On a Serious Note...

Confession. It has been so long since I last blogged that it took me a few minutes to remember my username and password. Oops?

Well a lot has happened in the Otterness home! Here are some quick updates:

1. Jake was hired full-time at Catholic Charities in Minneapolis!!! He is in his third week working there and enjoying it! It is so great to have him back working!

2. We saw SO MUCH of the Lord's favor when he was transitioning between jobs. Financially, we were able to live on my single income without needing to dip into ANY of our savings!!! We started couponing (and will never stop now that we realized how much it saves--thanks pocketyourdollars.com!) and God gave us unexpected checks and financial blessings that we didn't see coming. It made me really think--how often does God bless and protect me like this and I don't even realize it?? During our in-between time we continued tithing at our church the same amount we had when we were a two-income family and God TRULY blessed us for that! We are living testimonies to the fact that God loves to provide and will use even the ickiest circumstances to teach and grow you in Him when you look His way!

3. Jake and I have started a new small group with some other couples that we went to school with. We are SO looking forward to those meetings! It is such a blessing to have good friends and fellowship. If you aren't getting support from a group like that, you should! When you get the right people together and the chemistry is there, it's tons of fun!

4. I started a new study on the fruit of the spirit, and so far I am REALLY enjoying it. I'm telling you, nothing is more refreshing than being in God's Word. Part of the study today was talking about the power of influence that women have. When the serpent wanted to mess with Adam and Eve, he approached Eve, possibly because he knew that Eve would be able to convince Adam to join in on the rebellion.

So I leave you with this...how do you use your influence? In the study, Beth Moore says, "at it's best, it (influence) teaches, nurtures, encourages, exhorts, evangelizes and disciples. At worst, it cripples and kills...maybe it's the reason God exhorts us to gentle and quiet spirits." How do you use your influence? When you begin to understand how powerful and dangerous it can be, you begin to better understand the importance of living in the Spirit.