The Trip is Approved for Us To Go To Moldova.

We just received word from our Pastor that our trip to Moldova has been approved. The tickets are being finalized tomorrow. Praise the Lord.

Closer to ticket purchase

We are getting closer to purchasing our tickets. We know we can get them and how much they cost. The questions in the past two days have been. Can we stop in Germany and visit Adam and Laura at Black Forest Academy? Our flight takes us to Frankfurt which is not at all close to Black Forest Academy. We discovered that it is cost prohibitive for us to take a train to see Adam and Laura. So, our next question was, what about spending two nights in Frankfurt before coming back to the United States? We have found reasonable accommodations. Now we have to wait and see if our church approves our tickets and trip. There will be a meeting Tuesday regarding that. We know we will be flying from Phoenix to Chicago to Frankfurt to Chisinau.
It is in the Lord's hands. We are getting excited. Neither one of us has ever been out of the United States. This will be quite a trip for us.

Life is Interesting.

Life is interesting because it appears as if the Lord has provided the money for us to go to Moldova. We have to get the final tally, hopefully, tomorrow. We need to purchase our tickets for the trip. I need to find a job. I am applying for jobs, but it is doubtful anyone will hire me because I have a commitment to leave the country for 3-4 weeks. If they won't hire me will it prevent me from being hired in the future. We need prayer for wisdom. The Lord has it all in control, but it is hard to know what He is doing.

Belated

Hello,
Obviously I am very behind on blogging. I have been very busy since August. I took a 4 unit class at GCC in Accounting and book keeping. It was a hard class and took a lot of time. I fell behind in almost every area of my life. My house, blogging, socializing, blogging, book keeping, blogging. You get the idea. Well, I passed the class with flying colors. Thank the Lord and my study buddies. Then on Nov. 6th Skip and I headed for Northern California in anticipation of the arrival of our grandson. God's timing was perfect. We drove 11 hours, stayed up all night while Joy labored and heard Anthony Steven Olla cry for the first time. That was the most amazing experience in my life. What a blessing. Anthony weighed in at 7lbs. 9oz. and was 20.5 inches long. He is not yet two months old and has gained 3lbs and grown 3 inches. He is having some trouble with colic. The dr. says he should do better after his 3rd month. He will be going to a Kidango program on the Ohlone College Campus where Joy works. He will start the beginning of February. Momma Joy and Daddy Phil are enjoying their new son.

We learned the middle of December that the gym I have been working at for almost three years is closing. My last night is Dec. 30th. I am losing my job. It is sad because I have made some great friends at the gym. I really have enjoyed that job and will be sorry to not meet the ladies there night after night. The Lord opened another job for me though. In addition to working at the gym I have been taking care of Ben Robinson. He is an active 22 month old boy whose 3 year old brother has cancer. It is a blessing to watch him and be able to help the Robinsons. I will continue watching Ben until the Robinson's don't need me anymore. Then I will probably look for full time work.

Lord willing Skip and I are going to Moldova at the end of April or May. We will see where the Lord leads with that.

The economy has made life challenging with our business. Work for Skip has been hit or miss. We need more work to stay afloat. It will be interesting to see how God works out the financial details for Moldova as well as for maintaining our finances at home while we are gone. We are willing to go to Moldova, if the Lord wants us to go. He will need to work out the details, because they are beyond us.

We had a quiet Christmas at home in our PJ's. We loved it. We usually invite people over, but this time we just relaxed. It was wonderful. My brother, his wife and mother-in-law are coming to visit tomorrow thru Saturday. We will spend New Years with them touring Sedona. We are looking forward to that.

So, school ended, and now my job is ending and the year is coming to a close. I will be interested to see where this next year leads us. We are here by God's design. His will doesn't lead us where His grace cannot keep us. We know we live and serve where God has planted us. We are trying to trust Him for His leading in this next year.

God Bless you and have a Happy New Year.

Licenses/Passports

Well, life has been very busy for the Ragans, as usual. Skip and I completed our 15 hour motorcycle training/skills class and test last weekend. It was much more intense and exhausting than we thought it would be. It was also invaluable information and practice. Now we are fully licensed for the motorcycles. Speaking of licenses, Lord Willing, Skip will be receiving his 2 contractor's licenses in the next two weeks. They are in a mandatory 10 day waiting period before being released. That is a huge Praise to the Lord! A lot of hard work has gone into Skip getting these licenses. We will let you know when he receives them.

We received our passports in the mail the other day. As Jennifer said, "you are now free to move about the world." In between all of this we have been working and entertaining over night guests. Our best friends daughter and son-in-law stopped in overnight Monday evening. We had a great visit. They are on their way to Germany, for one year, to teach in a school that teaches missionary kids. This weekend Skip's brother and his wife are coming through to spend the night. We are so glad we bought a house with a spare room for guests. We enjoy having people stay with us. Besides that, keeping busy keeps us out of trouble, well maybe. :-)

Lots Done

Due to the strength that Jesus gives, we have accomplished much the first three days of this week. We had our appointment for our passports on Tuesday. We made a trip to Costco and stocked the pantry and freezer, in between answering business calls and making business calls. We finished the stack of paperwork necessary to apply for two contractor's licenses and had one meeting regarding that. The final meeting is today. Oh, and did I mention we both worked as well. It is only Thursday morning. I am moving slowly today. I am thanking the Lord for a slower day. :-)
Jennifer is feeling better, although she is still sore.
Joy and the baby are doing well. He is growing at the appropriate rate and so is she. :-)
Have a great day!

Jennifer

Hi all,
Tuesday we have an appointment at the Post Office to apply for our Passports. Another step closer.
We had a good time on the 4th of July. We had the Nelson's, Yvonne and Holly over. We ate, played Apples to Apples and watched the fireworks.
This morning we had a little scare. Jennifer woke up with extreme abdominal pain. She was bent over, white as a sheet, sweaty and had dry heaves. I took her to emergency and Skip met me there. Jennifer is very tolerant to pain and she was complaining so I knew it was serious. The attending assistant Physician thought it was either a kidney stone or her appendix. She was leaning toward a kidney stone, based on the site of the pain. Two and a half hours later, the tests were all done and they came back showing everything was fine. By then the pain had subsided some. So, bottom line is, either she passed a small stone here at home, or she had something going on with her ovaries. We are not sure. She is very sore in her lower abdominal region, but her color is fine. Poor Jenn. So, I thought I would let you know. We have been laying low for the rest of the day.