I'm sitting in my living room, feeling very content. There's sun shining through the window, the temperature is actually warm, and my wife is reading a book in the chaise. Life is good right now.
Our weather is slowly getting better. We had snow a little bit last week, but this week is supposed to be warm enough for rain. That will be a nice change. We're starting to get stuff together for a garden. Started zucchini, lettuce, chives, basil, oregano, thyme, morning glory, and sweet peas. We'll be planting carrots a bit later outside. Going to be nice to have some veggies growing.
I spent the morning at church. We have a daily corporate prayer time and it has greatly helped my growth with God and is a great part of the day. After that Pastor and I went for coffee and had some good conversation. I love our church and the relationships that I'm building.
After lunch I went over to my father-in-laws and did some sawing. I'm in the middle of a project that I'll reveal later. It was a lot of fun to be able to use the table saw and work with wood.
Life is pretty good right now.
Thank You, Lord for this day, for the favor you give us, and the blessings showered upon us. Thank You for our house and the ability to make it our home. Thank You. Amen.
How about you? What's God doing in your life that You're thankful for? Meet us in the comments!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
When Chaos Comes Knocking
First off I must apologize for not writing more on this blog. Life got in the way there for awhile. We are back and will be posting more often.
Second, to discuss what happened I need a time machine... What? No time machines handy? I guess you'll have to put up with me telling the story of a spewing toilet and the turmoil it caused.
Third - Just so that I have a nice three point introduction, here is the story:
The Story
It starts innocently enough. An article I had written had just been published on The Christian Dollar When Plans Don't Work Out. I had talked about when chaos strikes and your plans are changed or thrown out the window, turn to God and remember His Plan for you never gets thwarted.
It's interesting how things happen to test what God has been talking to us about.
That day I walked to church for prayer and walked back, nice weather, and a good time. I open my door and descend into our basement. What do I discover but a pool of water about a 1/4 in deep at my entryway. Oh boy.... Turns out that the toilet line out to the main sewer had been blocked and every time my neighbor's laundry drained, I got a flood.
After calling the landlady and getting the neighbor to stop washing clothes, I attempted to clean up. Yeah, not having a wet vac really slowed the process down. Then the clean up guys came and told me that the bacteria in the sewer water was dangerous and that they needed to remove the floors and sanitize. Oh. So you mean I need to move all my stuff out and allow you access.
Thus started a marathon packing! We slept at my in-laws (Shout out to Richard and Julie! You guys are a blessing!), packed up our stuff, and then moved it all into a friend's garage (Shout out to Dennis and Laura! Thank you so very much!) with the help of some guys from church (Thanks to Darryl, Kyle, Glenn, Troy, and Devon! You guys rock!). From that Tuesday to the afternoon of that Sunday, we packed, moved, and cleaned. My wife and her mother did a great job cleaning everything except the floors!
Let's take a moment and talk about how I had to deal with my ways of thinking. I'll be honest, we both had moments where we wanted to worry and be annoyed that we were having to move. It was tempting to think we'd be stuck staying with Brianna's parents for a long period of time, that our stuff would like hanging out in a garage, that we wouldn't find a new place, and if we did, we wouldn't be able to afford it.
However, both of us knew that God does care about us and does have plans for us. We had to rest in God's hands, let Him be the center of our lives, and have faith that a new place would be found. After all, we had been thinking about moving before all this happened and had started asking God for a new place for the same amount of money. We knew that it'd take a miracle to get a place like what we wanted. And our expectations were met...
In our searching, we had a couple leads that fell through. Then we heard about this Coop housing and that there was a two bedroom available.
Get this, that Tuesday night, a week from when I discovered the flood, we visited with the couple who makes the membership agreements. We looked at the place and it matched everything we were asking for. Even the ability to paint and to have a garden. We signed the papers and got the keys. By Saturday we were all moved in.
We've been painting and getting settled this last week. It's almost to the point where we can feel at home.
Best thing: Same amount of money for almost twice the space.
Chaos came knocking. We had to remember that God brings order. We rested in Him. Now we are blessed with a great place and a reminder to be focused on Him!
Meet us in the comments and tell us about what God's been doing in your lives.
Second, to discuss what happened I need a time machine... What? No time machines handy? I guess you'll have to put up with me telling the story of a spewing toilet and the turmoil it caused.
Third - Just so that I have a nice three point introduction, here is the story:
The Story
It starts innocently enough. An article I had written had just been published on The Christian Dollar When Plans Don't Work Out. I had talked about when chaos strikes and your plans are changed or thrown out the window, turn to God and remember His Plan for you never gets thwarted.
It's interesting how things happen to test what God has been talking to us about.
After calling the landlady and getting the neighbor to stop washing clothes, I attempted to clean up. Yeah, not having a wet vac really slowed the process down. Then the clean up guys came and told me that the bacteria in the sewer water was dangerous and that they needed to remove the floors and sanitize. Oh. So you mean I need to move all my stuff out and allow you access.
Thus started a marathon packing! We slept at my in-laws (Shout out to Richard and Julie! You guys are a blessing!), packed up our stuff, and then moved it all into a friend's garage (Shout out to Dennis and Laura! Thank you so very much!) with the help of some guys from church (Thanks to Darryl, Kyle, Glenn, Troy, and Devon! You guys rock!). From that Tuesday to the afternoon of that Sunday, we packed, moved, and cleaned. My wife and her mother did a great job cleaning everything except the floors!
Let's take a moment and talk about how I had to deal with my ways of thinking. I'll be honest, we both had moments where we wanted to worry and be annoyed that we were having to move. It was tempting to think we'd be stuck staying with Brianna's parents for a long period of time, that our stuff would like hanging out in a garage, that we wouldn't find a new place, and if we did, we wouldn't be able to afford it.
However, both of us knew that God does care about us and does have plans for us. We had to rest in God's hands, let Him be the center of our lives, and have faith that a new place would be found. After all, we had been thinking about moving before all this happened and had started asking God for a new place for the same amount of money. We knew that it'd take a miracle to get a place like what we wanted. And our expectations were met...
In our searching, we had a couple leads that fell through. Then we heard about this Coop housing and that there was a two bedroom available.
Get this, that Tuesday night, a week from when I discovered the flood, we visited with the couple who makes the membership agreements. We looked at the place and it matched everything we were asking for. Even the ability to paint and to have a garden. We signed the papers and got the keys. By Saturday we were all moved in.
We've been painting and getting settled this last week. It's almost to the point where we can feel at home.
Best thing: Same amount of money for almost twice the space.
Chaos came knocking. We had to remember that God brings order. We rested in Him. Now we are blessed with a great place and a reminder to be focused on Him!
Meet us in the comments and tell us about what God's been doing in your lives.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)