My 50th Birthday

Hi everybody. I am now 50 years old as Jan. 19th was my birthday. It was not what I had thought over the years that my 50th would be like but it was a sweet day. My precious husband and sons did all in their power to make it a happy one. David had sent out the word and asked for cards so I have received close to 50 cards over the last week and a half! When I got up , he had put signs all over the house wishing me a wonderful day. they were all different and I plan to keep them with all the beautiful and fun cards that I got. I made raspberry muffins, sausage and scrambled eggs for brunch and then , because the car had broken down the day before and was at the shop, our pastor picked me up and took me to the college to teach my class. My class went VERY well, PTL, and one of my students walked in saying "Happy Birthday!" with a cake in her hands. She and her 4 yr.old son had made it for me. Yum. While I was at school, Ezra, with a little help from Stephen, made me a cake! When I got home we sat and opened the 10 cards that had arrived that day and in the one from my friend Joanne, was a 20 dollar bill. We were tickled because we were able to order Pizza delivered to our home for my birthday dinner. Then of course we had the delicious birthday cake that Ezra had made. YUMMY!! I felt very blessed to have 3 such precious men loving me and helping me celebrate my special day!

Our son Jim put a cute birthday message for me on his blog that let me know he was thinking of me, too. On the day after my birthday, I got 9 more cards, one which was from our daughter, Tamela and her hubby, Josh. I also got to talk with my mom who had tried to call me on my birthday, but her phone wasn't working right. The car was all fixed so I got to go to work at the restaurant. During the evening they presented me with a cake that said Happy 50th Birthday, Rebecca! So, in all i got THREE cakes! We are enjoying the one made at home, I let the girl who brought the one to class take home what was left, and I left the one from work there, to enjoy with the crew tonight.

hope i haven't bored you with too many details. I am actually feeling pretty good today after a couple weeks of a cold, fighting depression and a bad back. We are trying to keep our hearts and minds stayed on Jesus. Sig Feser sent us an article about a company in Germany that won't tolerate any whining or complaining! I wish I could control my tongue so totally that I never whined or complained!!

blessings to you all in my 50th year! :>)

Rebecca

First class went well

Well, I taught my first PreK Curriculum and Methods class today at NSCC. I was nervous because the class is 3 hrs. long, but despite not being as organized as I would like to be, it went ok. I only have 5 students so I took 3 of the two person desks and arranged them in a triangle. I set up one with all my stuff and they sat at the other two. I know that 4 of them are going to be fun to teach and one of them will def. be a challenge as she leans toward thinking she already knows all she needs to. so I am setting a goal to try to teach in a way that even she will go away having learned something.

One week from today i will be 50. wow! I am beginning to feel it, haha. Tonight I am really tired but wanted to let you all know that the Lord helped me get thru the first class.

Jim called last night and he and Sarah found out that their baby is a boy. He is very excited as this will be the 5th generation of the first born child being a son.

We are still waiting to find out what Tammy and Josh are having. :>)

bless you all,
rebecca

Decisions, Decisions....

Know how it feels to be "stuck between a rock and a hard place"? There are a number of tough choices we need to make in the upcoming weeks, and they seem to be really hard calls on our part. # 1: I need to find a job...somewhere! But jobs that fit my physical conditions are rather hard to come by. May the Lord give us imagination and favor in finding something...Soon. #2: Rebecca has been getting more and more "flak" at her restaurant job, plus it bothers her a lot physically (she being a small-ish woman, and the lifting hurts her arms). Her college jobs will certainly pay more than what she currently makes, but should she quit the bothersome job before I have a job to help things out? #3: I've been going through some sort of depression/oppression lately, and it makes it even harder for me to go out looking for a job. How does one "sell oneself" to a potential employer when one has trouble believing in oneself in the first place? It's a viscious cycle - I feel bad about myself, but I need to get a job, but I can't find one, so I feel bad about myself, .... See what I mean? HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS RUT? <[I'm open to suggestions!] I'm trying to do all that God has shown me to do thus far, although occasional personal sin throws me for a loop in the midst of this {I'm in the clear right now}.

Pray for us as a family, that we will be able to get out of our "comfort zones" and continue to step out in faith. We need to get out and share our Missions Vision more, a portion of our life we've been far too lax in, and we need to keep raising support for when we DO go to Africa. Our financial supporters have been slipping away, bit by bit, and we're not replacing them. Yes, God IS the Provider in ALL these things, but we also need to walk out what He requires of us. It's way too easy to get into the habit of getting so used to where we are in life that we never want to move on; in our case, we Do want to move on, yet it looks like it's not enough to do more to see it happen. May He graciously kick us in the seat of our pants to get us going!

We thank you for your prayer support, and if you ARE members of our present financial team, God bless you - keep hanging in there with us! David

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2006

Well, here we are at the beginning of a new year and it looks like 2006 might be a VERY full one! Some of the events that will be happening, Lord willing, in our family this year:

I am thrilled to begin teaching PreK Methods and Curriculum class at Northwest State Community College in Archbold (no i, :>) , Ohio on Jan. 12th. This is a dream of mine and the Lord gave it to me with no effort on my part. Praise Him!

I turn 50 on Jan. 19th.

We will all mourn the death of our precious Susan Miller who would have been 18 on Jan. 20th. (I was wishing that I could take her out to a restaurant to celebrate our two landmark birthdays together, but I will rejoice with her that she gets to be with the one who gave her life and let us all enjoy her for a time. "We miss you, Susan!")

We will celebrate Mom and Dad Miller's 50th anniversary which is Mar.4th.

In May and June our precious daughter Tammy and hubby, Josh and our wonderful son Jim and his wife,Sarah will give birth to their first child each. We will become grandparents!! Stephen and Ezra are very excited about being uncles as well.

July 1st will be Stephen's 13th birthday and we will begin the teen years with our third of four. He is a wonderful boy who loves Jesus and strives daily to live in a Christlike way. We look forward to watching him grow into manhood.

Sometime in July or August we hope to make that postponed trip to Tanzania for 2 or 3 weeks. It looks like we will be going without the boys as the mission board believe we could get more accomplished and then be better able to help Stephen and Ezra adjust when we go for the 2 year stint.

I hope that at some point this year we will be able to share with you that David has found a job and loves it. I hope that the college wants me to teach again in the fall. I hope that I will be a more Godly witness at my places of work, namely Bob Evans Restaurant and NSCC. I hope and pray for salvation for a number of my co-workers. I hope that David and I will get a handle on raising the money to go to Africa and that the Lord will use us to further His kindom. We are reading a good book that is teaching us what Joyce Hunniford taught us years ago, that "Where God guides, He provides." I hope that the boys will learn all that they can as we continue homeschooling and that the Lord will provide more good friends for them.

nuff for now. we all love you all!!!

blessings in the new year,
rebecca