Civil War ship models CDs

[ct ertz]

OK, Lepercan and SPeR go the two CDs generusly offered by 'Duster. Thanks guys.
I have one more that one of you asked to put up for a contest so here it goes.

What was the last CSN ironclad to official surrender to the US Navy at the close of the Civil War. Ironclad now, not raider.

The first to PM the correct answer will get this donated CD. Thanks guys.

CT

[ct ertz]

Just an update to all my friends. This was just the financial breathing space my wife and I needed. Next month we should be back on an even keel, my wife's work will kick back in and hopefully I will be going back to work soon too. At any rate, this month was looking a bit shaky but now we should just squeak by. Next month...so close yet so far away!

I have a few CDs left, but the bulk went faster then I would have thought. I owe you all a big thank you.

Corey

[Vermin_King]

I'm glad this was successful

[ct ertz]

Thank you all for everything.
I wanted to share this article from my wife. She writes a short piece everyday. It's religious oriented articles called "God Talk" and it kind of hits on our situation. I want to thank you all and let you all know the worst has passed and things are set to come out right.

God Talk - The Proof is in the Payment
by Tera Ertz on Friday, January 6, 2012 at 1:27am

So, I've been a little distracted this week. I've been trucking along doing these notes and I went to pray on Wednesday, and we've been doing Bible study with the kids, and band practice and the Purpose Driven Life, etc. I even managed to clean out and organize Michael's room with his assistance. Which had it's good and bad points. I got to spend some time with my son, I am now one down three to go on getting the bedrooms cleared out, and I discovered where all the socks in the house had disappeared to. On the other hand, I now have what seemed to be a thousand socks to match next time I do laundry. I suppose I could just look on it as the gift of having more time to spend in contemplation of God, yeah, that'll work, so all good points, no bad points. But, in the midst of all this, I was struggling with a pretty major problem. My work has slowed to a crawl over the last couple of weeks, and Corey hasn't worked in a while, and at the moment probably couldn't even if they had events set up. I've been squeaking by, getting along, making do, and living on a prayer as the song goes for a while now, and I had finally hit a wall.



This week, the bills all came due, you know, the ones that were already past due because I've been squeaking by, getting along, making do. Up until now, God had been pretty consistently providing a little here and there, along with a huge dose of creativity, to make sure we had food on the table each day and enough gas to get where we had to go in the car. But, this week, a little here and there was not going to cut it. This week, I was up against a deadline, and multiple things needed to be taken care of, and I was out of ideas and out of options. I'd been praying over finances for a while, but it kind of kicked into overdrive on Friday. I was having some serious words with God over the weekend, and by Tuesday night I was feeling just a wee bit hopeless. I was having a conversation with God all weekend trying desperately to explain to Him that it wasn't really that I was trying to rush Him. I told Him I understood that He keeps His own schedule, and it doesn't always match with mine. I quite reasonably pointed out though that the power company and the gas company had their own schedules that were entirely beyond my control and that while I was perfectly willing to be patient, I wasn't real sure they were going to have the same attitude. And come Tuesday night I started checking into the Salvation Army and email a plea for prayer to my pastor because I didn't know what else to do. Have you noticed that there are a lot of I's in that paragraph? Yeah, me too, which I discovered yesterday was the problem.



Looking back at the last week, I can imagine God sitting up in Heaven looking down at me, with His microphone in hand, tapping on it asking "is this thing on?" I have mentioned before that I occasionally need a two by four upside the head, right? See, Corey has been having some struggles of his own lately. He's been feeling a pretty steamy mixture of heavy emotions that he's been trying to work through. And he's been doing a pretty good job of it, and before I go further, I will say that I asked permission before I wrote about any of this, because we are partners, and this is our story, not just mine. One of those emotions was a pretty heavy hit of feeling useless. Even though he can see God working in his life to bring healing for this illness that has had a hold on him for so long, it's been debilitating, frustrating and humiliating. He's been working since he was old enough to bag groceries, and his ability to work has slowly eroded over the last few years to the point of just not being physically able to do a lot of the things he used to be able to. That kind of thing can wear on anyone's self-image, especially when you have kids to take care of.



Now, like I said, he's been doing much better with dealing with all those emotions since he started reaching out and sharing what's going on with people. He's seen an outpouring of love, support, advice and he's been given multiple sounding boards that he's learning to use to help him find peace in the midst of this storm. And he's actively been seeking God with me and the kids. This has greatly improved his outlook and smoothed out the rough edges in the relationships here at home. But, pride is a funny thing, his and mine, and finances have been pretty much my domain over the years. I was holding onto some fears and some control issues in that area, and he was content to let me handle it. So, when things hit the fan, I was not able to be open with him about the problem. I want to say it was strictly because I was concerned it would set him back emotionally, but looking at it honestly, I think it had a lot to do with my own pride and embarrassment at not having been able to come up with a solution. But, the day after I emailed the pastor, and had decided to call the Salvation Army for help if I hadn't found a solution by Thursday, Corey asked me what was going on with the bank account, and the whole mess poured out very calmly (a special thanks to Jared for being my sounding board so I could lay out the situation calmly). I was honest about where we were at, what was coming with the bills, when the light at the end of the tunnel would arrive (and there is one, as this is temporary and relief from several sources is in sight, just not now). And I told him I had no more ideas, no more answers, and I thought we'd probably need to find some temporary assistance.



He took it pretty well, and told me that in the course of all that has been happening, pride had pretty much become a moot point for him. He thought about it a while, and agreed we should call around and see if we could find some help, but he wanted to see if he could find a way of at least dealing with the gas for the car and day to day needs. So, he posted a limited number of CDs of the model kits he's been designing for the last few years, the ones he said he'd been feeling no joy from building lately because he couldn't see how they were helping anyone. He put them up on facebook and his modeling site, and I was relieved and ready to get some help the next morning. An hour later, just before I left to go shopping for food for dinner and today's meals, he told me there was money in PayPal, one of the CDs had sold. When I got home, another had sold. I was so grateful because that took care of the gas and food issue, which was a load off my mind. When I woke up this morning, there was enough to pay the gas bill, and by this afternoon, enough to cover the electric too, and still get what we need for now.



I hesitated to share this story, because it isn't just my story, and because, well, no one likes to admit their finances are out of whack, me perhaps more than most. But, as I pondered what to write tonight, I had to tell it. Because, it's not just about paying the bills when you're worried the heat is going to get shut off in the middle of winter. God could have found a hundred ways, including letting me call the Salvation Army, or one of the large churches in the area as Jared suggested. But, He didn't want to pay my bills, He wanted to answer my prayers, and finances are not the only prayers I've been praying. I've been praying for my husband, that he could find peace, that he would see his own worth, that he would find joy. God could have given me a way to fix this by myself, He's done it before more times than I can count. But, instead, once I started paying attention, He led me to share the problem with my partner, and then He led Corey to use the gift he's been given with this passion for history and model making to find a solution. One immediate request on my party, and God fills the request, brings my husband a sense of peace and purpose and joy, and teaches me to better share the burdens with the amazing partner He's given me to be with in this life. I had to share the proof that God always answers prayers, in ways more complex and beautiful than we can imagine.



If you are struggling today, I hope you will share the burden with someone, that burden may be the service for God they are waiting to perform. And if you have a story of how God used your trials to demonstrate the proof of His magnificent multi-tasking, I hope you'll share those stories too, because someone out there needs to hear them. Be blessed, and be a blessing.

[Tapcho]

Fine text CT. Give my regards to your wife Tera, she writes well.

BR Tappi

[rmks2000]

Glad to hear things are getting better

[ct ertz]

Your are the winner rmks2000!
Thanks Bob. It was the CSS Missouri.
CT

[rmks2000]

Thank you CT! I just PM'd you my snail mail address.

Bob

[ct ertz]

OK folks. A big thank you. I have but two cds left, so my sale has been extremely helpful!

Now, I am moving on to my next set of Civil War ships. I will be concentrating on more Union ships, but not exclusively.

Thank you all for helping out, in buying my cds and for praying for me in my hour of need.

Please let me know when y'all get your CD so I know that all arrived well!

1-44 is in the tank, now I have started on 45-88! Thank you!
CT

[Darwin]

You gotta love this community. Talk about a support group.