that.
Justin is on his way to Soldotna at the moment to interview for a job. If hired he will be part of Redoubt Elementary's program for at-risk youth that helps them to stay out of trouble for the summer. He'll feel privileged to be hired because the program involves lots of outdoor activities all summer, which is a pretty fun job to have. While it will be a 40hr a week job, the pay is not quite enough to support a family of 4, so I've applied to about 10 different places around town for a part-time job.
We're not quite sure what this summer holds but we know God will be doing things in our lives and the lives of people whom we cross paths with.

Ways you can be praying right now:
-Praise that we found a place to rent
-That Justin gets this job or another that will help provide for our family
-That our support continues to move along
-That the summer at Victory goes well and that staff spots are completely filled; there are a few needs for people within camp, and orientation is beginning
-That we choose to believe God in everything!

...Searching...

                                                Norah plays with her puppy "cousin" Orpik

                                             We had pea-size hail...that's big for here!


 We are halfway through May and it feels like spring! The leaves have hesitantly begun to burst on the trees and the grass is greening. I saw a yellow jacket today!
Mother's Day was great fun and we celebrated with our church family, and then Justin took the family out for good Mexican food. We had our last youth group for the season yesterday evening. We still plan to do activities throughout the summer, but we finished up our Bible study and will no longer have regular meetings. We'll end the year with a youth camping trip this weekend at Discovery campground, which should be fun!
Right now we are very busy with rental-house hunting, and job hunting. Justin has been putting resumes in to different places and I have been making lots of phone calls and emails about rentals. It's very difficult to find a place that will allow us to have 2 outside dogs and that will also do a month-by-month lease, and that fits in our price range! (I know, we ask for a lot. :))
Meanwhile, we have been enjoying the spring sunshine and a chance to get outside. Yesterday was a stay-in day for the most part, though, since we got one of the biggest hailstorms I've ever seen here in AK! Of course, the girls decided they wanted to go out and play in it. They are definitely Alaskan born and bred!
Our support is moving along and we are now around 50% by our records! This is a huge praise! We got word that we will be able to share our ministry at Glennallen Community Chapel in July.
Some ways you can pray for us right now:


-That Justin will get a job 
-That we will find a place to rent
-That our support continues to grow (and praise Him that it already has!)
-That Evie will be able to take these changes positively...she seems to be very prone to anxiety and is upset easily lately.

As always, thank you so much for your prayers! We love and appreciate you all!