August 28, 2023

I realized I'M NOT WRITING YOU LETTERS! We just talk, but I haven't written you letters. This week has been amazing. I have some stories to share. HOW ARE YOU DOING? HOW ARE THINGS? HOW IS YOUR HEART? You are INCREDIBLE. I love you SO MUCH I have two stories to share this week: 1. My trailer started on fire. The axle broke, then the wheel laid into the wheel carriage, then the fire started and smoke was pouring out, and I was nearly to the freeway entrance under an overpass and there was nowhere to pull off. I pulled up on the sidewalk. I called Jeff and he said to wait for him. I decided to return a call from a neighbor I am close to. She isn't a religious woman, swears like a sailor, but I love her and we are dear friends. I help her sew up the overalls for her short little dad who will only wear overalls even though they turn his undies blue. Anyhoo, I called her back because I was just sitting on the side of the freeway entrance and the fire had gone out, so....we were chatting and I told her the situation and she shared that: 1. Her husband knows exactly how to fix trailers in worse situations than mine. 2. He was just finishing mowing HIS LAST LAWN because he's quitting the mowing business and starting a MACHINE REPAIR BUSINESS 3. He happened to be 3 miles from us finishing that lawn. SO, Jeff came, we babied the truck to a safe place, and Bill (her husband) knew exactly what to do to fix things. There was a load of three yards of topsoil in the trailer so they had to jack it up with 6000 pounds in it-AND- the axle was so bad it needed to be severed completely. THEN THE MIRACLES CONTINUE- A guy just happened to drive by that Bill had TRAINED to fix trailers-and he just happened to STOP and also just HAPPENED to have the exact tool needed to sever the axel AT HIS SHOP 3 MINUTES AWAY, and was willing to go get it-axle severed, tied up (which jeff said he could not have done himself), topsoil returned, trailer emptied, trailer brought home, then Bill volunteered to let us borrow his freakin awesome trailer and continue our work until he can fix ours for about a third of the cost of taking it to the trailer repair place. I only talk to Mary Lou once every 3 or 4 months. Albert Einstein said— 'There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.' I choose the second. Second story: Last night we were able to give $1001.37 to the sweetest lady who has been in the US for about 48 hours. She fled Venezuela and walked through ten countries with no shoes, often no food, and some in her group of underground railroad fleeing refugees did not make it. Our donations from Fiddler on the Roof, a beautiful refugee story, had been saved to find a refugee family to bless. I was going to go through the Catholic Community Services but in order to access their refugee pool I had to commit to serve like 20 hours a week, and refugees coming through their service have their physical needs met. I was praying to find the person whom Jesus would like to have that money and they were praying in gratitude that she had arrived but hoping for help as she had nothing and the spirit said "Call Nelsa". It was amazing last night. She and her sister were both weeping and Nelsa said, "tonight i believe in God more than I ever have. Amazing. Wonderful." She will use the money to try and get her daughters here. Christensen Fam: Seth Starts his squashmore year this morning! Abby Hunt in our neighborhood is going to drive him to school. My baby is in highschool. The theater academy got a letter yesterday and was asked to come back to the Special Olympics. We've had baby Marcus this week-HEAVEN. Seth would have 45 more minutes a day if I took the mirror down in the family room. We had a Christmas party for the sweetest guy that has been working with us but is going home to Chile to prepare for his mission, and started the house on fire. I think that is about all of our news. I just want to testify that Jesus is real and prayers are heard. Fresh starts, new sunrises, forgiveness, goals, clean slates, repentance, a God who cares about the details of the details of the details. HOW ARE YOU DOING? HOW ARE THINGS? HOW IS YOUR HEART?