Happy New Year! Happy, New Lowmans!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family!  As 2018 draws to a close and we begin 2019, I wanted to give you an update on what is going on with our family.

When last we saw our heroes(in the literary sense), Hurricane Florence had displaced them to Baltimore where an unknown future awaited them.  What would become of them?  Where would they go?  Would Dan ever find a job?  Would they ever move out of his Dad’s house?!  Well let me ease the tension and answer those questions in order.

I don’t know.  They will have an awesome life?  Good stuff?
Germantown, MD.
Yes!
And yes!

Whew!  That was a close one.  So let me rewind and tell you how we got here.  After applying for several jobs in several different fields, in several different areas across the country, with minimal success, I was directed to apply for a few Admin positions at a Medical Research company here in Maryland by some good friends(ya’ll did me a solid, run-on sentences notwithstanding).  It was a pretty stressful time as we were running out of money pretty quickly and really needed a breakthrough.  I then received an email asking me if I was still interested in a position at the Research company.  I responded immediately that I was.  Then nothing.  For over a week.  It was then that I sent out an email asking if they had gotten my previous email.  They responded saying that they would call me the following evening.  So the next day we loaded up the kids to go to Target and it had just stopped raining.  And there, over my car was the most beautiful double-rainbow. 

Double-Rainbow!

Hoping that was a good omen, I awaited the call.  I was sitting in the Target parking lot when I received the call.  After talking a little bit I was told that in the past week a new Admin position had just opened up and if I would be interested in taking that particular job. Oh and it paid a lot more than the three I had applied for(!).  I was definitely floored by being offered this opportunity and immediately accepted.  The Lord provided a good paying job with really good benefits… something I haven’t had in a very very long time.  It was so awesome!  Alaina and I had been praying for God to not only meet our needs but to do something miraculous that we knew we couldn’t do because were pretty discouraged and really needed to feel seen by God.  And being the Good God that He is, He came through with flying colors.   I started my job on December 10th and am super excited to see where this may lead. I work in Bethesda which is between Baltimore and DC, so I get to stay close to my family.  We moved into a Townhome in Germantown, MD that overlooks a lake. We really like the area and are excited to put down roots here.

The View from our Deck

We haven’t found a church yet, but I have no doubt that we will and we’ll see how God wants to
continue to use my giftings in a local body.  We are excited to enter a season of healing and restoration and we know that this is just the beginning.  I want to take this time to thank all of our supporters. Your faithfulness and encouragement in the darkest of times has kept my family aloft. Your prayers have sustained us in a wilderness period that has seemed to last forever.  In May, I felt like God gave me insight into the wilderness period coming to an end.  God reminded me that 40 is the number of wilderness. And He also brought to my mind that it in December it would be 40 months since many of our circumstantial troubles had started.  We have gone through job loss, the deaths of both my mother and Alaina’s, health problems, bankruptcy, isolation, depression, hurricanes, pestilence(seriously) and countless opportunities that have fallen through.  And to be sure, there are some things we are still going through. As whole as we are in Christ, we still wait with expectation to see some of our circumstances line up with what is already true of us in the
heavenly realm.  It has felt like we have been fighting not to drown for so long and were succumbing to the waves when as we were sinking, when a rope has finally reached our hands and we are slowly being pulled up to the surface.  That lifeline has taken the form of many of you who have reached out to us with words of encouragement, job leads, financial support and prayer.  I am dead serious when I say that I have no idea where we would be without all of you.  It has been such a humbling experience to be loved so well by all of you.  Sincerely, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Ravens are in the playoffs... just thought I'd add that.

Our hearts

And as we enter this new season, we are continually spurred on by your example to be as big a blessing to those God brings our way.  Honestly, the ministry part of our lives has been the most fruitful and rewarding thing of the last couple years(that and our kids) and without you it would have been an impossibility to pursue.  You have made a lasting impact on the Kingdom of God and most definitely on our lives and I pray that you are blessed a hundred fold for all you have done.  I also want to give a shout out to my Dad and Brother who so graciously took us in and went over and above to make sure we were taken care of.  I also want to apologize for taking so long to update all of you.  It has been a crazy whirlwind the last few months and it has definitely been an adjustment. I’m not used to getting up at 5am, lol.  But now that we are settled, we’d love to hear from you or have you come visit.  We cherish all of you and when it comes to amazing friends, we are wealthy indeed. Like I said, I’m excited to see what is around the corner.  We have some dreams that have been wilting on the vine, so to speak, that I pray gets to be rejuvenated.  And with this refreshing, I’m excited at the prospect of being able to refresh others.  With that said, don’t ever hesitate to give us your prayer requests and anything else we may be able to do for you.  It is our honor to be in your lives and we do not take that lightly.  We love you all so so much.  We pray as we enter this New Year, that whatever you are going through… whatever dreams may seem to be dying… whatever hopeless circumstances you may be in the middle of… we pray that a new
beginning would take shape for you… that breakthrough would be imminent… that the goodness of God would just overflow into your life.  And that no matter what you are going through, know that Jesus loves you and is sovereign.  Be encouraged… greater is He who lives in you than he who is in the world… and He has overcome the world.  Rest in that.  Happy New Year from the Lowman Family!  Behold!  He has made all things new! We love you!

With Deep Gratitude and Love,
Dan & Alaina & Kai Rey & Kalia & Bronson

P.S. Our new address is:

20032 Lake Park Drive
Germantown, MD. 20874

We love you all!

Bronson loves you, too!