Posted in Prayers

But first a commercial break.

First I really am BAD at self promotion. My contract says I am suppose to be good at it, but I am Not! The best I can do is put a button on my blog (and we all know someone else did that for me ) Hurricane Andrew was the Most Amazing Hand of God Experience in my life. (well that and restoring our Marriage)From the Moment Mike, Heatherlee, Matthew and I held hands in our livingroom and prayed Psalm 91 through each verse God fulfilled of it God's Might and blessing were immeasurable. This Experience is an  E-Book available on our web page http://www.mthoward.com/mybooks.htm It is called Adventures Along The Way. So for those of you that have said "I think I could walk away" this will give you step by step blueprints of what it is like.

Now back to "Mike a Pastor or Not"

God's provison for our family really did take our breath away. From having our sweet daughter with us, because if she had arrived with Hurricane Andrew on Monday morning, she would have never known where we were to being given the LAST available temp. quarters at MacDill AFB, The Last one! Considering this happened between paydays which Military families will understand we had $36.27 with us ...period! The people at MacDill were so loving and kind as we waited to figure out what we had to do next. You see, Tuesday when we woke up, we heard the newscaster say from Coral Gables "Homestead no longer exists!" Not our home and Not our Base. It took another two days for the television to tell Military personnel to head for the closest Military base.

At the Base I was surprised at what they considered critical. The most critical was PUTTING the kids is school! Really! They had just lost everything and the solution is take them away from their parents and put them in school.

We walk into a room and sit down with an Airman that looks at my husband and says "where would you like to go? Tell me in 24 hours!" "Any where in the World?" "Yes Sir, Anywhere!" The four of us set around a world map that night and sang "Hawaii, Hawaii" as we were singing it, Hurricane Iniki hit Hawaii.... Where do you evacuate to in Hawaii???? Mike had always wanted to go to Space Command in Colorado. Every time he applied it was turned down. He had been trying since Washington DC since He had become a Christian. SO we asked for Space Command and we were on our way. When we got there we discovered why he had been turned down.. there was no position for him there and they planned to send us on. Until one guy Mike had been stationed with at Homestead in a different position informed them That He is a computer guru and they needed him BAD! So we stayed, Right in the center of America away from Hurricanes!

God really wanted Mike there all along. Daily we discovered this out. When it came time for Mike's promotion board for E-8 he had every block colored in, EVERY Block. He had even written programs that are still in use today for these guys. It was a no brainer, they will sign it, we will get new orders and Mike would re-enlist. But Mike prayed....he asked God if he wanted him to get out. He took his boards and laid it on the ground like Gideon's fleece. "God there is no way they can tell me no, but if it is Your will here I am! And God listened and the pomotion board said no!  The reason will be something like non-command supportive. What that meant was when they had a fund raiser a few months earlier which was put on by Mike's Commander to raise money to send one of his troops to Kansas to get a Late term Abortion,she was 7 and 1/2 months pregnant, Mike said NO! He would not support it, He would not contribute to it and he would not attend a bar-b-que for the ultimate murder of a child.  So because he did not support "command functions" they said No.

God was saying  Yes! Yes I want you to retire, Yes I have a plan for you, YES YES YES! Our pastor had been telling (YES TELLING) Mike he was called to Pastor. MIke being the most humble man I have ever met said God would not want to use him, not with his past, so he decided since God made him a computer nerd he would just work for a "Christiam Organization" after all we were in Colorado Springs! When the job offers came in, he had an offer from Chuck Swindol to come to Orange County, a part time Job at Focus on the Family and Kaman Sciences offered him the Biggest check we had ever seen!

Where did he go, to our church as the Administrative Assistant (because God would never want him as a Pastor) and the pay??? what ever was left after the Bills and Pastor were paid. Sometimes that meant nothing.... It would be a couple years and 52 people in our home for Home fellowship before He would say yes to the Call. Maybe God could use Him, maybe God actually wanted to use him. Maybe he really does have a Pastor's heart?

He was the Assoc Pastor in Colorado for five years and then God called us back to the East Coast and he Eldered at a young Church in Maryland for three years. God finally asked Him to walk away from that and come home to his family and help out his dad...so here we are. Did I mention I used to say "Anywhere God but there?" Since we have been here, our daughter and her family moved home and as you know Sam is the Messianic Pastor Here in town and Mike is on His board as an advisor. Mike's "Sabbatical" from pastoring has been sooooooo long and I am impatient. I love sitting at his feet and yet Mike knows aything He starts on his own will fail God has to direct His steps. God always has and I have always wanted to run ahead of them both, especailly to Greece and we all know that would have ended badly!

SInce the Lord told me I would be a Pastor's wife, God has daily walked with Mike to bring Him to that place He had told me about so long ago. And every step as iIwould question My Jesus about what this was for or why we were there and why did I have to experience that...was always the same, 2 Corithians 1:2-6  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.  If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.

Thanks for walking with us along the way. Please pray about the next step we take.

because of Jesus, Bobbie