Apparently my walls were too clean...

So, it has become apparent that I will only post to this blog once a month. I guess I have just gotten busy, with Chiara's doctor appointments (which are plentiful lately, but still no flu so thank You, Jesus) and with my business (which is moving a little too fast for our liking, but I am working to reign it in).

Most of the families that meet in our little part of the Ekklesia have been meeting on their own lately, we have just not been able to coordinate schedules so far apart. But we did meet yesterday and have some exciting developments to share:

Doug Belton had been out of work for the summer, and he got a job managing security at the Coliseum in Minneapolis...a huge burden lifted for their family.

Carrie Ellison is still out of work, due to back problems that only get worse not better...Doug even offered her a job, but she can't be on her feet all day. Please pray for her body to cooperate and for the Lord to show her what she should be doing.

Chris Steiner's friend Marcus moved down to Faribault and they started a band. We are hoping that Marcus will meet with us soon, so far it hasn't worked out due to scheduling. Chris also showed us a copy of the first CD he produced...we are so happy for him, God is allowing him to use his gifts, now if he can just get a steady gig ;)

Kim Steiner has a friend from MOPS that is volunteering this week for a homeless shelter...apparently they have a Men's area and a Women's area, and then a family area. Her friend signed up to make coordinate a meal one night for 70 families...the volunteers provide all the food, serve and clean up. I said "we wanna do that!" so I am in the process of getting that info and our group is going to plan to committ to working there one night a month. What a great way to show the love of Christ to people who need Him!

I leave you with pictures of how Caden redecorated Cameron's room...Kim said "Oh look, now she can draw circles" I on the other hand was not as impressed with her artistic ability as her mother was...said mother now owes me 2 Mister Clean Magic Erasers

Ekklesia Praise reports

This past Sunday, Doug presented a really awesome praise report to the group. It wasn't your typical "God gave me what I asked for" praise, it was so much more real than that. And it got me thinking....

I asked all the people who have been meeting with us to send me a praise report. Not a lame one, like "Cameron got a really good report card" but a raw and bleeding before Christ, even if it doesn't look like a blessing it is, only God could show off that way PRAISE REPORT!

I will post them here, or if they come in the form of a comment I will just leave them as comments. I am still getting the hang of this blog thing, and I wish there was a way that other people to could post instead of just having to comment. Oh well, I will get it eventually!

UPDATE...here is Doug's praise report. Keep them coming!

Knowing that my time of employment was soon coming to an end, God left me an awesome bread crumb trail of information that allowed me to leave the company the right way. By way of His blessing, I was able to sustain my family and start up two new businesses that with His grace will not only sustain my family but become a blessing to others as well.

1st God put me in a car with two other managers while they were discussing severance packages. At that time I knew nothing of severance packages and had no intention of leaving my position, so while the information was interesting, it seemed at the time of little direct importance to me.

2nd The day I knew I was on my way out, God put me in another meeting wherein two different peers discussed the importance of a person quitting the company before being fired in order to receive a severance package.

3rd About 30 days before I left, God reached out to a coworker/friend whom I had not spoken to in months and prompted him to contact me. When I told the friend I was on my way out of the company, he put me in touch with someone who had gone through almost exactly what I was going through a couple years earlier. This man, a brother in Christ, gave me detailed instructions on how to get the best possible severance package.

4th God gave me the courage to do exactly what this brother in Christ told me to do and the result was a package much better than what I had expected.

God is good!