Provision-y stuff and an Octopus

We are busy cleaning and packing plus doing Hanukkah (not to mention family Christmas stuff.) In the meantime God has been blessing us in a variety of ways, including the above marzipan recipe which makes it much cheaper and thus lets Rach sculpt to her hearts content.

• We managed to get rid of 6 garbage bags full of sheets, blankets, and books– which means less stuff to pack!  YAH!
• The kids have been a great help with packing things up, especially since I keep getting minor injuries that are forcing me to stop and rest.
• We bought the kids 1 gift for each day of Hanukkah and it has been so peaceful and enjoyable.  Instead of a pile of presents the kids are really focusing on their one gift and enjoying it, which has been a huge change of events.  In the past a stuffed Mario or book would have been tossed aside when the bigger, cooler gifts come out but this year they are enjoying each to the fullest.
• The peace that Hanukkah has brought has especially blessed me as I normally go crazy during the holidays, preferring to hole up in a corner with a book and avoid all the chaos.  This is especially good considering all the other stuff going on.
• The Lord is continuing to take care of us financially.  We have been waiting, praying and trusting and He is making our money go much further than we could have imagined.
• I got a God-gift today (usually around the holidays and my birthday the Lord blesses me with something that is exactly what I wanted, something just perfect that blesses me in a huge way– I always call them God-gifts…because they are obviously a perfect special thing just from Him to me.)  Today, Rach and I ran to the thrift shop to drop off the bags of stuff.  While there we were checking for something she was looking for and while she was looking at something else she ran across a food processor in the wrong spot.  We had just been talking about how little time this one has left (I have burned them out in less than a week and our current one is used and was missing the shredding/slicing blade.)  The one she found was a perfect match to my current one (which was a thrifted gift from a friend) and it included a non-broken bowl and the blade I needed.  This means I can use the current one till I burn it out and have a backup.  Plus I now have two bowls and mixing blades!  We are all so excited because I have been wanting to make sauerkraut and other ferments again and really needed that blade (due to my RA cutting and grating are pretty much out so without a food processor that works well I can’t make a lot of our foods.)   Someday we will have the money to get me a good one again (I killed my Bosch after 9 years of daily use) but for now I have a backup that does what I need!  So excited and blessed that God would provide this for me in such a way (and I think the kids are as excited as I am– we all love God-gifts and get excited about them together).
• The sign is up in front of our house to let people know it is for sale.  Today someone stopped and asked about it (we are appointment only because we are all home all the time and I am not sure if we will have sheets to give out or not– we don’t right now which is what he was asking for.)  I am just feeling really encouraged that someone is even interested at all.
• When the bank called today they suddenly said that we DON’T have a sheriff sale date.  Not sure if it changed because the house is now for sale for real, if he just didn’t see it, or what but he was pretty sure we didn’t have a date for sheriff sale which is interesting because last week they said January 6.  Either way we are encouraged again that something is happening and God is moving.
• After the thrift shop Rach and I ran into the grocery store nearby to pick up a few things we needed.  On the way out they had a huge pile of excellent boxes (banana boxes and egg boxes which are super strong.)  I had totally forgotten that  when I had called they said Thursday was their shipment day and that they just put them on the ledge in front for people to take.  So Rach and I filled the minivan up with boxes and we now have plenty (I think) for what we need.