Enjoying a Stroll through the Birch Trees

Big brother holding baby sister, little brother tagging along, big sisters already in the fort exploring... what a glorious freedom and break from moving all the boxes...

We made it! We spent our first night in our old/new house last Friday.  It has been a blur and still is... at least the kitchen is up and running and we got our first showers yesterday in almost 1/2 a year.  Yes, you read that correctly.  At the little one bedroom house in town, there is a working bath tub, but just painted wood for shower walls with lots of gaps and a hand held sprayer. 

Here are Daddy and oldest Son removing the new house tub/shower unit.  The previous owners had patched it up with several pieces of linoleum.  Part of the unit was unpeeling from the wall.  You can get away with almost anything in Alaska!

We decided it had to go before all 8 people began using it.  One unit is better than none and at least in this new house we have two toilets to use.  With sort of a third that I'll blog about later.  What a luxury!  It's what the oldest girls said when they saw the dishwasher in the kitchen. 

I was thinking how many things are truly luxuries and we just get used to them as common every day needs while the rest of the world suffers real poverty.  Would you like to know what the poverty line is for a family of 8 in Alaska?  Slightly over $100,000/a year.  I was shocked to read that!  If I live in poverty, what am I missing, someone please tell me? 

So I can't afford to buy alcohol and much of anything brand new.  Is this really poverty?  My husband and I through the strength and wisdom God provides have fed and clothed six children, did I mention educate them too, and moved 4 times this year and have been through extreme medical expenses over the last several years. 

The most often heard question we hear is, "How do you make ends meet?"  We just tell people that God provides.  He always does in the most amazing ways.  Sometimes through other people, usually by lots of hard work and praying and sometimes going without.  You'll never be able to figure out how God works, just how much He loves, cares, and provides for your daily needs and even wants and desires at times. 

I didn't mean to go off on this tangent, but how can I be silent about a God this powerful, who defies all logic and understanding?  I have learned to be content with little and a lot.  Both are difficult to do.  Having an abundance, does not necessarily bring happiness nor contentment.  True wealth is found in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.... He's really all you need.  Really.  If you've never tasted of His amazing love and care, do it today. 

I seat on the edge of my seat waiting to see what God will do next in my life, the lives of my family and loved ones and the lives of complete strangers!  God is always working miracles, daily in everyone's life.  We just can't hold still and look long enough and careful enough.  Start looking, you might be surprised at what you find.