What I've Learned

Check out Musings of A Housewife for links to some really wonderful bloggers who are all participating in this week's What I've Learned carnival.

MUCH learning for me this week. MUCH learning!

1. It is easy to convert that pumpkin on your front porch into something delicious! I cut up one of our pumpkins, roasted it, pureed it, and made it into the most fabulous pumpkin bread I've ever tasted. I never plan to buy canned pumpkin again!

2. Beef stew made in the crock pot is so much better than beef stew made on the stovetop. Recipe coming soon!

3. 7-year-old girls are prone to panic and melt down when their goggles come off during a race at a swim meet. This tendency to come unglued is multiplied exponentially when the 7-year-od girl is coming down with a fever virus.

4. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 is worth the investment, just for the ease of editing pictures, and the quality of the final product! I had saved up some giftcards, and was finally able to make my purchase! I love Photoshop!

5. I never fully realize how much I miss all my family in California until the holidays start drawing near. Then I miss them like crazy, and dread facing Thanksgiving and December and Christmas without all the beloved traditions and people of "back home." This will be our 4th round of holidays away from California, and I miss my family more than ever.

6. Not much else tops being told that your company is sending you on a business trip with your husband TO YOUR HOME TOWN...and that the business trip falls Thanksgiving week...and that airfares are low enough to allow you to take the kids, too! Oh, and some sweet friends will buy those kid tickets! Yes, that happened to us today!!!!! We're going Home for 10 days in November! I Can Not Wait!

7. Oh wait, something can top that! How about this:
We are missionaries. We are 100% funded by donations from individuals and churches who share our passion for seeing others reached for Christ. It has been normal that donations drop off in August-October, leaving us without full pay. On Wednesday I received notice that our paycheck for the 25th was going to be $850 short. That left us with a paycheck for less than the amount just of our bills. I resolutely looked back at how God has faithfully provided for us every time this has happened, and I chose to trust Him to provide again. I let it go, and was at peace all day, waiting expectantly to see what He would do. That very night at church, an anonymous church member left us a check for $550 and two $100 Walmart gift cards! The church treasurer was all grins when she gave us the envelope. I, of course, started bawling. Matt and I prayed and thanked God for His provision of $750. Two minutes later, another church member came to me and said, "Not a word from you now. God told me to give this to you." He gave me a hug and pressed a $100 bill into my hand. $850. The exact amount our paycheck was short. In our hands two days before the paycheck every hit our bank account!
This is not new to me, but I learned yet again that God is trustworthy. He says He will care for us. He is true to His Word, and I thank Him for it!