A New Friend
So when we moved here, we took a really huge paycut. We knew this was part of God's will for us and we were ok with it, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't something that I was concerned about. The thing that weighed most heavily on my heart was the grocery budget. We had been spending A LOT on groceries. We ate a mostly Paleo type diet that involves organic produce and is also dairy and gluten free. This way of eating is not cheap, but it did wonders for my family. With the smaller income, I knew I needed to find a way to reduce the grocery budget, but I wasn't sure how to do that. I expected food to be cheaper out here, but that has not turned out to be the case. And we are in a very small minority here as far as our eating choices go, so the kinds of things I like to buy are often even more expensive because hardly anyone buys them here. *Sigh* I knew that ideally, I needed to cut our grocery spending in half, but I wasn't sure how to do that and still feed my family in the way we needed to eat. I tried to do it and it just wasn't working. I was really frustrated and I cried out to the Lord through tears for help many times. If you recall, our house sold for more than we expected it too, so we have that money saved up. But it was to supplement our income when we needed it. I wanted to leave it there for emergencies, medical bills (if any arose), and vacations. I certainly did not want to literally eat it up every month, but it is what was happening. I have been a part of a forum for Christian moms of many for ten years now. It's been a really great place and I have gotten practical advice for raising many young ones at time and I have also gotten great advice for my spiritual life. I decided to take my plight to the mamas there as I knew there were several allergy mamas who had more children than I did and fed them on similar budgets or even less. One lady in particular really reached out to me. She spent hours writing me detailed messages telling me exactly how she makes it work (they are dairy and gluten free too). She taught me so much and she really encouraged me. She even sent me a special flour she uses to make bread with so that I could try it out and see if my kids reacted to it. I started immediately following her advice and I am happy to say that I have cut the grocery bill in half. I have had to let some things go, but I am not compromising on nutrition, dairy, gluten, or preservatives. I have to do a lot more in the kitchen now, but it is worth it. I don't know what I would have done without this lady. She was literally sent to me by God in answer to prayer and I am forever thankful for her. So it was a great honor to be able to meet her on my visit to FL. She lives about an hour from my parents. We met up at a park one day and she brought several of her children as well as lunch for us all. The kids got along fabulously and had a really great time together. I enjoyed getting to know her more. I hope we can see them every time we go down there and that John will be able to meet her in the future.
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| The only girls in the group! |
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| My friend and Hannah prepare the salad |
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| They played hard! Look at all those sweaty boys. :) |
An Old Friend
When we left my parents, my dad blessed me by driving to Pensacola with me (he then flew home). I was planning to drive from there back to my in laws' house in MS. John's sister, Ruth, was flying in to meet up with me and she was going to help me drive from MS all the way back to Iowa. It was so nice knowing that I would only be driving three hours by myself on the way back.
A few days before I left my parents' house, I got an email from an old friend. She heard about my trip on my blog and was wondering if we could meet up. It turns out she lives in Pensacola and we were going to be driving right through there. I had an extra night in between leaving my parents' house and arriving at my mother in law's house, so I decided to spend it in Pensacola and meet up with her. This friend and I used to travel together on a missionary singing team. She was the sign language interpreter for our team. But our connection started before I ever joined the team. You see, the team had come to my church one night for a concert and I had attended. At that time, I was in a state of rebellion towards God and not really living at all the way he wanted me to. He wanted me to give him total control of my life and I hadn't wanted to do that. I had only wanted to give up the parts that were easy to give. A relationship with God just doesn't work that way, and as a result I was an unhappy girl. I seemed fine on the outside, but there was an emptiness in my soul. Since I wasn't getting that emptiness filled at church, I decided to start looking to the world to fill it. I got involved in some things I shouldn't have. I would have fun while doing those things, but the fun didn't last. All the while, I was still going to church and playing the part of a good little Christian girl. I would be in the club Saturday night drinking and messing around with guys and then on the stage at church the next morning helping to lead worship. I was such a hypocrite! I asked the Lord why I wasn't happy and he told me that it was because I was running from him. (There is no lasting joy without Him.) So back to the concert....During the concert, the Lord began speaking to my heart. After a few songs, a woman came forward to share her testimony. This person told my life story; we were a lot alike. But then she told how she found what she was looking for in Jesus and that she had given herself completely to Him. I started feeling convicted. When prayer time came, I knew that I needed to make things right with the Lord, but I couldn’t raise my hand. I thought that if I raised my hand, all these people would find out that I was not the person that they thought I was, so I wasn’t going to do it. Then the team members came out and they were walking around looking for people to pray with. A woman started walking towards me, and when she was right in front of me I grabbed her hand. I told the Lord that I didn’t want to run from Him anymore and I gave Him complete control of my life. I am so glad I did! After that, the Holy Spirit just filled me with so much joy, true joy, and I felt the heaviness that I had been living under lifted off of me. I wound up joining that singing group and traveling with them for almost two years. The group is called the Celebrant Singers and there are several teams that travel and minister in different parts of the country and the world. I wound up being placed on the same team with the lady who had prayed with me that night and we became friends. If you haven't guess it yet, this is the same friend who was now living in Pensacola. So she is forever connected to me in a very special way.
We were able to meet her and her family at a park. She brought dinner and we ate and then the kids played. I know her husband too, so it was good to see him as well. He joined our team the summer after I did and I got to watch their love story unfold and I was there when they got married. I had not seen her since they married (more than ten years ago) and had not met her kids yet, nor had she met mine. It was fun to introduce them to each other. (She also homeschools.) Her husband is in the Navy and they were able to get me a suite at the Navy Lodge on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. When the park closed, her hubby had to go home and study for a class he's taking, but she and I headed back to my hotel room and visited some more while the kids played. We had a good time visiting and sharing and the kids got along great. I know it was a God thing that we were brought back together so out of the blue and I was so glad that we were able to spend some time together. Lots of memories! Unfortunately, we did not think to take any photos, so I don't have one to share.
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