More than Enough

More than enough money for todays needs. More than enough food in the pantry. More than enough clothes in the closet. More than enough books on the shelf. More than enough freedom and choices for the day. More than enough restaurants and stores to shop at. More than enough vacation spots to choose from. More than enough entertainment to distract us from reality. Yet somehow in the midst of this reality I find myself believing I do not have enough. My house is not big enough, I do not have enough dishes, I do not have enough money in my bank account, I do not have enough food in my pantry, I do not have enough shoes, I do not have enough chairs for people to sit in, I do not have enough nice things, I do not have enough time. And the list goes on. What a lie Satan wants us to live in, one that we don't have enough, and two that deep down because outwardly we do not have enough we are not enough. But the good news is Jesus has qualified us by his blood and we are and have more than enough in Him!

I was inspired, humbled, and shaken up as I read this young woman's blog (http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com) about Jesus being more than enough in the midst of their scarcity, disease, abandonment, war, and hunger. She was 20 years old and became a mother of 4 orphans in Uganda, and now she is 22 and is a mother of 14 girls. Yet, somehow as Westerners we have to wait till our bank account reaches a certain point to GIVE fearlessly.

But our faith is challenged as we see Jesus multiply the loaf and the fish to feed five thousand or the widow who fed Elijah with a small portion of flour and oil yet had enough for her family for days. And so my faith is challenged to GIVE all I have to Jesus and the beauty is we are never spent when we GIVE it all to Him, 1 kings 17:16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the oil become empty. What a picture of the heart of God, He is always more than enough!

Spring time is here,fresh veggies are near

He is the vine and we are the branches

Betty Lou

April 2nd was our big planting day last year on the farm and Michael was eager to keep the tradition alive since we all truly enjoyed the fruits of our labor. Last Saturday we spent the day making rows, setting up irrigation, and planting. Thanks to Danny Hill and my Michael Paine, the farm is in full spring! We have been enjoying the warm sunshine, planting, farming, and Betty Lou our neighbors bull dog who I babysit.

Another Day

Our weekend in Long Beach

Dad's are one of the greatest things in life:)

A few weekends ago Michael and I went down to L.A for two nursing appointments. And of course there is not trip down to L.A without hanging out with the parents and Bubba of course! Here are some pictures of the day in Long Beach down by the Queen Mary and Old Light house. I am so thankful that our families get along so well, it makes things really easy!

Just a few updates with the Paines by the chickens. We are loving living in Arroyo Grande. I am running a muck and Michael's biking a muck around these back country roads! Michael and a friend have been working on some book shelves for the house this past week and I can't wait to put them up. I just finished organizing our kitchen hutch and sewing projects this weekend. ! Next weekend we start the farm again, looking forward to some yummy vegetables. I have two more nursing school applications, but we should find out if we got accepted anywhere

the beginning of May.

For now we are enjoying each day as it comes!

Why does Michael not blog?

First Race in Los Olivos 

Go number 539!!! 

Well I can never seem to catch the man now that he has picked up biking as his replacement for running. I am sure all of you know Michael Paine as a runner but he is now road biking pretty intensely on a weekly basis.  From Nipomo to Cambria he is covering some major ground, biking 100's of miles.  And he loves that he gets to know other guys who enjoy the sport as well.  I think biking has becoming an awesome fit for Michael.  He loves to explore, he is competitive, athletic, and enjoys getting to know new people.  He did his first race back in February in Los Olivos.  Lets just say the last 50 feet of the race did not reflect the 34 miles prior.  But, that hasn't stopped him! 

Out in the Country

Today I captured a couple shots of our new little country bumpkin life, enjoy the tour.

Some of our neighbors

Pismo Beach from our kitchen window

Who doesn't like to nest? 

The Patio

Come on over anytime! We would love to have ya'll! 

Mishkan

The hebrew word for Tabernacle is Mishkan, which means dwelling place.  For the past three weeks Michael & I have been teaching the 4th-6th graders about the Tabernacle.  We dove in straight to Exodus identifying each article, purpose, and foreshadow of Jesus Christ.  Some Sunday's I thought they might leave in a bible comma.  One little boy prayed at the end of our second week, "Thank you Lord, for our freedom."  He saw the law and he knew this was not his own experience of Christ.  Hebrews 8:6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.  And so what had been in place for over 2000 years, Christ made obsolete. Not only did he make the old covenant obsolete but he perfected the new one and has left us with this promise, Hebrews: 9:12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by the means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.  What great news! As I am still unraveling these things in my heart and my mind of this new covenant we are under, I am amazed that I need not find an earthly mishkan but His mishkan is in me.  He is truly Emmanuel.  

Today I am thankful for our freedom in christ, little children, my husband, my sweet sister in Christ Haley, and pesto pizza.  

Goodbye Paines by the sea, Hello Paines by the chickens

Shell Beach 

Our Old Home 

Although we can see the sea from our kitchen window we are more like the Paines by the chickens; if stepping on chicken crap and being woken by roosters at 4 am is quite the  constitution for this new title or season if you'd like to call it that.  The chickens are not ours but we practically share the same living quarters with them.  The only difference is they're squaters and were renters! Ironically we live on the same street where Michael grew up in Arroyo Grande.  A place in San Luis Obispo we always dreamed of living.  It's not the french country home I dreamed of, but we have the goats and chickens as a start towards our little fantasy!  

So this afternoon as I was driving back to our new country cottage  I thought to myself how I don't miss Shell Beach like I thought I would.  Of course the sentimentality of our precious home and kind neighbors was difficult waving goodbye too but we had to trust the Lord was bringing us further into his plans.  To be frank, we did not have a lot of clarity as to where we were suppose to live.  We looked for months.  Nothing to my standards as Michael would probably say.  Which was true most of the time until the words came pouring out one night as I was in tears after having put a deposit down on a cat wreaking, pot smoking house, we resigned to because we felt desperate, "I just want something clean and odorless!"  For about a week I was a walking puddle.  When would I see the promise land?  For 6  weeks we stayed with a family from church.  Our things were in their garage and in a storage unit and we no longer had the keys to 329 Windward.  This small and incomparable trial at times seemed like a sinking ship I was aboard.  And so for the first seven days of living in our new home, I grumbled like Israel.  I wanted to go back to Egypt.  My manna was not satisfactory. 

And then I came to my senses after buying a few storage bins and totes and some paint.  I could make this place home.  And not only would I make this place home but I would find joy in the limitations.  So, this is it, joy in the limitations.  And not only is it this but it is them.  I think there is a lot the Lord wants to do in us here and in the midst of being pruned and sanctified we have some neighbors we really like but who God loves more.  I hope you can come along with us on another Paine journey as we venture through, in, and around that stinky ol chicken coup!