Merry Christmas to everyone! Wow, what a year this has been already. If there is one thing that I have learned so far with all that is going on, look up and know that you are not alone. God is there to help you all the way. Trust in him and have faith in him and watch him work. It is so amazing.
I want to thank all of you for praying for us and please know that your prayers are being answered and they are working. We are praying for all of you too. Kevin will be staying at Hopman's till they close which is at the end of this month. He has started working part time at Gogi's Fine Jewelry. Then he is doing trade work as well to fill in the other hours. He was just certified for his own business. His business is called The Goldsmith Guru. I think I spelled that right. LOL Anyways, he needed that to do the trade work. God has blessed him with his hands to bring out his talents in jewelry. He does a wonderful job with each piece and makes sure the quality is there. I am so proud of him.
With all that has gone on in our lives God has blessed us with so much. He was working for us and it showed yesterday. Clean Seal started the Biggest Looser Challenge in July of this year. I wanted to join because, I wanted to tone up, eat better, and just be in shape. I wanted to be ready for this trip. Some who know me and have seen me, would ask why do this. I sure don't need to loose weight. So to make a long story short, yesterday we had one of our luncheons with our Manufacturer. They announced the Biggest Looser. I was one of the ones in second place. I was so surprised. I didn't plan that at all. I really didn't think I would get anything. I was prepared for that. I did this to be healthy and I new if I did this, it would push me and well it did. More ways then one I guess. With me working 4 days a week, Kevin loosing his job and now going to part time and everything else going on, I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to make the trip to Africa. I kept thinking, why would God push us for this trip and then take it away from us. I was like, he wouldn't do that, would he? I mean I gave up trying for a child. The one thing I want most in this world and then to take this trip away. No way, this can't be his plan. Then when I was announced that I was one of the ones in second place I was just shocked. I wish I had a picture of what my face looked like. I did have tears but I held them in. Surprisingly. I lost it later though. :) After I had soaked everything up I relised that God does want us to go. He is not taking it away from us, he wants us to go. He wants us to help and use us to do his work for him. He has big plans for us and I am so excited. I feel bad for questioning him and not putting as much faith or trust in him. It is just so scary with the recession we are in now and not sure what is going to happen. This recession has taught me some things though. Next year I want to save more and help out more with others in need. God has a plan for each of us, you just have to trust in him and have faith. He will provide and take care of you. He is working for all of us.
Tomorrow our Mission Buddies are meeting to talk about our trip and go over things from last time and new issues that may have come up. We are looking forward to meeting with them. Not much longer just 2 months away. Hope you all have a Blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Julie and Kevin
Merry Christmas to all of you! We sure hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa was good to you. Most of all we hope that you remembered Jesus and wished him a Happy Birthday. :) Our Christmas was very nice. I had my side of the family over and what I enjoyed was all of us together and that we all were able to sit at the dinner table together. It was awesome! I was so excited. It doesn't take much for me to excited about those things but I had to share it with you. 
