Hardly know where to start!

I'm going to start with the dream(s) I had last week. I had a series of basically the same dream over and over one night. I had gone to bed wondering if I should ask for financial help because of Dan going to trucking school and quitting his job on the 15th. I hadn't felt like I was supposed to do that up till that point, but like I said, I went to bed wondering. All night long I dreamed variations on the same dream. In one I remember there was a raging storm and flood all around us, but our house was high enough and several families gathered together inside our home for safety. Within the walls of the house we discoverd a bunch of precious gems that were valuable enough to provide all we would need, plus leave extra leftover. In another dream there was a terrible blizzard and ice storm going on outside, but again, our house was above the worst of the storm. Again, several families gathered together inside our home for safety. This time we discovered valuable hand-made Eskimo fur coats that were enough to protect all of us and enough to sell to get supplies with plenty leftover.

I woke realizing the equity in our house will be sufficient and with the strong impression that God will take care of repaying the debt (the "leftovers" in each dream.) The families I figured were my sis and bro-in-law who are also coming to go to trucking school next week and my best friend and her nephew, B...

Then, my best friend's brother fnally accepted our standing offer of an alternate living situation for his daughter. So, P will be coming to live with us in about a week and a half. She's, also, got some emotional/mental disabilities. She looks normal in every way, but was born with fetal alchol syndrome and some other issues. Emotionally & reasoning ability she's about 12, and is very easily influenced. She's gotten herself mixed in with a really bad crowd of characters, and we are hoping to get her back on track for Jesus and teach her how to STAY pure and holy before the Lord -- not just when she's here!

On Wednesday at prayer meeting, (we have prayer night at our church the 1st Wednesday of every month), I asked for prayer for all this -- it certainly seemed like a lot to me at the time! I was sitting at the front of the church and my husband was in the sound booth, so pastor had a group gather around my husband and another around me. When they got done, our worship leader said (and elaborated more to me yesterday) she saw our house as a lighthouse with a sure, steady beam -- the beam proclaiming the gospel -- and that inside our home was a place of safety, refuge and healing for many. Pastor, as soon as she was done speaking, said, "Yes! I was going to say the same thing -- that their home is a place of security and refuge for the hurting and a great place for healing for many!"

I thought that was pretty cool, and a confirmation that we were doing what God wanted us to do. Little did I know what was to happen yesterday...

I had planned to sleep a little extra because we'd had a very intense day the day before and had also ended up staying up late. However, I woke at about 6:30 feeling I was supposed to get right up. About 15 minutes later, my neice, S, called. She was distraught and was asking if I had an alternate phone number for her dad. She ended up finding the number herself, but I did get her to tell me that she was going to call and ask him for money so she could drive across the country and come here, leaving her husband and children in Florida!

The last I'd heard from her was that things were going well with their family. She had decided to put her children in public school, (at the time I hadn't understood her reasoning), but she was confident it was the right decision. They were attending a new church, and she had finally received the settlement from the grocery store from when she slipped in their store and destroyed her knee. It had been a year since I'd heard from her, and in my spirit I was concerned, but had never been prompted to do anything. Quite honestly, I just thought she was busy with her new job and church and school activities.

This news left me reeling and in shock. A few minutes later, her father called me. He was very concerned that she was just running away from her problem as she has sometimes done in the past. I thought it really odd, too, because I'd seen so much spiritual growth in her in the last 10 years or so. Even though she'd been distant the past year, we've always been very close before that -- it didn't seem consistent with how I know her to be. He, also, said that he didn't really have any money to help her (it's all tied up in a real estate deal), and he felt if she were to come here, she should be with us, not him. (He and his family have a different type of Christianity) He asked me to call her and try to get more information and get a better feeling for the whole situation because she and I have always been so close.

I called her back and discovered her to be completely in her right mind. The situation, as it turned out, is very, very sad. She had caught her husband being unfaithful, (he has been in the past, but we thought it was all over and done with), confronted him and he refused to change. Then he told her he wanted her to leave because he was tired of living with a godly woman! Her two eldest agreed with him -- they were tired of her influence cramping their style!

Once I found out he'd been unfaithful again, I agreed, she needed to leave. At first, she was planning to come alone, but then her youngest found out the details of what had happened, and she asked to come, too.

So began my day yesterday. If it hadn't been for the dreams and the specific Word we'd gotten from both our worship leader and pastor, I'm not sure how I would have reacted. I'm fairly certain the same outcome would have been reached, but I wouldn't have had the certainty about it that I do now. The rest of the day consisted of many phone calls, a fairly large debit on our home equity line of credit and a wire transfer to Florida.

My husband's and my 21st wedding anniversary was yesterday, too. We went out to eat and on the way home heard from S that they were in GA staying in a motel for the night.

At that time, I realized I have a very dear friend who would have probably put them up for the night, but it was too late for that. Oh well.

Anyway, she's headed across the country and should be here in a few days. That will put and additional 5 people and 2 dogs (tiny ones, thankfully!) into our home. My best friend and B stay at their own home, but take most meals here. My sis and bro-in-law have a travel trailer they will bring, so they'll have their own living space. We just need to figure out exactly how to divide up the space in the basement. We've got several ideas -- the space is about 1400sf and is currently divided into 3 sleeping areas and a living area, plus 1/2 bath and laundry -- but we're going to wait till folks get here to decide how we want to place everyone.

Thank the Lord for our big home and that we didn't move last year!!!

I'm completely confident that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do, and I'm also confident the mix will be very good. See, my sister went through very much the same thing -- her former husband left her because he was unfaithful and because she was a Christian and he didn't want any part of it anymore! (In the end, he gave his life to Jesus, and hadn't he been terminally ill with only a few weeks left to live, they would have remarried.) She will be able to minister to S in a way I never could. S will be able to minister to P in a way I never could because she came from a alcoholic home (her mom), and I'm hoping that P will immediately come around and be able to comfort little J because of what she's gone through!

You know, it has been prophesized by many, many people that we were going to have a very powerful ministry, and that it was going to be different than anything we'd ever done before. Well, this sure is different!!

Please, be in prayer for S and J's safety and that P will not change her mind because of the change in our circumstances. I still very much feel she is supposed to be here!

Oh, and spiritually, B's doing great -- but he needs a job. Please pray about that, also.

And, finally that the tranistion with my husband's schooling will go smoothly and my ankle will complete the healing process! I'm still on crutches...

Blessings,
Sharron