Last week (end of August) I was having a bit of a financial struggle.  My staff fees have recently gone up (this includes my room & board) by a little bit but my monthly support has gone down a little bit. This has caused me to get creative with my spending. Now I am not a frivolous person by nature but while my room & board have been covered completely, I have been receiving roughly $80 to cover all additional expenses like toiletries, laundry necessities, medicine when I'm sick, meals when I'm traveling in San Diego for business purposes. And I'll be honest, I haven't had medical insurance for this entire year because I haven't been able to afford it. 

I requested prayer in my small group for financial release and clear direction on what I needed to be doing.  The Lord immediately said for me to be real, honest and vulnerable and post something on my Missionary Support Facebook page (not my personal Facebook wall).  Below is a copy of that post, if you didn't get the chance to read it or you haven't yet LIKED that page (PS, head over & like it if you don't mind).  

I posted that on Thursday morning (around 10 my time, 12 Central), August 28, 2014.  

Almost immediately I had a response and an acquaintance from high school deposited $50 in my paypal account, within 10 mins. He also shared the post on his wall. My sister sent me a text a bit later saying that before she clicked on "read more" God told her to give $100. When she read the rest of the post & saw I needed $100 she knew it was confirmation. 

I also got an email from a company I posted some pictures to back when I still lived in Ensenada. I've sold a few postcards here & there totaling up to about $3 in the last 5 years. Yesterday I got notification that someone purchased 100+ of my postcards and the commission was $15. 

I also went to my mailbox after lunch that same day & there was a money order from a friend back home for $50. She wrote it out to me instead of our church like she normally does so she just sent it on to me directly instead.   

As I was getting dressed on Friday morning, my stepmom called. She asked if I had talked to my dad yet this week. I braced myself for news about his health or something negative but she said that a friend of theirs who is on their church board & the missions board brought up my name to be added to the missionaries that their church supports. This is a new church for my dad & step mom and I've gone once & got to speak to the youth group for Sunday school. I don't really have relationship with them but they are a missions minded church. Anyways, Freddie (the friend) requested that I receive $ starting next year as one of their sponsored missionaries. The missions board also then wanted to know what my needs were for the rest of this year to see if there was anything they could do to help me out. I told my step mom that I was currently trying to raise my support by $400 a month & was looking into several different avenues and anything that they could do to help would be greatly appreciated! She is planning to let them know. I don't know what God is going to do with that but still!!

Also, my stepmom mentioned that their business has had a few really good months recently & they were sending me a check from the business in addition to my stepmom's monthly tithe that she sends me.

Because of my obedience & willingness to be vulnerable, God opened doors & revealed things that were already in motion that I couldn't see.  In small group, we've been studying the book of Ruth.  Ruth is first & foremost a story of redemption but it is also about being obedience in the little, everyday tasks (Ruth working the harvest) and the things we don't want to do or even somethings understand (Ruth sleeping at the foot of Boaz on the Threshing Room floor). But when we step out in obedience, we allow God to move and we begin to see His hand at work all around us! 

I am blown away yet not surprised by God's hand in all of this!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!

PS, I also sold another product on my teachers pay teachers site as well bringing my total up to $2.70 (not a lot but more than I had before). And through another generous act, I am now a Young Living Essential Oils Independent Distributor.  You can find out about that on my newest section of my website. 

YAY God!! (sorry this is so long)

How many of you have tried to make a dessert from scratch? It's hard. It takes precise measurements and a lot of elbow grease to get things right. Baking really is a science, like literally.  While I love baked goods (and science), I am definitely not a baker so when I can find a super easy recipe for something so yummy, I'm all about it. Well, this is one of those simple desserts, Peach Cobbler.  Don't let the name fool you. The way I make it is just one of the countless variations on my Dump Cake.

I learned this one from Darrell Garrett, former youth pastor at a2 church in Birmingham. While on an annual spring break road trip he made this in a cast iron dutch oven buried in some hot coals left over from dinner prep. This is my take on this amazing southern dish!

Easy Recipe: Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:
a couple cans of peaches in heavy syrup (can use diced, sliced, or a combo for different textures)
1 box cake mix (yellow or white work best)
butter or margarine (can be tubed or sticks)

Directions:
Just like the dump cake, you put the peaches, syrup and all, in the bottom of the baking pan.  Sprinkle the dry cake mixture over the top covering evenly.  Dot with the butter.  Bake in the oven on 350 until top is golden brown.  

I have made this using frozen peaches as well but I made my own syrup by combining some water and sugar in the dish that I defrosted peaches in.  I did this to taste.  It turned out good but I think I much prefer the canned personally.

I am working on a few variations of this versatile dessert so stay tuned to see more of my easy desserts.  In the mean time, check out these other easy recipes.  Or you can start with these: 

• Easy Recipes: Cherry Dump Cake
• Easy Recipes: Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli

If you try it out, leave a comment below & tell me what you think. Also, what are some of your favorite easy desserts? 

We are expanding!! YAY!!!  We have outgrown our small little preschool trailer and now have too many school aged staff kids and DTS kids.  This is very exciting but also means that we have to find more teachers & more space.  YIKES!! 

No worries, our campus is expanding as well! We are almost completely finished with our newest building & have in fact already started moving some of our offices & classrooms over there.  This new building looks just like the onion/meringue-looking building to the right of our preschool trailer in the picture above but is now directly behind the preschool.  Now these classrooms aren't for our students, no, these classrooms are for our DTS, Bible School, Community Transformations and Development School, and the others we hope to start soon.  These classrooms are for the adults.  

With the added classrooms behind us, this frees up a classroom in front of us.  Last year we reconfigured the original meeting place on our campus into 2 separate classrooms with a game room and hangout space in between. We took this extra large tent and built walls and a ceiling creating a very nice place for our adult students to study in.  Well, now that they are moving, we get to take one of those classrooms as our new K-12 school! (well, the beginnings of our new K-12 school anyways.  

I am so very excited about the possibilities that this will give us.  Now, my mind is looking for creative ways to create an inviting space for kids ages 6-16 and grades Kindergarten to High School all in the same room! Not as easy as it sounds!!  

Below are a few BEFORE pictures.  Hopefully by the end of next week, I'll have some pretty awesome AFTER pics to show you! 

To see the pics & read more of this story, click here.  Also, make sure you check out my newest section of the website, School Resources.  A few weeks ago, I was thinking of how my life has changed & my ministry has changed.  I am now focused more on Preschool & teaching and creating fun activities and worksheets and thought I should share them with those who are also in the teaching profession.  Plus this is an awesome way to reach out using these resources to share about our ministries here.