Monthly Archives: February 2010

Joy that’s Unspeakable

Posted in About Us, House by

I am in our new place. It’s 9:12 am. Jason already left for church. I woke up sick as a dog so I stayed home. I slept for another hour and then got out of bed. I don’t know how to explain how I feel right now, but I’m going to try.

Right now, I’m sitting on the lounge part of our sofa facing out the front window. The sun is shining in my new neighborhood and I can hear birds singing. It is absolutely silent other than that. I just feel overwhelming peace. I feel overwhelming contentment. I feel overwhelming joy. “You give me joy that’s unspeakable.” That’s the phrase that comes to mind about my God.

So I was sitting here and starting my Masters’ work for the week that’s due tonight. And I just kept getting distracted by nothing. There’s nothing going on outside. And ironically that distracts me. It makes me want to look. It makes me want to go outside. It makes me want to jump for joy.

“The joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Neh. 8:10) Yesterday the joy I felt as we moved was palpable. Our friends and family came out in strength and I think that I had more fun moving and laughing with them than I could have anticipated. Who likes moving? I certainly don’t. But yesterday was positively joyful. Full of joy.

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. ” (Ps. 5:11)

I keep thinking about your goodness to us. “You bless the righteous.” I am definitely not righteous on my own. I know that I have absolutely no righteousness, but only that which comes through faith. It’s your righteousness that you’ve gifted me. And then on top of that you gift me with your favor? “You surround them with your favor as with a shield.” Over and over again for the last ten days you have poured out your goodness and favor on us. It’s overwhelming, really.

We meet with Shane to discuss budget and all decided it would be better for us to find a cheaper place and for them to stay in their place. That was Thursday. We start searching for new places on Saturday. We find the house we love on Tuesday. They don’t take pets, but she changes her mind. They want $1250 a month, but she drops it to $1100 (exactly the $150 decrease we’d asked for). We want to move in this weekend, she wants us to wait until next weekend. But she changes her mind and we have the keys by Friday? 8 days after we met with Shane.

Our community group and family comes out in force. One couple (Jenny and Kyle) lend us their amazing truck and trailer that allows us to fit everything in 3 trips. We had help from Luke and Tiffany, Eve, Paul and Tammy, Joel. Then the family came out in force and Monica, Mom, Dad, Tember, Perry and Salena (and the girls) helped for hour after hour.

When we’d finally finished packing the old house up, I looked up into the sky and saw a huge rainbow. Rainbows are my thing. I always feel like God shows me one when I need a reminder that He’s right there with me. He was all over it and I was blown away. We made our final trip to the new house and started unpacking. About an hour into unpacking here, someone called me to the back window. It was another rainbow. Bursting with joy.

“Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me thus far.” (2 Sam. 7:18)

To you be ALL the glory. Thank you for this joy.

Tonight’s the Night

Posted in About Us, House by

So the last six months of housing decisions all come down to tonight. Click on the link to read the history of what God has done and why and how we got here.

So here we are now. We are three weeks away from needing to be out of our townhouse. The deal is 90% done. We are supposed to be closing on March 11.

Here’s what we’ve decided:

Shane and Sarah have pulled out of the offer they placed on the home in Gig Harbor. That means that after they get married they are either going to move into Sarah’s place or rent a house. Shane shared this at Community Group on Tuesday. Jason and I would like to let them know that if they would rather just move into Shane’s house, we can release them from needing to rent to us.

If they do not want to move into Shane’s house, we’re going to see if they will allow us to do 6 months. That way we won’t be overcommitted to something we can’t afford. Those six months will be used to get more clarity on Jason’s job, on deciding what to do about timing for children, on our finances, and also to allow Shane and Sarah time to find someone else to rent if we cannot stay past 6 months.

If they release us from the lease saying that they’ll easily be able to find someone else to move in, than we will probably go for that option. Then we will start looking for a house to rent somewhere else that is more in our budget.

Originally when we met with Shane and Sarah we were looking at our budget from the perspective of me getting back to work after I finish my Masters (and my parents helping us a little bit in the interim). Now, we have met with the doctor and feel like we need to seriously be moving forward with conception. We both feel ready. We both feel like family is our priority over housing and finances. If we can get pregnant, we are willing to make whatever cuts are necessary so that we can make things work.

Neither one of us has ever prayed so much about something. We don’t feel like God has necessarily given us the answers yet, but we definitely do feel like we have peace because we know we’re following Him. It’s so cool to be reminded of all of the times that He’s provided for us in the past and to therefore know that He’ll do it again. It’s also way cooler to relinquish control and be stress free as you wait to see what He’s got up His proverbial sleeve. It’s about Him. It’s not about us. It’s about giving Him the chance to get the glory, not us!

Here’s a great quote from Blackaby’s “Encounters with God”:

Before you ever hear Him, you must answer ‘yes.’ A heart of ready obedience is necessary for Him to freely speak. So what is your answer? If there is hesitation, don’t expect to hear Him. You have not yet accepted the fact that He is Lord. If that question is not answered, He can’t give you an assignment; He can’t entrust to you the greater things of the kingdom. He will simply talk to you about His right to be Lord. So take a moment and recognize God’s right in your life and let Him know that your answer is ‘yes’ no matter what He says. You have no idea what freedom that brings to your Bible study. When God knows you are ready to respond, He can talk to you about what is on His heart.

We’re saying yes. Can’t wait to see what He says!