I FINALLY have a job!

Wow, it took awhile, but I finally have a job down on the ambulance service in Pine Ridge. In fact, my first shift is tonight. I'm kinda nervous, but I'm sure that my memory won't fail me. I will head down there around 11:00pm so that I can get there when my shift starts at midnight. Makes me sleepy just thinking about staying up that late! But I know that God will sustain me. Thankfully, we won't be busy all the time, so I will be able to get some sleep and time for study in as well.

The base where I will be staying for my shift is in the town of Lone Pine, which is just 5 min. north of Oglala (on the reservation). It is a little single-wide mobile home with two bedrooms/two bath. Its actually quite a nice setup, since there are only two people there for each shift. There are beds for us to sleep on, TV to watch (if we want), a table to study at, and a computer we can use (but no internet :()

It makes me so happy to see God working in my life and providing for my needs. He gave me a job that will get me out of my comfort zone, and its only 65 miles away instead of 110 (the station they originally wanted me at was this far away). So starting tonight I will be getting experience in responding to and caring for emergencies and their victims.

New Opportunities

"Hi Corrie, this is Karen. I just wanted to let you know that my mom passed away this afternoon so we no longer will need you to come take care of her in the afternoons." And just like that, I'm jobless again. Now what? I just turned down an amazing firefighting opportunity because of Sabbath issues, and now I don't have the one job that was keeping me going financially. Did I do the right thing? Is God really that particular about the Sabbath? Fighting fires is something that has to be done, no matter the day of the week right? I would be saving land, houses, and very possibly lives. Aren't those things that could be done on Sabbath? But then, also, I would be expected to help in non-emergency situations to clean up after the fire. There would also be scouting for potential fires. Knowing myself, the strain of working long hours and not getting enough sleep would cut down my time spent with God and would cause more problems than it was worth. So I knew the decision to decline that job was sound. But now to start jobhunting.
That all happened Tuesday night. Well, God's timing is impeccable. Wednesday morning at 11:45, while I was up at the Wellness Center helping out in the office, I got a phone call. It was one of the crew supervisors for the Oglala Sioux Tribes Ambulance Service. I had applied with them over a month ago to work as an EMT and hadn't heard anything from them. But they called with a job offer and said that I could probably get the shift I want. Its a 48 hour shift from midnight Tuesday to midnight Thursday every week. This will allow me to still help out at the Black Hills Health and Education Center, be a part of the Hayward Volunteer Fire Dept., and have weekends completely free. God knew exactly what He was doing!!!
Don't we serve an amazing God! And not only did He provide work for me, but He has also provided an amazing business opportunity online. A company that my Dad has been with for the last 3 years is going public sometime this year with internet technology that allows them to offer a MOBILE internet connection that is 7x's faster than DSL, PLUS Voice Over Internet Phone service that can be used anywhere anytime with unlimited calling and blanket coverage of the entire continent! All for only $30/month! Now thats unbeatable! So I'm just gonna let people know about it, 'cause it coming out soon. If you want more info, check out the Wireless Internet link on my sidebar.
So anyhew, thats whats going on in my life at the present. It is such an adventure, when God's ways are followed. He knows exactly what we need and what we want. And as long as we stay connected with Him, He will direct us in such a way as to fulfill all of our hearts desires.
God bless you all!
Corrie

God is Good

It struck me today while I was reading Early Writtings how far I still have to go to reach God's ideal for my life. She was saying that in these times in which we live, all of our free time should be spent studying the Word of God, becuase only by it are we going to be able to stand when the trials come. This really steps on my toes, because I have a hard time knowing how to really dig deep in the Bible. I can read it, and I see the many precious promises. But how do you dive in deep? She was also saying that one of the major problems in our time is that many of God's people neglect prayer, especially "secret prayer". That is something else that really steps on my toes. Then she was recounting how in one of her dreams, she saw Jesus but He was frowning upon her and was not pleased. What if He is frowning at me? I am so far below the ideal, and so are most of us, that I wonder who will be able to stand? How do you obtain the clean hands and the pure heart that David talks about in Psalms 24 as being the requirements for ascending the hill of the Lord (entering into His sanctuary)? As I was pondering these thoughts and feeling so overwhelmed by my own unworthiness, it was as if God placed a thought in my heart that brought me hope and peace. "Let me do the work! Just give me permission to change you! You don't have to do anything except surrender. I will finish the work that I have begun in you. I promise!" What an amazing God we serve!!!! Not only does He have a desire to reconcile us back to Himself, but He is willing and able to do whatever it takes to get us there. He will do the work! He has already made the sacrifice and paid the price. We just have to accept it and let Him take over our lives. I don't know about you, but I want Jesus to smile when He looks at me. And when He comes, I want to be one of the faithful. But now is the time to prepare to meet Him. Now is the time to surrender. Now is the time to allow Him to make intercession for me in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. It is past time for all of this. I'm convinced that Christ is coming soon. There is no time for focusing on what to eat, drink, and wear. God will take care of all that. Now is the time for heart searching and prayer.

Anyhow, these are just musings that have been running around in my brain all morning. I just needed to put them in words. I only pray that you will also hear God's Spirit talking to your heart and leading you in His path.

Corrie

And its snowing again!!!

Wow, the Black Hills are beautifull in winter. I can't compare the hills here with the mountains we had in Oregon and Washington, but they sure do beat the flat of Nebraska!!!!! Its snowing again this morning. We have been having beautiful 40 degree days with lots of sunshine, but I guess that is over for a little while. The nice thing around here though is that the cold doesn't just go on and on. It comes and goes, so the snow never really builds up.

Life here is beautiful also. I am having a ton of fun working at the center in the mornings and then taking care of an elderly lady in the afternoons. Evenings are free time for study, reading, crafts, or whatever else I find to do. Tuesday evenings I get to go to the local volunteer fire department and hang out with a bunch of fun people. We play with our equipment or listen and learn from those wish to talk. Fact is, I don't have firefighter training, but they still gave me all the needed equipment and a pager so that when a call comes, I respond with the rest of them. So I will be getting on the job training even before taking classes and getting certified.

Last week Thursday (Jan. 31) I got to go to a rodeo!!!! It was an absolute blast!!! There were so many beautiful horses to see and of course, lots of guys getting thrown around like rag dolls. In the middle of the program there was a special show from a charro, or Mexican cowboy. His horse was an amazing silver white with a long mane and tail. The music started playing, and the horse came out dancing! He danced and pranced for a while before doing several bows to the audience. The rider then showed his skill with the rope by twirling the lariat all over and around both himself and the horse. It was amazing.

I have to say though, Sabbath is my favorite day of the week. Its the one day that people can be convinced to go for a hike out in the hills. This last Sabbath we hiked down into a canyon where there was a beautiful waterfall that had completely frozen over. The falls itself was also frozen. We played out on the ice for a while, than headed upstream on the frozen water for a couple of miles. It was just so amazing being out in nature with friends. After climbing out of the canyon, we hiked the ridge back to where the cars were waiting. I love going on this type of hike, because we were not following any trail. We could just go where we wanted to explore.

And that pretty much brings you up to date on my life just now. God is blessing and I know that I am where He wants me for now.

God bless!

Corrie

Where in the World am I?

God sure likes to cause changes in my life, and He likes to make them happen in a rapid and almost unbelievable way. Six weeks ago I was getting ready to go on Christmas break, when an unexpected opportunity fell in my lap. I was asked to join the Union recruiting team going to Generation Youth for Christ, an amazing 4 day conference jam packed with 20 seminars to choose from, morning and evening meetings, outreach, and lots of other stuff to fill in the time. While there I talked to lots of people about the International Rescue and Relief program at Union and encouraged them to check it out. But I wasn't satisfied with it. I had heard about a program at Wildwood Lifestyle Center in Georgia so I went and looked for their information booth. What I discovered was program that focused on medical missionary training. They go into such detail and cram so much into the three years, that by the time you are done, you are equiped to do the work of a doctor in a third world remote situation. It was exactly what I have always been looking for. But I didn't want to even think about going there. I was comfortable at Union. I had some amazing friends that I didn't want to leave. Plus, I was only 3 semesters away from graduating with my undergrad degree and then entering the Masters in Physician Assistant Studies offered there at Union. But then I got to thinking. Staying at Union would put me at least $100,000.00 in debt which would take at least 3 years to pay off. So I would be looking at 7 years of studying and working in the U.S. before being able to go overseas which is where I fully believe God is calling me. Plus, I really wouldn't be equiped to work in a third world environment because the diseases are completely different. And I wouldn't know any natural healing methods that I could teach the people to use.



God was speaking to my heart and telling me that Union was not the place for me anymore. It was time to move on to where I could get better training for the service He wants me to do. So I didn't go back to college after Christmas vacation. Instead, I moved up to South Dakota with my parents where I am now working to earn $$$ for the program at Wildwood.

I'm living at the Black Hills Health and Education Center where I'm volunteering in return for a place to stay and food to eat. I also have a job in the afternoons taking care of an elderly lady who had a stroke not too long ago. By the time summer comes around, I will have my firefighter training and will be able to work all summer on a traveling fire department that responds to fires all around the country.



It shouldn't be so amazing to me to see God leading in such a significant way in my life, but it is. I love watching it! What He asks of me is often not easy, but that is only because He wants me to learn to depend on His strength and learn to trust in His plans even though I can see no reason for what is going on. He often puts me in places where I am not comfortable, but that is when I depend on Him the most because I feel inadequate and I know that I need Him. God is soooo GOOD!



I hope and pray that all of you who read this, will also listen to His voice calling you to trust Him and let Him lead. He has such amazing plans for everyone, but most are not willing to follow those plans. So have a great week deepening your trust in God! :)



Corrie