God is using Craigslist in amazing ways!

I have a story to tell....God is making himself evident in my life like never before!

Gregg and I got married when I was 19, and at that point most of my friends were off at college. I stayed home and went to community college, and did not make many Christian friends. For years, Gregg and I tried to find a church for the two of us, where we could really feel like we belong...so I didn't really make any new friends at church. I have been telling myself a lot lately that I don't have many friends. I need Christian friends that I have stuff in common with. This is where the story gets good!

About a month ago, Gregg and I decided it was time to find a new home for our dog. I had been talking to him a lot about it for about a year, but the timing was never right. We both felt that if we gave our dog away, that we were betraying her, and that she should be a part of the family just like any of us. But when Ben was born, our house became very chaotic, and we decided to look for a home for her. We were planning on going away over Memorial Day week, and would be gone for the entire week. We needed to find her a home by Friday because we were leaving early Saturday morning. We talked about what would happen if we couldn't find her a home by the time we were leaving for vacation, and we decided I would take her to a shelter on Friday if I couldn't find her a home. So I put up a post on Craigslist. I got a lot of responses at first from scammers, and I got a couple real emails but the families just didn't sound right. But on Thursday, Gregg and I decided that we could not just drop Chasey off at a shelter, and that we would pay to send her to the kennel during our vacation, and find her a new home when we got home. Well, I was changing Ben's diaper on Friday, about 10 minutes before I was leaving to take Chasey to the kennel, when my phone rang. It was a 20 year old girl from the next town over who saw my post on Craigslist and wanted to meet Chasey. She sounded really sweet, and she really sounded like she was excited! I called Gregg right away at work to tell him, and we were both excited. The girl said she would be over soon to meet Chasey, and she was bringing her Border Collie. About 15 minutes later, Ashley arrived at our house with her dog, her dad, and brother. Chasey and Ivy, the other dog, got along as well as could be expected. There was some growling and barking, but no fighting or biting. And we could tell that they were warming up to each other. I told Ashley and her dad that if they took Chasey and they realized that it was not working out, to just take her to the kennel that we were going to take her to, and that we would pick her up when we got home. So we packed up all of Chasey's belongings, and she got in the car, and left with Ashley and Ivy. I have to be honest, I was a little sad. I knew Gregg and I would both miss Chasey. And I was worried that she wouldn't be happy. I wanted her to have a family that would pet her, and hug her and make her theirs. Ashley and I exchanged phone numbers and emails so we could be updated about Chasey.

When we got home from Canada the following Saturday, I called Ashley right away and she said Chasey was doing great! Ivy and her were getting along well, and she was definitely happy. She finally had a fenced in yard to run in! We exchanged a bunch of emails with pictures of Chasey in her new home, and talked about how she was doing. To make this story a little shorter, I found out that Ashley is a born-again Christian. She is a pastor's granddaughter, went to Christian school all her life, is a big scrapbooker, and has other similar interests that I do. We both said that God had a hand in our friendship. She really is a sweet girl, and I can't wait to get to know her better! We are going to hang out sometime soon! So there's one new Christian friend that God brought to me!

Here's the second story:

About a year and a half ago, I met online (on MySpace) a girl named Kim. She is also born-again, around my age, with a daughter just a couple months younger than Madelyn. We both said that we would have to meet sometime and let the girls play! But then Ben was born, and with the way our house has been so chaotic, I haven't gotten to meet her and hang out.

Just last week, I posted again on Craigslist. This time with an inflatable swimming pool for sale. We had used it a couple times, but decided it was too big, and wanted a smaller one. So I got an email from a girl named Kim that was interested in the pool and wanted to see pictures. I emailed pictures to her, and she said she would take it and would be by sometime this week to pick it up. She said she was going to her parents house in New Jersey for a few days, and would come get it when she got home. I knew that the Kim from MySpace had family in New Jersey, and for a split second wondered if it was the same Kim. Well today she came to pick up the pool, and we both looked at each other and said, "I met you on MySpace!" It was amazing! I have never ever put anything on Craigslist before. So in the last month through Craigslist, God brought me two new Christian friends, and I cannot wait to get to know both of them! A friend reminded me that I keep saying I don't have many Christian friends, and that God finally said, "Here are your new friends!"