Dear Doves,
     First I would like to reply to Franks question about Arafat - he
died November 11 (11-11), or was actually pronounced "officially dead"
that day - he may have been dead several days before.  6 months from
then would then be May 11.  My 15 year old daughter, even without
knowing about all of the posts here, has been saying that she has this
strange feeling that something very important is going to happen on May 5th.
    Next, I wanted to find out if any of you have been feeling much more
blessed than usual!  My family has been through some tough times
financially the last few years, and recently my husband and I had even
contemplated filing for bankruptcy!  We found out that we would lose our
home if we did that, and within a few days found out that we had access
to a large sum of money through our life insurance!  We didn't have to
use it though, because due to the new tax laws and our 6 wonderful
deductions (children) that God has blessed us with, Uncle Sam was VERY
generous!
      Since then, we have had several blessings!  First let me backtrack
just a bit.  About 3 1/2 years ago, my husband lost a very well paying
job when the IT field took a nose dive, causing the company he worked
for to close down.  Since then, we have started a home based business,
and my husband has worked several odd jobs.  About 7 months ago, my
husband got a steady job, but the pay was about 1/3 of what he used to
make, and not enough to pay all our monthly bills, and we have a pile of
debt besides that we need to pay off.  On top of all that, there had
been an awful draught that nearly killed off all our grass, and made it
illegal for my children to enjoy the simple pleasure of running through
the hose.  We also have a cat that got sick and nearly died, and our
middle son was failing in school (a bright kid who is just very
disorganized).
    At church yesterday,  I walked by a couple of ladies, and one of
them got a little excited and said "It sounds like all of your prayers
are being answered at once!".  I started thinking that I had been
feeling the same way!  John finally has a steady job, and he finally
became qualified for benefits this last month.  (We can finally stop
paying for private insurance, and I can get a tooth fixed that has had a
temporary filling in it for about 3 months!).  John also got a raise
recently, and will be getting a cost of living raise next month, along
with a bonus for unused sick leave.  Our daughter Becky was just
recently accepted into a student exchange program that will allow us to
host a student from Australia for 6 months before Becky goes to live
with the student's family for 6 months!  Our son Johnny, who is a
freshman in college, got a really neat summer job working as a Court
Jester at the Renaissance Festival, and Nicholas is finally starting to
do better in school!
    Our cat, Cleo, was super thin, not eating, had a huge lump in his
throat, and just laid in my bedroom for days!  We thought we should take
him in and have him put to sleep, but decided we would just keep him at
home and show him lots of love - so he would at least die knowing he was
loved.  He started eating again, and the lump vanished!   He also had a
problem with his eye that we were told would cost $1700 to fix, or we
would have to have the eye removed.  We didn't do either, and the eye
seems much better!
    The draught  has really subsided, and this weekend we got 16 inches
of heavy wet snow!   I know this world is in a tail spin headed straight
for the gutter, as we watch all of the prophecies from Daniel unfold
before our eyes, yet I feel like God is telling the Christians that he
is really looking out for us!
    During the last few years, I had been looking for work off and on,
but I have been very reluctant to find work - with 6 kids and a home
business, I figured I already had all the work anyone needed!  But with
an engineering degree under my belt and a large family to feed, it has
become obvious that I needed to return to work.  A few weeks ago, I went
on a walk with my husband and our 4 year old son.  We went around the
block and saw some children about our son's age playing.  Our son
doesn't have any playmates other than his siblings, so I decided to go
up to the house and introduce myself.  I quickly made friends with the
children's mother, and mentioned I was looking for work.  She gave me
the phone number of someone from her church that she thought could help
me, and through a series of events, I now have an interview for a job I
really WANT!   It is an engineering position on the Mars Lander
Program!!  My interview is on Thursday, and my birthday is on Saturday!
I think the best birthday present I could possibly get would be this
job!  Please keep me in your prayers, that I will do very well at the
interview and not be near so nervous as I am feeling right now!
    We went to church yesterday morning, and during the service, I saw a
friend of ours who is a widower in his 70's.  His wife used to sing in
the choir with my husband, and he and his wife had gone to Rome with us
several years ago.  His wife has been gone a couple of years now, and I
really felt like I needed to invite him to dinner, so I hurried out
after the service to try and catch him, but couldn't find him. A few
minutes later, he bumps into me, and we start chatting.  He told me that
I was looking good, and must have lost some weight, which surprised me
because I had decided to go on a diet, and I lost 3 pounds last week -
enough to make me feel good, but not enough for anyone to have noticed.
Then I asked him to be praying for me (which made the look on his face
get very serious - thinking something was really wrong), because I had
an interview coming up.  Before I had a chance to say anything about the
job, he blurted out, "I thought you were going to FLY TO MARS!"!  I was
shocked!  When I told him that the job was for the Mars Lander, he was
shocked too!  I asked him why he had made that comment, and he replied
"I don't know, but I am starting to get goose bumps!".  Then he told me
to feel confident going into the interview, because he was sure I would
get the job!  It all seemed like too many coincidences, if you know what
I mean.  First, he found me when I was looking for him, then he knew I
had lost weight, and then to say I was going to Mars, when in fact my
project would be!  I really felt like God was trying to tell me something!
    I know none of this will matter if Jesus comes back in the next
couple of weeks, but it will sure be a blessing for my family if we are
stuck here for a while yet.
    Is this just me, or are other people going through some rather good
changes all of a sudden?  I have felt like God has been far too busy for
me, then all of a sudden, there are so many good things happening, that
I can't help but feel like a beloved daughter of The Most High - a true
Princess!  I just hope it keeps getting better here or THERE!!

God Bless!
Valerie Z.