Alaska Part III: Is this for real

Now if you thought the story posted the last two days Intro to Alaska and Alaska Part II:Alaska is in the air were a little on the crazy side, just wait til you hear "the rest of the story".

I left off yesterday with Zac and I making the decision to actively consider and pursue Alaska while continuing to pray that we were heading in the right direction. You know we often question if we are hearing the voice of God and discerning His will. If Zac and I had based our decision off of seeing one Alaska tag, or one person speaking to us about Alaska, or one scripture, or one dream then I would say that we would be off. But when you truly desire to hear the voice of God and and are seeking His plan for your life, He will speak in many different ways (2 or 3 witnesses, or in our case 20 or 30 cause we were scared to step out(: ) and the dream you had, the scripture you read, the peace you feel in your heart, the tag you saw over and over again, and the person you talked to that confirmed what you had been thinking all fit together.

Ok back to the story...to me, it was settled, we were moving to Alaska. I didn't know how, when or where, but I knew we were going. I think because Zac is the head of this family and felt more responsibilty to provide and make the right decision he struggled a little more with that decision even though in his heart he wanted to go. I think because of the huge responsibilty and weight he felt, the Lord brought confirmation time and time again to bring peace to his heart. I could not possibly tell you how many times he saw ALASKA tags wherever he went or how much it was brought up in converstation without him leading in that direction. I will do my best to give you a few instances by date, but after a while we stopped writing them down because it was just funny the amount of times it came up. (Some of these I have already mentioned I just wanted to put them all together)

6/26- Saw Alaska CD, Zac's cousin randomly brought up Alaska, Saw Alaska plates driving home form Shelby, Zac's dad woke up in the middle of the night and God spoke to him about us going through storms (I'll share the significance of that later) and wrote a letter telling us to let God's anchor be our compass.

6/29- My dad mentions Alaska to Zac

6/30- Zac's friend from Pennsylvania came down (Zac has helped him move 4 times and was there for him when he was going through transition in his life.) He was the first person we shared Alaska with because he did not live here in Franklin (I forgot we had told one person until I read back through the journal) and we needed a sounding board. It bore witness with him and he shared Proverbs 16:9 with us "A mans heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps". As him and his family were leaving Franklin they saw Alaska tags...confirmation to him that we were going in the right direction.

7/11- Zac was fasting and saw Alaska tags on white truck

7/13- Zac, Avery and I were leaving walmart and saw a green van with Alaska tags front and back. Also we had been praying that the Lord would soften our parents hearts and confirm to them that He was leading us in this direction. After coming home from the beach mom said her and dad saw Alaska tags 3 different times. Once seperately and once together.

7/15- Zac was doing a few errands and had 3 specific things on his agenda 1. Go to storage building to get something out 2. Go by post office 3. Get a haircut. When he finally got to the post office, he realized he locked his keys in his car. A good friend works at Nantahala Lumber so he walked over to get a screw driver and as he was coming out there was a car parked across the street at a haircut place with Alaska tags. He wasn't supposed to have locked his keys in his car, he wasn't supposed to walk over to Nantahala lumber and he wasn't supposed to see that car at the hair salon...or was he? He decided to cross the street and get his haircut. He talked to the lady from Alaska and she encouraged him to GO. At the same exact moment he got a call from his friend from pennsylvania who said he was praying that God would direct our steps...coincidence...i think not.

7/17- Man from church spoke about when he lived in Alaska, leaves falling, the presence of God and the wind blowing in the distance. "winds of change"

7/17- after church we were eating with my parents and I asked mom when/where she first became passionate about the Lord...she said "when I lived in Alaska"

7/24- a close friend from church spoke to Zac and I something she felt the Lord was leading her to tell us. She said "If God is your desire, choose which one you would like to do, if there were 2 job opportunities, or 2 houses, or 2 decisions, choose which one you would like. Don't fret over it because God will be with you wherever you are."

(no dates for some of these in our journal)

-Even after all these confirmations we still had no clear direction as to how we would get to Alaska or even where in Alaska we were supposed to go. During this time we found out a house we had previously looked at had went into foreclosure. I knew we shouldn't go look at the house but Zac was a litle discouraged that we hadn't moved forward yet with Alaska and was again questioning if we were hearing the voice of God. I told him it was his decision and he decided to go look at the house again...our thoughts were, what could it hurt? In between deciding to go we went to subway to grab some lunch. Becky (our real estate agent (:) called and left a message asking if we were going to go. As we were pulling out and listening to the message we passed a car with Alaska tags. A clear sign that we would be disobedient if we went to look at that house.

We eventually moved into another rental and a month went by. Zac applied for 5 or 6 jobs with no positive response. I am ashamed to say we got discouraged and again questioned whether we were to move. "Oh ye of little faith".

-One weekend took a trip to Highlands and again saw a car with Alaska plates front and back...it stirred our hearts once again (by the way we never saw the same car twice...i think they were angels)

-I got an email about a job in Fairbanks, Alaska in the Special Procedures department at the hospital. Something I have been wanting to do since I started nursing. BUT I had said in the beginning that I didn't think it would be God if I had to get a job (don't ever say that, His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways higher then our ways). How wrong I was.

-Zac saw Alaska plates coming home from work after I shared with him the email I received about this job and we decided to apply

Oct 18- Our Anniversary, we learn that Oct 18th is ALASKA DAY...HA do you think God has a sense of humor?

Oct 19- Zac cried out to God for more confirmation and when he got to work a man randomly said to him "didn't you say you were going to quit the DOT"...which he had never said

Oct 20- While at training in Asheville, Zac saw Alaska plates in the parking lot

Oct 22- We went to the Fall Festival in Franklin with my mom. While we were walking up the hill to the festival a car passes us with Alaska tags. When we arrive the first person we talk to says "Guess where I just got back from...ALASKA." While we were speaking with her a lady comes up and hears us talking and says "Oh she is from FAIRBANKS" speaking of a little girl see was pushing in a stoller. Her daughter lived in Fairbanks. As we were leaving the Festival and pulling out of the parking lot we saw a different car with Alaska plates.

Oct 24- Zac went on the Fairbanks Daily News Miner to look at the webcam in Fairbanks. They have a place below where you can comment and talk to other people. The very first comment of the day read "Had a great time in Frankin, NC this weekend!" (ISN'T THIS GETTING HILARIOUS!?!)

-Zac and I went out of town to a Perry Stone conference. We were supposed to stay fri night and sat night. Avery had not slept all night on friday and we decided to leave early. As we left we went out of our way to stop at Chick-fil-a (our favorite!) and what do you know...Alaska tags in the parking lot.

Whew...enough for one day? Come back tomorrow for the conclusion (if I can do it in one post) of this story.