A Journey of Faith – Dancing Shoes – Journey Deeper

I wanted to share a Christmas letter with you that blessed me so much as a  “Standing Stone” of God’s  miraculous provision and faithfulness. Thanks so much Nancy Z. for putting on your dancing shoes!

2014 and the Terrible, Horrible, Seemingly Impossible, Very Tough Year…

…our story begins on a wind-whipped California Wednesday, late in Dec of 2013 …my “ford tough” truck, after a brave and extended battle, was pronounced DOA..the life was gone, along with my one and only form of transportation….and before I finished processing my vehicular predicament, I rec’d a letter that knocked my feet out from under me…sent my mind swirling into a dizzying array of panicked thoughts that started with “this is impossible” to “there is no way on earth I can do this”

…see in my efforts to pay off the debts from my closed business of ’08, I had fallen behind on my property taxes…and the letter from my mortgage company stated they had graciously paid off what I owed to the state of California…sounds awesome right? Ah, yes…until you read the fine print and study their mathematical equation for repayment and realize they had taken the amount owed and divide it by 12 months

(one-terrible-horrible year) and then added that amount to my monthly mortgage payment…

…now, this is where some of you are thinking, “well, suck it up…things could be worse…it’s just money” and

you are right…there is so many more horrible things in our world…but for a self-employed- singe mom- helping put her kid through college-working as a photographer in a economy where gas, food, & clothes are a family’s highest priority and selfies on phones are now all the rage …the close to a $1000 extra added to my monthly payment, along with an impending car payment, was a mountain for me who’s heights rivaled that of Mt. Whitney and one that I was not financially in shape enough to climb.

…so I did the only thing I could do…cried…complained…worried…ate ice-cream… called my mortgage company and begged for more creative math, like dividing by 24 or 36 instead of 12…but nothing helped…until I did the only thing I should have done in the first place…I prayed…I called out to God..

I poured out my heart…my worries…my situation…and He, in his infinite wisdom…smiled…wrapped His arms around me …and said “Trust Me…I am bigger than the mountain…I’ve got this…so get up…work ..serve and obey.” And I did just that…and though I couldn’t “see” how it was going to be possible…I had to rest in knowing that God keeps his promises. So…

…on a chilly, January day, 2014, I clicked “pay now” on the first mountainous mortgage payment…

…by April, with a car payment now added to my list of expenses, mountainous mortgage payment number 4 was paid…

…after the frightfully dry summer months which tested my faith, August brought along a load of work and more payments were made…

…October saw my income slow… and despite the very visible, very faithful provision of the past months, my footing started to slip on this mountainous climb….worry furrowed my brow and “impossible”colored my language…again… and I didn’t know how I’d finish out the year…ah…see what I did? I didn’t know how “I’d” finish the year…so after being denied by a home-modification program for not making enough money to qualify (?? go figure)…God said, “You need to TRUST me…I still have this.”

…so now…as I type this letter on a rainy December morning…one year later…I have a safe & reliable car…I still have a roof over my head….I continue to take pictures for a living …my son-Jacob-is doing well in his third year of college in Texas…I still serve my kids at BSF and the sports teams at OC…and the mountain is but a mole hill as only one payment remains…yes, only ONE!

How? Well glad you ask because it it the point of the story…and here it is…simply said…

…BUT GOD!

The Glory for the Story belongs to God and God alone!

God is the God of the impossible! God is Sovereign! God abounds in love and faithfulness!

Listen…Life is tough, folks! And sometimes the mountains are allowed into our life so GOD can teach us

to Trust Him as HE moves the mountain, in HIS time and in HIS way! GOD is in Control! So with my

faith in THE ONE who is bigger than the mountains of life, GOD provided abundantly…

(Think Fishes & Loaves!) through my photography & my awesome customers, through the monies that “just appeared” in my bible study bag and through the generous hearts of friends & family… 2014 turned into one

Truly Amazing, Perfectly Possible, God-Glorifying, Very Wonderful Year!

Merry Christmas, Nancy

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26