And Home Again

Our last day of school was pretty slim, because so many kids were sick. It was sad that they all got sick just at the end, when they'd been healthy for so long!

And what would the end of school be without a cookout & S'mores?

Coming through western North Carolina, I had three tunnels to go through.

I made it home Tuesday afternoon, and hit the ground running. I'm excited to be able to have the time to start working on the things I need to do to get to Paraguay in August. Thanks for you prayers as I balance all these different things!

Typically

Typically tonight I would post a picture of my overly packed car...

but...

it's gone.

Tonight I handed all the keys over to the new owners of my first car. Do you remember your first car? The first one you bought with your money, paid insurance on, fixed with your money? Yes--it was a little sad walking away.

My things are (mostly) all packed, and ready to go in the morning. Thanks for your prayers as I drive for the next few days. Please pray for my heart as I'm leaving a lot of my friends, and my little house. This is the longest I've lived in one place since I moved out of the house after high school! I'm excited for what God has in store over the next few months and years, but will always look back on "my little house" with love.

The End of An Era

Today was our last day of class! This week was really slow because many of the kids got sick this week. It was disappointing to not be able to spend the last week with our kids. Over the weekend I'll be packing up & cleaning, then heading out to North Carolina at the beginning of the week. Hope to see many of you soon!

An Update on the Truck

"My God is so BIG!
So STRONG and so MIGHTY,
There's nothing my God cannot do,
FOR YOU!"

We teach this song to our kids, and sing it quite often, but how often do we really believe it? We say we believe it, we talk like we believe it, but deep down inside, I wonder how many of us expect God to do big, mighty, and strong things for us? We expect Him to work in the lives of others, but our own?--not always.

This is the story of a Big God and a Little Accident:
Two weeks ago, I was in a small accident on wet roads. I tried my best to avoid the car that pulled across my path, but due to the wet roads it wasn't possible. I was very disappointed, because I planned to list my car for sale the very next day.
The next day, I called my insurance company, and they quickly sent me to talk to the other driver's insurance. They promised to send an estimator out as soon as possible. I expected this to take up to a week, especially because of the bad weather & tornadoes within the state of Missouri that week. But two days later the estimator was here! He also expected that the car would be totaled.
Friday (my accident was on the previous Sunday) the insurance company called, and said that they were sending out a check to cover the costs of the damages! They didn't total the car, and were paying me for 63% of what they estimated the car to be worth, which was more than I had thought. I was pretty excited about this, but now I would have to think about selling the car.
A few months ago, some friends offered to buy the car. They have a handful of boys, all mechanically inclined, who could help fix the car. At the time, the car was out of their price range, because it was still in good shape...but after the accident...now the car was in their price range! They decided to buy the car and told me to keep using it until I'm ready to leave Missouri.
"God Things" from this story:
1. God put the car in the price range of my friends.
2. God moved the insurance company to move quickly, since I'm leaving in less
than two weeks.
3. God provided the money I hoped to get out of my car, but didn't expect to
receive as much as I wanted.

Find a way to glorify God today in your own life!

A Few Seconds Later

Sunday night I was in a car accident. I'm okay, as is my friend that was with me, but it looks like my car may not make it. :( There isn't a lot of damage (relatively speaking) but due to the mileage and age of the car, it will probably be totaled by the insurance company. I'll be finding out tomorrow exactly what to they expect.

This actually doesn't change a lot of my plans--because I was planning to put my car on craigslist on Monday! (In fact, as I was braking & attempting to avoid the accident, I was thinking "No!! I'm selling my car!") So hopefully this can all be dealt with soon, because I only have about 2 weeks left in Missouri.

Please pray that I will make wise decisions regarding my car. I'm praising God that my friend and I were not hurt--just a little sore for a few days.

Carrie