His Mercies are new every morning!

Looking back at the past year (or few years for Jesse and I) it has been an adventure! God’s plan for us has shown to be, as it always does, much bigger than the plans that Jesse or I had for ourselves.  In the last few blogs we explained a little bit about the amazing journey that God has taken us on, and looking back at the HUGE changes that have happened (even in the past year) we are so excited to see God’s plan unfold in 2012.

Baby Update: The baby is doing just great! The pregnancy has been such a blessing, and I couldn’t have asked for a better or more amazing experience!  We were able to find out that it is a little boy, and my due date is now February 26^th! This puts me at the 38.5-week mark right now, and we couldn’t be more excited for his arrival!  We decided to name him Benaiah Daniel.  Benaiah was one of King David’s warriors in the Old Testament, and has a pretty cool short story in 2 Samuel 23 if you want to look it up! (Thanks again PK for the series on that – I couldn’t have ever agreed on a name like Noah or Caleb ;) )  But I LOVE being a stay at home wife and mom-to-be! I could not be more blessed to have a husband like Jesse who is working so hard to provide for our family!

Jesse and I have been trying out churches since we moved west.  Although it has been discouraging at times, we recently started going to a church that will be our home church while in Albuquerque.  The weekly women’s bible study started 2 weeks ago, and I have already been blessed by meeting the women in the class!  God is so good!

Jesse’s contract for Albuquerque is one year long, so hopefully by June we will know a little more about whether we will be blessed to be in Albuquerque for another year, moving somewhere else with Jesse’s current employer, or if God has another plan altogether! Whatever happens – we know that God is working all things together for our good.  Wherever we go we know that God is with us, and that His plan is the perfect plan.  Sometimes it is hard not knowing what is coming – but I have learned that it really is best for me to only have enough light for the step I’m on.  If I know more of the plan I can try to control the situation and lean less on the Lord’s guidance and provision.

I will try to update this more often during 2012 – I’m better at updating with pictures ;) but if you ever wonder what the Harshes are up to feel free to message or call us!  In everything we have to remember that God will supply all of our needs according to HIS riches, (Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus) and that He has a plan for every step we take. (Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”)

How He loves us!

These past few weeks have been a little different, with Jesse in New Mexico and me in Ohio, but God has definitely blessed me with a support team of friends and family, and it has been an exciting couple of weeks.  

Buddy and I were able to visit Tracy and Jason Gabrick in Indiana over Labor Day weekend.  What a blessing! Buddy loved spending time with other dogs, and I was so happy to get to see my Boo and Jason! They showed me tons of great places to eat in Indiana, and their church was great as well!  It really was a blessing to be able to see them before Buddy and I make our trek back West.

Last Saturday, our church had a car wash "Washing for Wells" to build wells in Zambia, to give clean drinking water to so many who have to go without. Wow!  God definitely can multiply the little that we bring him!  Although the car wash was not as busy as we were hoping, by the last count I believe that we had raised enough for THREE wells! With donations still coming in!!

That night, Kendra invited me to go to Get Real, InC.  (That stands for Get Real in Christ).  It is a ministry for middle and high school girls here in Findlay.  Girls gave their testimonies, and it was a great night of getting girls together and worshipping God.  While there, Kendra and I started talking with some women from The Women's Resource Center, and we told them a little about us, the bullet points of the places Jesse and I have lived (and will be living soon).  Then Kendra told them about Peanut, and they were so happy for us! :)

One of the women working there, Linda told us about a Heartbeat Bill that they are trying to get passed which would make it illegal in Ohio to have an abortion after you could detect a fetal heartbeat.  Right now abortion is legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy (http://www.ohiolife.org/ohio-abortion-law/).  Linda asked if I would be interested in coming to Columbus to have an ultrasound on Peanut as part of the presentation of the bill.  Of course I agreed!! What an amazing opportunity!  They were looking for someone around 15 weeks, and I will be 16 weeks and 5 days on Tuesday! 

What an amazing God we serve, and how humbling that I can even be a part of it!  I spoke with her today, and she is going to be sending me an email with all of the information, but in case Peanut is shy, or they can't see Peanut as well as they would like, there will be another girl or two who they will have so that we can use the strongest case possible for presentation.  But even if Peanut and I don't end up being the ultrasound on the big screen, I am SO excited to go down and pray for and support this bill!  Kendra and I (and anyone else who would like to join!) will be heading down on Tuesday morning!  All of your prayers are needed! 

God's timing is perfect.  When Jesse and I decided that we would let God truly write the story of family, we had no idea that the Women's Resource Center would need a pregnant lady about 15 weeks along, to come and support the heartbeat bill.  When we found out in our first ultrasounds that we were not as far along as we thought, the nurse said that it was due to delayed or late ovulation.  Little did she (or we) know that it was actually perfectly timed Peanut! Esther 4:14 and Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 definitely show themselves true. As God is always true, always good, and always perfect!

Our adventure part 2

I know its kind of lengthy but we feel we needed to get the rest of it out there asap.

About a month later, in the middle of May, Jesse's mom's cancer began to get worse.  Although they tried to keep her at home, she was too sick to stay without doctors or nurses being around to make sure she was doing ok.  When Jesse's mom was moved to hospice, Jesse tried to take off as much time as he could from work.  Although he was able to take a week off without pay, the hospital would not let him take anymore time off.  Thankfully, Jesse was able to switch his shift to thirds while his mom was in the hospital, so that he was able to visit her during the day, and stay with her as much as he could during his shift at night.  On June 18th, Jesse got the call that his mom had passed away.  She was finally at peace.  It was such a hard time for everyone, but God had blessed Jesse's mom by bringing her Home that night.  On the 21st was the visitation, and on the 22nd was the funeral.  We were visited and blessed by so many caring friends and family, it was amazing!  God gave us strength and helped us get through that very rough time.  

On Father's day (June 19th the day after his mom passed. God's timing and Love is truly amazing!), I found out that I was pregnant!  Just about 4 weeks (most likely).  I took 3 tests that day, and about 1 test a day after that until the box ran out.  We were so excited to be blessed with something that we have both been looking forward to for our entire marriage.  Jesse was able to find out on his very first of many Father's days.  God had a plan for little 'Peanut' from day 1 and we were already excited about the chance to be parents.  Excited about the future, and the adventure that God would give us with a baby! We couldn't keep the good news in.  We told A LOT of people right away, and I was very excited to get the chance to tell my family in person. 

The week of the 22nd I was also able to go to California to visit my family, and be (one of 2) Maids of Honors at Tracy Gabrick's wedding.  That week in and of itself was a blessing, such a great time to spend with family.  To rejoice over the blessing of new life, and begin getting excited about the start of our family.  Tracy and Jason's wedding was amazing!  It was in a beautiful winery, I got to see a lot of old friends, dance, talk, and enjoy a weekend with some of my best friends.  On Sunday, at me and my twin sister Alex's  birthday party, I was able to tell my family and some friends who were there as well.  Everyone was so excited, and couldn't wait to see the first pictures of Peanut.  ( Note:  If it's a boy the name will surely be Beniah. I mean seriously he chased a lion into a pit and choke slammed it.  Who wouldn't want to name their child after him?  :)  Love you Val!  )  

Jesse was offered a position to work with his Uncle, in his construction/roofing/home improvement business. This job was a risk in the terms that there were no guaranteed hours and no benefits. We prayed, sought council and made our choice that this is the leap that God wanted us to take.  God's timing is always perfect, and was again in this case!  Jesse was able to put his notice in at the hospital, go to a week long leadership conference in Kansas (He would not have been able to if he had still worked at Blanchard Valley), and get some time to learn more and grow with God before starting his position with his Uncle.  Also during this hectic time of vacations, time off, switching jobs, and going with small paychecks, God paid all the bills! It shouldn't surprise us anymore, God is always faithful, even when we are faithless! His blessings and provisions have been laid on top of the other and sometimes we still are anxious for the future! What are we thinking?!

We got our first ultrasound done when I was only 7 weeks along.  We got to both hear and see Peanut's heartbeat, we received pictures, and the doctor said that everything looked great.  What a blessing!!  Peanut's heartbeat was strong, about 162 beats/minute!  Although Peanut just looked like a little blob, we were so blessed to call Peanut our baby!  

We were excited for Peanut's arrival already, my due date is March 1st, and so we started to talk about the future, and different options that we would have for Peanut's arrival.  Jesse's dream has been to have a job to be able to provide for his family, and allow his wife to be a stay at home mom.  Although it did not look like that was God's plan at the moment, Jesse continued to pray about the future and our family.  He also prayed that God would provide a way for us to get out of debt.  Jesse's heart is 100% to giving to God and people in need, and he wanted to be able to do that more, without being hindered by the debt or payments that we have to make to credit cards, student loans, and cars.  Neither of us knew what the future held, but both kept praying and trusting that God had a perfect plan.

My dream, and my passion has always been wanting to be a stay at home mom.  I struggled a lot with the aspect of not being able to do that with Peanut, and there was a lot of praying, and trying to understand and come to terms with the fact that 1) God's Will is always Best 2) God is always good!  God was able to give me peace, that if I was not able to stay at home with Peanut, that it would be because God had a better plan for our family.  On Wednesday night, I finally felt peace that I only knew one step of the plan (the step that was right in front of me!) and that God's Will was best.  I was ok at only knowing right now.

On Thursday of that week, Jesse received a phone call from an HR Rep with a DOD company who had a job opportunity in Albuquerque, NM.  This was not a totally unusual; Jesse had received calls and interest from companies in the past, but God has closed the door on each of those opportunities.  We prayed from the very first call that if God’s will was to move us, that He open each door wide, and give us peace about another cross-country move.  From that day everything with the job started falling into place.  The ‘interview’ (in quotes because the hiring manager called him and pretty much offered him the position on the spot) went through without a hitch, we received the tentative offer letter Monday, and Jesse initiated the BG check, drug check, and physical.  We were so amazed at how everything happened.  Definitely not by the work of our hands!  Jesse found out that his start date would be August 22nd, and that benefits would start right away.  At this time the job with his uncle was going great and the hours were there, but the week to follow, one thing happened after another and the work hours disappeared.  Again what amazing timing and Love from the Lord Almighty!  Praise the Lord forever and ever!   

So we looked into whether or not my work would be willing to let me work remote, from New Mexico, doing phone interviews and admin work.  The door was closed on that opportunity, but God provided Jesse’s job with enough compensation that I can stay home and take care of the house, Jesse, Peanut, and Buddy.  On Monday of this week, Jesse began looking into a place for us to live, and (as has been the pattern) God just blessed him with an amazing find! He spoke with the landlord the same day, and a place that is just perfect for us is opening in Mid-August.  They also agreed to let Jesse stay in a smaller place until the bigger home was ready to move in.  Blessing on top of blessing!  Jesse’s last day in Ohio is August 21st, but I am staying until September 23rd, so that I can work, and Jesse can get settled there.  Tomorrow is me and Peanut’s 3 month check up! We can use all of your prayers as we make sure that Peanut is developing healthy and strong!

Not every move that God makes can we so clearly see his blessing or his plan.  So many things have happened in the last year a half to grow our faith, our trust in God, and our dependence on him.  Without change, there is no growth, and we have had to come to terms with that a lot.  God is always good, and His will is always perfect.  We are so blessed to have been given so many gifts and adventures so far, and we are really excited to see what He has in store for us in New Mexico!  So blessed to have so many friends and family support us and encourage us on our journey!  We could not have done this without your help! Thank you all sooo much!  Praise the Lord!!

Our adventure part 1

We decided to start this blog because God has moved us (literally and figuratively)so much in the past year and a half that we wanted to be able to spread the word!  Since we met in 2009 it has been an adventure, and we know that God's plans for our lives were much bigger than the plans that we had for ourselves.  While living in Washington we started praying about where God would want to move us, because although God had provided a perfect place for us to meet and start our lives together, we could feel him preparing us for change. At the end of September 2010, Jesse found out that his mom's fight against cancer was becoming harder, and we both felt peace about moving to Ohio without jobs, and without a plan of our own.  We both put in our two weeks, gave our notice at our apartment complex, and set off (in the middle of the night - in the rain) with our u-haul trailer and Buddy. (Note:  Buddy decided 5 minutes into the drive that his breakfast would look better in our backseat. What a great start haha )

Although the trip was a rough 45 hour drive, we made it! We got to Ohio and God continued to pour blessing on top of blessing in our lives.  Jesse's parents allowed us to stay with them until we got our feet on the ground.  God paid our bills for over 2 months while neither of us had jobs!  He blessed us with good friends, an amazing church that we were able to get involved in right away, and nearby family.

At the end of December, I was called and offered a position with Blanchard Valley, in the registration department.  I was so excited, and although it was considered a 'casual position' where hours were not guaranteed, we knew that God would provide everything we needed.  From December through February, I was getting full time hours at the hospital.  During that time, Jesse became involved in the sound ministry at Church.  He learned the soundboard, went to worship practices, and tried to help out at much as he could, including God's use of Jesse's truck to help people move, drive through snow and flood waters.  

At the end of February, my hours started to get cut back at the hospital, as training was ending, and casual employment would begin.  Well of course, God knew this way ahead of us (as He planned it in the way only He could) and I was offered a job at The Right Thing.  Because you are able to build your own schedule and availability, I was blessed to work both positions for about 2 months.  In March, Jesse was also offered a job, in the maintenance department of Blanchard Valley Hospital.  Although it was not his dream job, it was definitely a blessing, and sent from the Lord at the perfect time.  With the blessing of both of our jobs, I was able to quit my casual employment with Blanchard Valley, and we began praying and looking for a place of our own.

After looking at apartment prices, and the prices of monthly mortgages in the area, we decided that we wanted to buy a house.  We began working with a local realtor from our church, and even had a loan that had been bank approved.  After looking at only a few houses, we found one that we really liked.  Although we wanted to make an offer, we both wanted to think about it over the weekend.  God moved Jesse's heart in a different direction that weekend, and blessed us with a 2 bedroom house in Rawson.  Our friends Andrew and Alicia blessed us by letting us rent the house. We were in a place of our own! The house was such a blessing, and on top of that, we were showered with furniture to fill the house!  So many people from the church and from our group of friends were able to bless us with free couches, chairs, tables, bed, dressers and more!  God had provided us a place to rest both in our home, and with our friends in Ohio.  It was truly a blessing, and we both felt that God had definitely brought us there.  

We will post the second part later this week…..stay tuned!  Cliche?