Today is the day that we actually do something hard in our journey to Fishers, IN. Up to this point, all of our decisions were relatively easy. We had to finish remodeling our house and get it on the market. We then went through several months of waiting for our house to sell. Once it sold, we had the extremely fun process of finding a home here. We then had to move, which was hard physically, but that's a different kind of hard then what's happening today. I have enjoyed every step of our journey so far. Even moving, though hard, was so much fun! We absolutely love our new house and it was so much fun getting settled.
So, what's happening today? Well, Doug is quitting his job. His perfect, cushy job. His job that pays very well and has awesome benefits. Not only do those things make this step hard but also the fact that he doesn't have any kind of job lined up here. Crazy right? I'm scared to death. But honestly, even though I'm scared, this is my favorite step so far in this journey. God has placed this call on our lives. I look at the other families that have moved here, and I can see the ways that God has worked everything out for them. I just Know that He will do the same for us. I'm excited to take this step and show God that our faith is in Him. It's not in a job, it's not in my husband's ability to provide for us, it's all God. So while I'm scared, because let's face it, we can trust and have faith, but we're still doing something scary, I'm also not worried. I KNOW God will provide, in His time. That's what's going to be the hardest part, having patience. Waiting on God's perfect timing.
I was reading in Genesis 48 today about when Jacob blesses Joseph's sons. Here's what happened:
14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said:
“God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
This is what the commentary said about these verses:
But in the blessing Israel crossed his hands so that his right hand was on Ephraim’s head and his left on Manasseh’s … even though Manasseh, the firstborn, would normally have been blessed with the right hand. This was Jacob’s decision in spite of Joseph’s direction. Joseph, like so many others, expected God to work in a certain way, but found that He is often pleased to work differently and sometimes even unconventionally. But faith recognizes that God’s ways are not man’s ways.
I am so thankful that God's ways are not man's ways. I am so thankful that God, in His infinite wisdom will make everything come together in His perfect time. My job, to wait.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Settling in....
We've been in the house now for almost 4 weeks. I can't believe it's been that long! We have almost everything done we can get done. Doug has painted basically the entire house. The boys' both liked their room colors, but other than that, every room is a new color. Doug rolls and I cut in. So, there are two rooms I need to cut in still, but I will hopefully get that done this week. The last thing on our list is to put up a fence, but that will have to wait for just a while.
I seriously think several times a day that I cannot believe this is the house God had for us. It's just almost perfect! It's huge! It's layout is perfect! We just love it! We have an entire room with basically no furniture in it. We hope at some point to put a pool table and game table in there so we can have parties!
I cannot believe how easy it is to keep this house clean as well. Our old house was almost always a disaster. This one is twice the size, but we're able to keep it clean. The reason is that the layout is just so much better! Not to mention the fact that I have my very own workspace so all of my stuff is out of our living space. God is so good!
We haven't really met any of our neighbors. We did talk with the older lady that lives across the street the day we moved in, but no one else. I guess it is hard to do in the middle of winter. We have seen a lot of kids around though, so hopefully my kids will have friends in the neighborhood, as soon as it's nice enough for them to out more.
We absolutely love being here. Doug is still traveling to Illinois three days a week for work, but that will only last the next month. We're trusting God for a job for him in His time. It's absolutely amazing to be hands on with SCC. The whole purpose of us coming here is definitely the best part!
Well, I just wanted to get down some thoughts about the house and our move. I'll attach some pictures of our beautiful new home!
I seriously think several times a day that I cannot believe this is the house God had for us. It's just almost perfect! It's huge! It's layout is perfect! We just love it! We have an entire room with basically no furniture in it. We hope at some point to put a pool table and game table in there so we can have parties!
I cannot believe how easy it is to keep this house clean as well. Our old house was almost always a disaster. This one is twice the size, but we're able to keep it clean. The reason is that the layout is just so much better! Not to mention the fact that I have my very own workspace so all of my stuff is out of our living space. God is so good!
We haven't really met any of our neighbors. We did talk with the older lady that lives across the street the day we moved in, but no one else. I guess it is hard to do in the middle of winter. We have seen a lot of kids around though, so hopefully my kids will have friends in the neighborhood, as soon as it's nice enough for them to out more.
We absolutely love being here. Doug is still traveling to Illinois three days a week for work, but that will only last the next month. We're trusting God for a job for him in His time. It's absolutely amazing to be hands on with SCC. The whole purpose of us coming here is definitely the best part!
Well, I just wanted to get down some thoughts about the house and our move. I'll attach some pictures of our beautiful new home!
Monday, February 13, 2012
15 Years Ago Today...
So, Happy Birthday Austin. I love you so very, very much. You changed my life when you joined this world, in a way only you could.
Thank you God for the gift of children and being a parent. Thank you for this small glimpse of just how much you love us.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Mixed Emotions
For so long I've just been anxious to get to Indiana. It seemed like for such a long time we were in the process to get there that it wasn't really real. We had to finish remodeling our basement, then we had to wait for our house to sell. Once it finally did sell, we had an unusually long wait to close so we had to wait to look for a house and then still had 6 weeks until closing after we had an accepted contract. It just seems like we've been in the process for a really long time. Well, I guess it has been over a year, so that is a long time. As of today, we close on both houses two weeks from tomorrow and move to Indiana just two days after that. What's that? Like 16 days! I can hardly believe it's that close!
During The Process, as I'm terming it, all my focus was on Indiana, what we're missing over there. We've missed a lot of the start-up meetings, several sneak peaks and really a lot of the foundation building of SCC. It's been hard to miss all of that. I'm also super-excited to live near my family. We probably talk about moving near Autie Kim every day! Every once in awhile I would think about what we're leaving, but it really wasn't a main focus. I knew it would be hard, but I figured I would be so excited to finally be getting to Indiana that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Man was I wrong. Leaving things here is a huge deal! Church is especially hard. We've been at Bridgeway for 6 1/2 years now. We love it there. We have grown so much since being there. It's also where we met our dearest friends here, our lifegroup. These couples have been integrated into our lives for the past 3 years or so. We have gone through so much with them and love them all dearly.
It's hard to live in this moment. We're so excited to finally being getting to Indiana. We're also extremely saddened to be saying goodbye to everything here. One thing Pastor Dale said to me on Sunday was that it was ok to grieve. It's ok to be sad. Just because we have this amazing call of God on our life doesn't mean that there are not going to be sad moments.
So, I'm trying to prepare myself for the next two weeks. I'm sure I'm going to be a mess at church both Sundays. Doug and Austin have threatened to sit in the back row far away from me. I think I'll pack lots of tissue and cherish the moment. I know I'm going to cry, but that's ok. I am leaving some of my closest friends. The good news is, is that once I say goodbye here, I'll be saying hello to some very dear friends in Indiana in addition to my mom and sister! The other good news is that we are not terribly far away, so I am expecting lots of visits from our friends from here!
Next step, packing....Ugh!
During The Process, as I'm terming it, all my focus was on Indiana, what we're missing over there. We've missed a lot of the start-up meetings, several sneak peaks and really a lot of the foundation building of SCC. It's been hard to miss all of that. I'm also super-excited to live near my family. We probably talk about moving near Autie Kim every day! Every once in awhile I would think about what we're leaving, but it really wasn't a main focus. I knew it would be hard, but I figured I would be so excited to finally be getting to Indiana that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Man was I wrong. Leaving things here is a huge deal! Church is especially hard. We've been at Bridgeway for 6 1/2 years now. We love it there. We have grown so much since being there. It's also where we met our dearest friends here, our lifegroup. These couples have been integrated into our lives for the past 3 years or so. We have gone through so much with them and love them all dearly.
It's hard to live in this moment. We're so excited to finally being getting to Indiana. We're also extremely saddened to be saying goodbye to everything here. One thing Pastor Dale said to me on Sunday was that it was ok to grieve. It's ok to be sad. Just because we have this amazing call of God on our life doesn't mean that there are not going to be sad moments.
So, I'm trying to prepare myself for the next two weeks. I'm sure I'm going to be a mess at church both Sundays. Doug and Austin have threatened to sit in the back row far away from me. I think I'll pack lots of tissue and cherish the moment. I know I'm going to cry, but that's ok. I am leaving some of my closest friends. The good news is, is that once I say goodbye here, I'll be saying hello to some very dear friends in Indiana in addition to my mom and sister! The other good news is that we are not terribly far away, so I am expecting lots of visits from our friends from here!
Next step, packing....Ugh!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Waiting, Hoping and Praying
Well, it's been about a month since I've posted. So much has happened in that month. I've been putting off updating just because of all the problems we've had. I've just been scared that we're not even going to get the house we have been so excited about. As of now, all looks good. I decided that it's really showing a lack of faith if I don't document our journey and really just claim that house as ours. Even if something would happen at this point, I still want to document our experience. The truth of the matter is that God's hand is in this. Even if we don't get the house, I know He has a path and plan for us, no matter what that path and plan may look like. So, here's the long, drawn out story of our house...
The second day of house hunting was just as fun as the first. After the two days, I basically had it narrowed down to two that were my favorites. Doug drove up Tuesday morning and we were able to go back for a 2nd look of my top 6. Conveniently, Doug's two favorites were the same as mine. Not so conveniently, my top favorite was the opposite of his. We were meeting with Shannon, our Realtor, on Wednesday morning to make an offer on one of the houses, so we had to decide which we wanted to offer on. We ended up making a pros and cons list of each house. We ended up going with my favorite. I was just so excited with how the basement would look once we got it finished. We put our offer in, it was a little low, but we felt it was fair. The house was just very outdated and would need a lot of cosmetic work. It was an older couple that owned the house and they really felt their house was worth more than we did. After much negotiation, we gave them our final offer late Wednesday night. It was $1,500 less than what their prior counter was. We went to bed, just a little frustrated that everything wasn't settled. I woke up in the middle of the night with my mind racing over our two top choices for a house. After rethinking it, I decided I didn't want the house we had offered on, I wanted the house on Peach! I was so worried about what to do. We had submitted an offer that was just $1,500 off of what they had wanted. I mean, who would turn down an offer of $1,500! I woke up in the morning and was rethinking everything all over again. I just wanted to be sure this time! I decided that I really did want the house on Peach and our only chance was to call Shannon and tell her to revoke our offer and pull the covenants on Peach. I tapped Doug on the shoulder and was like "Honey, do you think we should call Shannon and have her hold off on our offer until we can see the covenants on Peach?" He said, "Yeah, sure" and immediately my phone rang. It was Shannon saying the other people had rejected our offer. I was giddy. I just knew it was God working. We found out later that their Realtor had offered to lower her commission by $600 if they would take the offer and they still wouldn't take it. So, they turned down an offer over $900 and their house had basically been on the market for almost a year. There is no explanation for that except God did not want us to have that house. We met Shannon later that morning to make an offer on Peach. We offered $5,000 less than asking with an additional $3,000 in closing cost assistance. Unbelievably, she accepted our first offer. Again, it can only be God!
We got home and turned all our paperwork in to Quicken loans. I wasn't sure how everything was going to work since we're buying a home in Indiana yet Doug's job is in Illinois. I had called Quicken back in June and told them our situation and they said it wasn't a problem. Imagine my surprise when they then denied us our loan because of that very reason. Here we were with this amazing house and no loan. Doug and I immediately started calling other banks trying to find a loan. I figured if Quicken wouldn't approve us, then no one would. I even started looking up rental houses. I got to the point where I just had to leave it in God's hands. I know God wants us in Indiana and I know He has a plan to get us there. If it wasn't buying a house, then He would show us the path we needed to take. Thankfully, we found a bank that will give us a loan.
So, as of now, we have a loan. The appraisal for Peach came in over $10,000 over selling price, so we're good there. We've had some issues with our house, but almost $1,000 later, it's all fixed. Our appraisal here is Monday. So, it appears that we are on track for a January 31st closing date. I really still have my doubts. But what I finally had to do was take a look at how God has shown us His will over the past year. During that years time, we have continually looked at houses and have never once felt God telling us a different way. I can see God's hand in the house we now have a contract on, He blocked the first house we offered on so that we could get this house. I just started claiming this house as ours. God gave us this house and satan is not allowed to take it from us!
The second day of house hunting was just as fun as the first. After the two days, I basically had it narrowed down to two that were my favorites. Doug drove up Tuesday morning and we were able to go back for a 2nd look of my top 6. Conveniently, Doug's two favorites were the same as mine. Not so conveniently, my top favorite was the opposite of his. We were meeting with Shannon, our Realtor, on Wednesday morning to make an offer on one of the houses, so we had to decide which we wanted to offer on. We ended up making a pros and cons list of each house. We ended up going with my favorite. I was just so excited with how the basement would look once we got it finished. We put our offer in, it was a little low, but we felt it was fair. The house was just very outdated and would need a lot of cosmetic work. It was an older couple that owned the house and they really felt their house was worth more than we did. After much negotiation, we gave them our final offer late Wednesday night. It was $1,500 less than what their prior counter was. We went to bed, just a little frustrated that everything wasn't settled. I woke up in the middle of the night with my mind racing over our two top choices for a house. After rethinking it, I decided I didn't want the house we had offered on, I wanted the house on Peach! I was so worried about what to do. We had submitted an offer that was just $1,500 off of what they had wanted. I mean, who would turn down an offer of $1,500! I woke up in the morning and was rethinking everything all over again. I just wanted to be sure this time! I decided that I really did want the house on Peach and our only chance was to call Shannon and tell her to revoke our offer and pull the covenants on Peach. I tapped Doug on the shoulder and was like "Honey, do you think we should call Shannon and have her hold off on our offer until we can see the covenants on Peach?" He said, "Yeah, sure" and immediately my phone rang. It was Shannon saying the other people had rejected our offer. I was giddy. I just knew it was God working. We found out later that their Realtor had offered to lower her commission by $600 if they would take the offer and they still wouldn't take it. So, they turned down an offer over $900 and their house had basically been on the market for almost a year. There is no explanation for that except God did not want us to have that house. We met Shannon later that morning to make an offer on Peach. We offered $5,000 less than asking with an additional $3,000 in closing cost assistance. Unbelievably, she accepted our first offer. Again, it can only be God!
We got home and turned all our paperwork in to Quicken loans. I wasn't sure how everything was going to work since we're buying a home in Indiana yet Doug's job is in Illinois. I had called Quicken back in June and told them our situation and they said it wasn't a problem. Imagine my surprise when they then denied us our loan because of that very reason. Here we were with this amazing house and no loan. Doug and I immediately started calling other banks trying to find a loan. I figured if Quicken wouldn't approve us, then no one would. I even started looking up rental houses. I got to the point where I just had to leave it in God's hands. I know God wants us in Indiana and I know He has a plan to get us there. If it wasn't buying a house, then He would show us the path we needed to take. Thankfully, we found a bank that will give us a loan.
So, as of now, we have a loan. The appraisal for Peach came in over $10,000 over selling price, so we're good there. We've had some issues with our house, but almost $1,000 later, it's all fixed. Our appraisal here is Monday. So, it appears that we are on track for a January 31st closing date. I really still have my doubts. But what I finally had to do was take a look at how God has shown us His will over the past year. During that years time, we have continually looked at houses and have never once felt God telling us a different way. I can see God's hand in the house we now have a contract on, He blocked the first house we offered on so that we could get this house. I just started claiming this house as ours. God gave us this house and satan is not allowed to take it from us!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Housing Hunting in Indiana
Yesterday was day 1 of house hunting in Indiana. We have been looking forward to this for almost a year! When we first felt called to Fishers we got online and looked up houses. We just wanted to see what the market was like and what kind of house to expect. We were both blown away with what kind of house we were probably going to end up with. Since that time, we have regularly looked up potential houses and would share them with each other. We have had so much fun just dreaming about when we would actually be able to start officially looking. Since we've sold our house, we had to get serious about looking and making a list of the houses we wanted to look at. Over the past couple of weeks, I have started to feel guilty about how excited I am. I've been called to help plant a church, not to get a bigger house. I just want to make sure that my focus is on the right thing.
Two of my very dear friends helped me with this. I shared with both of them that I was feeling guilty about how excited I was. Both of them basically said the same thing at different times. This is a moment I should enjoy. I should be excited! God has called us here and wants to bless us. He's excited that I'm excited. Not every moment will be this fun. There will be moments that are hard. We have had a rough six months. It seems like something around the house goes wrong every other week. I can't believe how much money we've spent fixing everything. Somebody different has been sick in the family for most of the last 3 months. Satan is attacking us. And in the midst of it all, God is blessing us with this fun and exciting time.
The sermon series we're in at church is This IS our God. I just love that title! We're not talking about what God has done for us. What God will do with us. We are talking about who God IS. What makes up his very being. His Goodness. His Greatness. His Faithfulness. God has called us to help plant SCC. And because of His greatness, His goodness I will also be moving closer to my family. We will be moving into a bigger house where we will actually feel like we can entertain and have fun with others.
So, I'm off in a few minutes for day 2. And instead of feeling guilty, I'm going to be thanking God for His goodness! Thankful for the amazing Realtor He provided. Thankful for the beautiful houses we're seeing. Thankful I get to do it with my son and later with Doug. What a blessed day! What a blessed life!
Two of my very dear friends helped me with this. I shared with both of them that I was feeling guilty about how excited I was. Both of them basically said the same thing at different times. This is a moment I should enjoy. I should be excited! God has called us here and wants to bless us. He's excited that I'm excited. Not every moment will be this fun. There will be moments that are hard. We have had a rough six months. It seems like something around the house goes wrong every other week. I can't believe how much money we've spent fixing everything. Somebody different has been sick in the family for most of the last 3 months. Satan is attacking us. And in the midst of it all, God is blessing us with this fun and exciting time.
The sermon series we're in at church is This IS our God. I just love that title! We're not talking about what God has done for us. What God will do with us. We are talking about who God IS. What makes up his very being. His Goodness. His Greatness. His Faithfulness. God has called us to help plant SCC. And because of His greatness, His goodness I will also be moving closer to my family. We will be moving into a bigger house where we will actually feel like we can entertain and have fun with others.
So, I'm off in a few minutes for day 2. And instead of feeling guilty, I'm going to be thanking God for His goodness! Thankful for the amazing Realtor He provided. Thankful for the beautiful houses we're seeing. Thankful I get to do it with my son and later with Doug. What a blessed day! What a blessed life!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Preparing the Way
(Lk 3:4) The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.
In reading commentary I found that this refers to when a king would travel in the desert, his servants would go before him and smooth out the terrain, making his path as straight and easy to travel as possible. Think about that, they make his path as straight and easy as possible. That's what we're supposed to be doing! We're supposed to be preparing people to see to Jesus. Everything we do in life should be making it easy for people to see Jesus. Whenever we witness to someone, we're preparing the way for Jesus. A lot of people you interact with, witness to, may not accept Christ right at that moment. But, you've just made the path a little smoother for the next person. Until, at some point in their lives, they're ready for Jesus to walk right up to them. Jesus has this smooth, easy path because of all His faithful servants that have been preparing the way for Him.
That's what we're doing in Fishers. It's funny, but there probably has been people and things going on to make the path smoother for us. Some we may know about, some we may never know. But our job as a church is to point people to Jesus. To make it easy for them to see Him. To make His path smooth to be able to shower these people with His love. To be a John in this desert of a world. To make it easier for even one person to see and know Jesus. What a privilege!
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