Dear friends
many of you are familiar with some of my challenges including the issue of
reliable transportaion and previous instances of provided "miracle mobiles"
and may have recieved last years praise report regarding the gift of our
miracle mobile #4 (aka the 1980 vw scirocco black with leopard spots aka rust
and
animal print upholstery aka my leopard sheets covering the shredded seats )
but we were grateful that God provided "just in time" to attend the harvest
crusade (www.MenagerieEntertainment.com/harvest)
it is a miracle in itself, that it has lasted this past year, as it was given
to us by a generous neighbor only expected to last a couple of months, long
enough to at least save me from the 5 hr daily bus rides to and from work for
the previous 20 months, until i was able to finish restoring miracle mobile # 3
( aka 1984 jaguar )
but, just as i had made arrangements for the repair, it was stolen and found
by police completely stripped a couple of months ago
but i thanked God that at least i was still hopeful of obtaining a
replacement, as the repair shop was kind enough to offer me a choice of two
other
already restored similar style jaguars i could choose from with guarantees if i
could come up with $1500,
( half of what they quoted everyone else ) but it is difficult to ever save
ANY funds, due to my current situation of transitioning away from the secular
cover band entertainment i used to count on for finanacial survival,
and emergencies that constantly come up as distractions from "you know who "
so needles to say, i thanked God when miracle mobile #4 was at least starting
each time with the portable jumpers i have to also remember to recharge each
day, and continued plugging away to our destinations ( although avoiding many
with what may be with the most potential, because of the unprofessional
appearance that wouldnt be appreciated by such higher profile entertainment and
ministry affiliates that i woud be representing)
I cant help but think of a commercial on tv about the humiliated boy getting
picked up by his dad with an embarassing car
Lol
and before this, the one where the kids are humiliated by the mom picking up
her kids with no car, only a loud horn and loud mouth?8364;?
They are pretending not to know her as the other kids ask is that your mom ?
In spite of the fact that we can relate, I have usually been able to
prayerfully make the best of most similiarly embarrassing situations for these
past
12 years of struggling and try to keep a good attitude especially as an
example to my children, who usually end up being an example for me..lol
however, on some of "those days" when you think you just can't take even one
more thing... such as this past sunday morning when i awoke to get our family
ready to attend and volunteer at church
since the moment i awoke, for some reason ? all i could focus on was ..
* this was a foggy, dreary cold morning and it would have been soooo awesome
to just sleep in, as i was completely exhausted from losing literally 12 days
of sleep because of the rat patrol issue that most of you know about ( thank
God for the energy to be able to even function during this time and then
finally VICTORY over the big bushy eyed rodent who mysteriously just died in
plain
view halfway into an area between file storage units that if it would have
traveled only a couple of more inches i would have had to spend unaffordable
time
from work and stress in a nauseating search, whenever i could find someone to
also inconvience to help me since there is no way i would have been brave
enough to do it alone )
so because of this sleep deprovation, even less than the 4hrs a night i
usually at least try to get, i was especially dreading having to drag myself
out
to the car as i do each time to start it with the jumpers...
* also concerned about reports that i might rain, which isnt fun with no
windshield wipers, bald tires and bad brakes
* also, depressed about no access to any websites for a few days, which is
usually necessary for most of what i do, including updating my Christian Event
Calendar, as i usually try to do in time to especially announce reminders and
details re sunday celebrations
and many other major projects that have to remain on hold until i am
blessed with a solution..
(although now that i think of it i should not be surprised about this
specific attack, as i utilize online banking and financial organization , and
the
enemy doesnt like the progress he forsees from my involvement in crown financial
studies www.Crown.org, through our church, www.RockHarbor.org, because he
knows where and how my finances are destined to be utilized so of course must
make my homework as difficult and challenging as possible, right ? )
* i was also dreading having to look in the mirror to get ready,
because not only one, but BOTH of my blow dryers broke
and i have extrememly curly hair ! need i say anymore ? lol !!!
*i also i couldn't find anything to wear because the broken springs in the
driver seat in the car had ripped most all of the clothes (that i have left
from having to throw away the rest due to destruction by mold at our previous
location)
* the damaged seat and sleeping on the floor also results in constant back,
shoulder and neck pain and scrapes and bruises guess where else in spite of
MUCH natural padding that is covered by my ripped pants ? so i always have to
cover the holes in my clothes by wearing a sweater wrapped around my waist,
which gets annoying and hot, especially while lifting and moving around the
sound and lyrics equiptment as we do each week for our childrens ministry
? music is my passion, so even tho the car had no radio, at least i used to
use a little $15 plastic portable from the swap meet until it just broke
also
?
but, we could barely hear it anyway over the sound of the loud engine..lol
btw...we used to laugh so hard when we went to any drive through because they
could never hear our order unless i shut off the car
but by now i never even shut off the car to get gas to avoid having to use
the jumpers
in fact, i would even wait until we were completely disperate for groceries
before having to make any trip to anywhere such as even the store
i would prefer to eat leftovers and use napkins for tp instead of having to
start the car to go buy some lol !
once the car was jump started, sometimes as soon as i unhooked the cables and
almost got in the car, it would stop and i would have to repeat this process
a few times, causing me to be late for work on several occasions
i managed to also somehow figure out how to use the brake and gas pedal at
the same time to keep it from stalling at each stop
and whenever possible, arranged to park backwards soas to avoid the trauma of
trying to go in reverse, since something in the gear shifting thing wasnt
working right
and also would always search for level ground, regardless of how far away,
soas to avoid it rolling backwards when i got out to jumpstart
for "some reason " of course on this same morning, i was also "reminded" that
in a couple of weeks my registration is due, this year requiring a smog test,
that seemed unlikely to pass without some kind of tuneup and /or repairs
with no money to repair anything since i had to spend what i had to replace
my laptop computer cord that was also just stolen and everything else, im
begginning to relate to the israelites at the edge of the red sea with no where
to
go and nothing to do but just stand there waiting for God
so within our backstage disney prayer group just days ago, my request was for
transportation
i also shared that i had just recently been led away from my desire for
another jaguar even tho i loved my other one so much !!!
and even tho i cant imagine myself as a mini van person ..lol
i had decided to hope for anything with enough seats to provide rides for so
many who express interest to come with our family to church and other
Christian events and audition opportunities for some i know without any
transportation
or too young to drive yet and that would be large enough to transport some
music and theatre equiptment
our prayer leader suggested that i be specific in my prayer, but i insisted
on just asking for transportation because i am used to God providing in such
unique ways, that i wanted to see what kind of unique provision He would create
for this situation
after remembering how i am always reminding everyone else how He ALWAYS comes
through, AND by now i have repeatedly experienced this same pattern...
every time He's just about ready to bless me in some kind of awesome way,
the enemy attacks with great force, to distract me from expecting and
appreciating the miracle i'm about to experience
i realized how ridiculous i must be looking on this Sunday morning, not only
to Him and the observing spirits in the heavenly universe, but also to my
kids who i know were trying really hard not to laugh at me... i can't even have
a
pity party in my own home, because they always think i'm funny even in my
misery
so after laughing at myself also and thanking God again for his gift of
humor, i was determined to not only do whatever we have to do to get to church
to
enjoy our opportunities to serve, but to also find someone i could particularly
bless once i got there
i ended up finding sixteen
including 9 individuals with various needs that i have resources to assist
regarding
and a family whose dad is in prison, who was visiting rh for the first time
that i knew from many years ago from my events at the galaxy theatre
and another family in an emergency life threatening situation in virginia
that i was in correspondence regarding by phone, inbetween services that most
of you are now aware of
it was during this conversation that our church production tech leader (
sound, video, computer, lyrics ) told me that he wanted to talk to me about
something when i was done
i thought.."oh no, i hope we didnt accidently break or lose something
expensive while setting up the equiptment ?
or ...i wonder what one of my kids could have done ? "
lol
instead, he inquired about my car situation, as he had noticed us
jumpstarting just last sunday when he invited the volunteers for pizza
after i explained the situation, he informed me..
( uh oh ! tears are coming again )
that his dad, who also attends rh had just purchased a new car and wanted to
give us his caravan in purrfect condition !
needless to say, i was and still am in complete shock !
when one of my daughters told another one, i saw her roll her eyes and say "
yeah right ! "
even tho i assumed the dad would contact me sometime during the week,
something made me check my voicemail right before leaving church
he had left a message and even tho i thought about calling him from home, so
no one could see me cry, something made me call right then, resulting in
arrangments for him and his wife to meet us at our place a couple of hours
later
as the kids and i we were leaving, were all joking about
how this would be the last time wed have to jumpstart and that id ruin my
clothes and hurt my back and cut my hands from the broken gear shift etc...and
that the new car would even have a stereo !
as soon as we took off, we heard a noise like we never heard before
it wasnt even gradual, but extremely loud and everyone on the sidewalks were
looking at us in terror,
(kinda like whenever we pass by carwashes....lol )
after only two blocks, Christiana said, "mommy is it even going to make it
home ? "
right then we heard something fall out of the bottom of the car and saw
something roll away in the rear view mirror and the car stalled and rolled in a
spot that just happened to be right across the street from a friend whose food
ministry we support
he wasnt home to ask for a ride so we walked home
and then a few minutes later, miracle mobile #5 arrived !
aka 1994 caravan
and its purpleish blue !!! with sparkles !!!
almost like my miracle guitar !!!!
with comfortable velour seats for 7
and a sony stereo for 10 cds !!!
with custom speakers!!!
and the radio was already set on my favorite station
www.TheFish959.com
and it has brand new tires
and a spare
and a new battery
and the windshield wipers AND defoggers work
and so does the air conditioning, so now i wont get heat stroke anymore or be
a sweaty frizzy haired mess with melted makeup all over my face every time i
arrive anywhere ..
well maybe still the hair.. lol
and as if that wasnt all enough of a precious gift,
they also included a full tank of gas, a case of oil and oil changes for the
rest of its life
and because of my apparant excitement over the phone to know i would now have
a cd player in the car to review submissions for various productions since i
dont have access to one other than in my computer that is always in use for
other work, they also gave me a stereo to use in my home/office !!!
Christiana started our family's habit of blaming anything good that happens
on the fact that " Jesus Loves Us ! "
ironically, when we returned to the dead miracle mobile to transfer the
contents, as a couple of us were removing the little plastic cross from the
rearview mirror that says " God loves me"
someone opened a storage box in the new miracle mobile and found another
plastic cross just like it !
everyone knows that i am not usually speachless,
but all i could think of to say besides thank you which just doesnt seem
sufficient in the least was an explanation of
how i compare such a gift to when i have literally cried after viewing oprah
windrey randomly giving extravagant presents and life improvement
opportunities to her unexpecting guests
i cry, never because i wish i could be a recipient,
but only because i can't wait until i am able to do the same
my dreams of giving away cars and homes to those in need are now embellished
and inspired further, knowing that God's purpose for providing our necessaties
and even luxuriously beyond in this instance, are only a preview of what must
be in store
His faithfullness in these small matters for our benefit,
testify to His expected faithfullness regarding also the huge promises He
constantly confirms regarding utilizing every blessing that He gives us to Bless
and benefit others
i pray that all of you that took the time to read this praise report,
regardless of whatever circumstances you are now enduring, will be encouraged
to
remain in expectation of how He plans to bless each and every one of you also
and to the precious family that God used to bless ours..
i cant think of any other way to thank you at the moment, besides to share my
appreciation of how your acts of kindness remind me of these familiar verses
promising you deserved blessings
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look
after orphans and widows in their distress
Matt 25:40
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
thanks again sooo much !!!
From tina and crew
&;-)
ps
i was invited to volunteer at the joyce meyer life in the word convention in
san diego,
www.JoyceMeyer.org, but before now, was unable to confirm because of
unreliable transportation, so this also came "just in time" for this and also a
paying
opportunity answering prayer lines for another ministry
and
ever since i had to replace the expensive laptop cord that was stolen, we
have been expecting to see what good could possibly come out of this ?
well...
our first trip in the miracle mobile was to the 99 c store for tp ..lol and
other things too !..lol
but anyway i had left my computer battery at a shop next door to get an
estimate of cost before i purchased my replacement plug and hadnt had a chance
to
get it back until this day
when i went inside i saw a laptop and just happened to ask if it was for
sale, because sometime in the distant future Christiana was attempting to save
to
get one so i just wanted an idea of their prices
not only does she and the other kids need it for school because i can rarely
afford to not be using mine in order for them to use
but also for potential additional income for our family as she and julienne
are familiar with much of the work that i recieve requests for, but do not
have time for myself
he told me he would give it to her for $450 ( even tho it is worth $1200 )
it comes with the latest version of windows, a dvd player and a detachable
office unit so you dont have to unplug accessories
and POWER POINT !!!!! that we can use for WORSHIP LYRICS when we visit our
friend's home bible studies !!!!!!!!!!
and as i was looking at it, i heard him give another customer the higher
price quote
i didnt have any idea how much she had saved so far, but thought whatever
little bit she had, may be accepted as a downpayment for a layaway or something
since he was nice enough to try to make it affordable in the first place.
so when i went to the car to ask her if she wanted to see it,
she told me she had just recieved a check for babysitting that was almost for
that exact amount !!!
if my computer cord hadnt been stolen, i never would have had any reason to
visit that computer shop
and
the new cord that i bought because it was the only one i could find
compatible to my model is universal with attachments and adapters that they can
use in
the car to watch dvds on long trips to do street witnessing with
www.dreamcenter.org in santa monica, that we havent been able to enjoy for a few
weeks
because of the scarey car
before this we didnt have a dvd player for them to use at all, and the vcr
we have also doesnt work and destroys videos
i am so overwhelmed with so many sudden blessings all at once that i am
praying for God to remind me to breathe
Halleleujah !