God is All

I just got back from the training at our church and I am so tired that all I want to do is cry. Now I know how babies feel. I never understood why they cried.....lol and now I know... As a personal Sarah Saenz policy I don't ever keep track of how many hours I work, but curosity got a strong hold on me and after refusing to let go, I just HAD to count. My little sister used to say, 'my arm made me do it.' I worked 35.5 hours this week at church and then come home to paint/clean/pack until about 11-12:00 every night and then wake up early and start all over again. Nobody made me work that much, but I am so driven.... I am tired, exhausted, and too wound up to sleep at night, so I sit. I think of the Israelites and their adventure to the Holy Lands. I am sure their feet hurt and they were just as exhausted and tired as I am. While I have my soft bed to toss and turn in, they had sand. After an eternity of wandering around, they crossed the Jordan with Joshua as their fearless leader. As they crossed the river, the high waters gathered at one side to allow God's people to cross safely. Reluctantly, they crossed, children most likely close to their parents sides, pondering on the "what if's" of their strange journey. Once safely across, one member of each tribe gathered a rock from the empty riverbed to place on dry land as a reminder of what God has done for them. We may not have rocks from the river bed, but our house has given us 12 reasons to be thankful.
1. We are thankful that we even got the house. Because Steve's income is so small we only qualified for a $50,000 loan. We tried everywhere, but no bank or institution was willing to give us much more. Finally, we went to God, and God gave us Angel who gave us the gift of a loan big enough to buy the house.
2. What, what? After our agent reassured us we were good, we were given 3 days to come up with $1,000. No dice for us! God gave us Steve's cousin who loaned us the money and was super patient with us as we paid him back.
3. We are thankful for our Sunday school class moved us out of the apartment and into our home, and helped us to clean the apartment.
4. After a few months living on cold cement, Sam and Angela Brown put carpet into our new home.....and we still can't thank them enough.
5. We are thankful for my pal Jenny who made our house a home by hanging up our pictures and decorating our house for us.
6. We are thankful for Kathy Suel who brought us meat and food from her garden when our cupboards were bare.
7. We are thankful for all of our old youth who came over weekly for a hot meal and warm hearts....and the Sarah Saenz laundry service.
8. We are thankful for the lessons we've been able to teach Nathan about God through all of the ways our house has blessed us.
9. We are thankful for being able to teach others about God by welcoming them into our home and giving them things they need.
10. We are thankful for Mr Burleson who fixed our air conditioning.
11. We are thankful for all of the great memories we've had in this house, for Kalea learning to walk here and for all of her teeth she cut on our windowsill. We are thankful for the nights Nathan has spent on our couch learning how to read and for the million games of hide-and-go seek we've played.
12. We are thankful that we will be able to pass this house on to another family who will be blessed with a big house for a small price. Perhaps they will be like us, unable to afford a different house, but so thankful and so very blessed by this brick house in the ghetto.