Given

We've been given so much!!!

***ETA: I'm going to add to this list instead of starting a new post each time. Scroll to the bottom for the new additions. Look for the ********** to start today's additions.

Originally Posted 1/7/10

A pizza (one day a friend who's son works for a local pizza place brought us a x-large pizza...M's favorite)

5# Flour, 5# Sugar, and $50 grocery gift card

$50cash from my mom's neighbor

another $20 grocery gift card

a $25 target gift card

another $10 grocery gift card

a bag of money from a friend's bunko group (almost $100)

a $100 target gift card

a Christmas Card from an anonymous friend with $1000 cash

A box lovingly filled with food & sundries (mac&cheese, pasta & sauce, dried red beans & rice (with a recipe and attached cajun seasonings) toothbrushes, toothpaste, and Bath&Body soap, and more).

Our freezer was packed full when we began this road of unemployment...just before Christmas I used our last whole chicken, but freezer is still not empty.

My mom has been able to do our grocery shopping each week ensuring we still have fresh fruits & vegetables, milk, and eggs.

In November, we got the letter from our mortgage company with our revised rate. We have a 5/1 ARM and we knew in February 2010 our payment would change. We were in the process of a refinance to have a fixed rate, and even had the appraisal the day before M was laid off. But, we couldn't continue... Our new monthly payment is $500 LESS. Can you believe it?!

In spite of the fact that M is still without a job (this week is 3 months)...I feel God's provision for us. I'm writing this down so that I can be encouraged on days when I feel the weight of unemployment and a family of 5. Philippians 4:19.

I want remember all this. I want to be able to GIVE. Having experienced unemployment, I want to be able to pass on God's LOVE to others in their time of need. I pray that I remember how I was blessed...so that I can BE a blessing.

And just after I typed all this...a friend from Bible Study brought over chocolate/carmel pretzels and a card with $50. And then my mom was buying sweet potatoes for us, and the store made a mistake. When she took the receipt back in to the store after carrying to groceries to the car...she got 15# of sweet potatoes FREE.

Added 1/11/10

105 free photos from Shutterfly

A free Photo book on Shutterfly (and they didn't even know I wanted/needed this)

On Saturday we attended a friends commisioning into the Marine Corp. We came home with Sunday's lunch (penne with sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts) and Monday's dinner (spaghetti with meatballs) and a plate of cupcakes from Dots.

Added 3/7/10

We're at 5 months now. And we're still living much more comfortably than much of the world. I'm reminded of this in so many ways. Last week, M was scheduled to go to Mexico with our church to hand out food boxes at a clinic our church built. The trip was rained out. We're still so blessed and I know that those families had to be so disappointed to wait another week for the supplies they so desperately needed. A fellow blogger (with my name) is blogging her Compassion trip to Kenya. And her description of Day 4 reminds me of my trip to Russia in 1993...where I came home with the clothes on my back and my socks and underwear. I'd met people with so little, I gave them all I had. And I was embarrassed that I still had so much more at home. So...while we're definitely not "rich" these days if we're talking money...I'm focusing on how "rich" we are given the global perspective. And if we're talking "rich"...we're absolutely RICH with Friends! I'm adding to our GIVEN list.

A package from a bloggy friend with a Target gift card and Red Araucania.

A free meal at the Corner Bakery. The gift card I had didn't work...and the manager that night who happened to take my order said, "This one's on me!"

3 Fantastic hats handknit for my 3 kiddos (the last 3 on this page) with some laceweight alpaca for me. Photos coming soon.

A lasagna (sweetly made by a friend).

3 boxes of girl scout cookies (from the GS I normally buy from)

A free coffee at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

$20 cash

A trip to the children's museum (our friend's pass gets 8 in)

My in-laws took us bowling for 7's birthday.

And just today...I won a book. I'm thinking that this means I really have to get back into my blogging routine.

I know that I must have missed some things in the list here. But, the important thing is that God sends us encouragement in so many ways! I'm trusting for HIM to continue to provide. And I'm trusting that He has a plan to prosper us...and not to harm us. (Jer. 29:11)

3/8/10

And just after posting this, we were given a hand-me-down bike for 8. His knees were getting close to the handle bars on his bike so we can pass his down to 7 and 8 has a new bigger bike, a gift from a boy at church.

5/6/10 We've hit the 7 month mark. I never imagined we would be here. By God's grace, we're still hanging in there. Keeping this list helps me to see HIS provision. It's my connection to hope. I've been keeping these things on a paper in between the pages of a book. Our small group is reading through I've been adding...

A vacation for the boys to Lake Havasu.

2 Treasure Boxes at 1/2 price.

Gas money for another trip to Napa.

Dinner out at a pizza parlor with friends.

A check from a friend of my Gram's for $200

An Easter card from a blogger in Alabama with a $50 gift card.

A gallon of milk & 18 eggs from a neighbor.

A check for $150 from friends at church.

A filled Trader Joe's bag with staples: rice, brown rice, brown sugar, marinara sauce, canned veggies, crackers, and cuties.

Another half/price Treasure Box. This time at pick-up, there was other food free for families. We took home some powdered milk, american cheese, and a loaf of bread.

A piece of granite! (Now this one might seem strange, but it blows me away the most. The boys aren't gentle and they are nicking the wood top of their dresser. I wanted a piece of granite to lay on top and keep them from gouging the wood. I asked my friend's contractor brother what the price would be: $350 for the size I needed. My neighbor just finished having his kitchen re-done...and there was a piece of granite left over. Guess what size it was?!)

And I haven't even mentioned that my husband still has Sirius radio in his car...for free. He's called to cancel because he's not really driving anywhere, and they've extended us 2 months at a time until now.

Tickets to the pancake breakfast at the school across the street from us for the whole family.

And when we passed on my daughter's clothes to a family with a girl smaller than 5, they were so blessed with the 2 bags they gave us a thank-you with a $20 Yogurtland card.

I know that this is not just to encourage me. I hope it encourages you too.

**********

10/6/10

Today marks one year!

I can't believe I haven't revisited this post all summer. That's not because the Lord hasn't continued to provide. HE HAS! I've been busy with life, but I've also been struggling with having hope. As I sit, typing up all this, it has been so good for me to see how HE continues to take care of me. I need this as a reminder because I'm not so strong every day. Some days I want to just cry and crawl back into bed. Some days I cry Bring The Rain!

I visited a 2nd Harvest location in May with a friend. We were at the end of the line, but I still came home with 12 red bell peppers, rice, potatoes. We roasted the red bell peppers on the BBQ. I steamed the potatoes, then diced and froze them. I put some of them in a batch of vegetable beef soup today. There was also a ton of single serving packages of almonds. Those have been perfect for me to bring along with to parks and outings since my diet is limited.

A shawl from Grace!

Cool weather most of the summer so we didn't need our A/C!

Pizza dinner & swimming with new friends (They have 4 boys! A 9 yo -six months older than 8, Twins that are 7's age, and a 2 1/2 yo. They're an answer to prayer for our family.)

Peaches & lots of jam! from my Gramp's tree.

Veggies from friend's gardens. We didn't plant one this year.

A new Refrigerator! I know can you believe it! Southern California Edison has a program where low income families can be given new energy efficient appliances! We qualified for the program and during Little House week our new fridge was delivered. (M's grandmother had passed away just before our wedding. We got her fridge...it was 10 years old then...and we've been married 10 years. The program takes old appliances...ours was OLD. Years ago I started an envelope of cash so that when our old fridge went out I could buy what ever I wanted. Now that money can go to something else. I'd been holding on to that in a drawer so that if the fridge just gave out we wouldn't be forced to charge one. )

Fruits & Veggies from a friend TWICE! She produce shops at a discount market and blesses us with her bargains.

2 9x13 homemade lasagnas. One for us, and to pass on to a friend who recently lost their home.

Bags of clothes for the boys (Mostly in 8's size. 7 get's 8's hand-me-downs, but 8 keeps growing...he's in 12's now!) Then M's mom took the kids out and bought them all new shoes.

Land'sEnd surprises! I was privileged to be a part of a FB focus group for LE. It was super fun to get to see future lines and give comments to the designers. As a thank you for our time, we were sent gifts in July, August, and September. I have a great new beach towel and bag, 2 long sleeved shirts that 8 picked out himself, a monogramed lunch box, and a scarf should be in the mail soon. Such a blessing!

2 weeks in Napa!

T-shirts for me. A super discount at the Gap outlet and my mom bought me some new T-shirts.

In Napa, M waxed my car and the kids spend the afternoon using my Gramp's fun portable vacuums to clean it out. That evening, we realized having the doors open so long killed the battery. My Gramp bought us a new battery for my car. It was such a blessing that our car died in front of his house and not on the trip to/from Napa. Replacing a battery on I-5 would have sucked.

Pizza dinner with the Napa neighbors.

LK's letter! My Gramp has flip calendars all through his house. My Gram loved them. In the room we stayed, the verse for our first day was Matthew 6:26. I couldn't flip the calendar and the verse encouraged me each time I walked into the room. Right after we returned home, M & I were discussing that we weren't going to be able to pay our mortgage. -side note here...it is just by God's grace that we made it through 10 months of unemployment without missing a mortgage payment- Literally minutes later, I heard the mailman drop our mail in the box. This card was in the mail from my Canadian friend with a check for $500! I'm not linking her blog here...but I want to acknowledge her generosity here!

Also in the mail at. the. same. time. was a check from O Architects. M did some work for a friend's company while he was out of the country. M found this friend a new client and when the client paid, we got $600 as a finder's fee. I know...who finds $1100 in their mailbox!?!? For me it was Matthew 6:26 in real life.

M's parents paid for 5's cracked molar.

When M picked up our August Treasure Box he also brought home 2 loaves of bread, pork ribs, and lamb chops.

An enchilada dinner from a friend.

Our neighbor -the one that gave us the granite- brings over apples when he buys them at Costco, and some canned goods just because, and 2 bottles of salad dressing that his son bought when he was visiting.

A free Shutterfly book to give as a gift (I ordered one with pictures from our Petaluma visits and had it shipped to the family we visited with.)

An older gentleman at church gave the kids some toys he had made. A wooden truck, some wooden cars, and a wooden chair for a doll. He's old enough to be walking with a walker, and he's still working with wood.

Free dinner at church for the dedication of the new building.

Free coffee at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. On the evening they introduce a new coffee, you can get a free 12oz coffee. I enjoyed a pumpkin latte!

While M was in Africa, our Sunday School class blessed us with gift cards to Subway & Yogurtland, a friend brought her kids and pizza over to have dinner with us, another family dropped off some groceries, and when I ran out of Tylenol for 5's ear infection, another friend picked up some and dropped it by with some gluten free chocolate chip cookies for me.

Shutterfly cards for the holidays! It's been years since we sent holiday cards. I used coupon code to order some cards. It's not the 100 I used to send out, but I've got a few now.

The family that gave 8 the bike brought us a bag of fun girl clothes for 5! She really loves the fuzzy pink leopard scarf!

There was a message left on our answering machine while our homeschool group was at the L.A.Fair. We couldn't return the call until the next day because the business office had closed. And then driving home from ballet that night 5 & I saw a double rainbow. I was having a hard day and I really needed that promise from God. The phone call...someone anonymously dropped off $4000 in cashier's checks for us at the church business office! That's a gift from my God who marks HIS promises with a rainbow!

October 1st my kids enjoyed free chili dogs at the PTA fair. The school across the street gave coupons to the neighbors to apologize in advance for the parking and music. Our neighbor shared his coupon too.

So, while we're living frugally, not running our A/C, not spending $ unless we can afford it which means redefining what we NEED, and teaching the kids about "navy showers"...

We're also enjoying more family time than we've ever had before. What dad gets to stay home with his family for a YEAR! And our kids have expanded their pallets to enjoy "new" foods because what we're given isn't always something they've had before. Our kids are learning that WE. HAVE. SO. MUCH. They're learning about real poverty. People that don't have clean drinking water or electricity. Kenya. Guatemala. And M's trip to North Africa. I wouldn't have chosen this year for my family, but I can't believe the lessons we've all learned. Now, I'm still praying that our big miracle is right around the corner, but I'm still praising HIM for the little miracles every day.