Reality Check

Our new church is giving us a nice amount of money to cover moving expenses. With 2 months left on our current lease, the cost of a rental truck, and other things this is awesome! We even had planned, after budgeting everything out, on spending leftover money on purchasing some new furniture - adios hand-me-down furniture, hello adult furniture!

Instead, I say hold on a minute furniture, hello unforseen bills! A trip to the dentist, expensive repairs on Andy's car (which isn't worth it so we're selling it and going to be a 1 car family - again - for a bit), and more means what we thought was smooth sailing became a bit of a rough sea. But oddly enough, Andy and I both have a peace. We know God has called us to move to DBBC and we couldn't be more excited! We know that Chattanooga is EXACTLY where God has placed us, and He knew these circumstances long before us. That doesn't mean though that I'm not confused and frustrated by these new hiccups.

And so as Christmas is just 6 days away and our move is 8 days away and these things have all taken place, I think of Mary. Mary (and Joseph for that matter) had everything figured out. She was engaged to a great man, a carpenter who was good at his trade. They would have a nice, comfortable life together full of love - content with whatever God blessed them with. She was looking forward to her wedding day and the start of a new life with the man she had come to love and respect. Life was coming together and it seemed perfect. And then life took a turn no one would have ever imagined. Angels, virgin births, giving birth in a stable - those things are crazy, and definitely not part of the life Mary would lead...right? In a moment, everything she and Joseph knew - every ounce of stability and roots - were yanked away and a new version of perfect began. A Perfect that Mary never imagined having. She became the mother to the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah! She did - a teenage girl who was just going about life day dreaming of her wedding day trying to live a life pleasing to her Lord!

And once again perspective is restored to my life. No, I'm not giving birth to the Son of God, but we are uprooting ourselves to serve Him. And we haven't had angels come, and thank goodness I didn't give birth to Reed in a stable (can I get an amen?), but things have taken a surprising turn. But like Mary, I know that God's ways are so much bigger than mine, and I would much rather He receive the glory that me. So I will rest, and trust, and most importantly "be still and know" that He is God!

Grinch

I'm having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. Normally, I'd already have our tree up, the decorations out, and the house would be filled with the smell of cinnamon and cookies. Instead, our house looks like a war zone, I'm exhausted and drained of all energy every day, and we have mounds of boxes, goodwill bags and laundry scattered about.

It's hit me this morning that I have 3 weeks left of work and 4 weeks left until Christmas and 5 weeks until I'm a TN resident again. Don't get me wrong - I'm still thrilled that we're moving. I just hate moving. I'm ready for roots. To be settled. To have everything signed so we actually have a place to move too (Nope we don't have a new place yet...we know where we want to live, but we're still waiting on the paperwork to come so we can sign and send back) So we'll put up the tree at some point, but most of the decorations will stay packed away until next year. And cookies might not get made. And boxes will continue to abound. And my house will stay a wreck for a month. And then I'll unpack it all.

On the bright side, I'm only lacking gifts for 4 people - not too shabby! And 2 of those people I already know what we're getting, it's just a matter of getting. So while I may feel a little Grinch-like, I'm trying to be excited.

It's my time!

Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse...The Lord will reply, “Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil enough to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations...Don’t be afraid, my people. Be glad now and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things... Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring. The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil. The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you. Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the Lord your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be disgraced. Then you will know that I am among my people Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. Never again will my people be disgraced.

Joel 2:14, 19, 21, 23-27

I try to be considerate of other's feelings, and for that reason I'm restraining myself to an extent to say all I wish to say. However, the other day I read these verses in Joel and instantly I felt my Spirit Man jumping up and down. Y'all...the past several years have had many many growing pains. The Lord has taught us, used us, disciplined us, strengthened us, and guided us through and in so many different situations. Some were caused by God, some were allowed by God - but either way, He was glorified. And now is my time. My time to choose to praise the Lord on this side of it all. To sing his praises and declare LOUDLY and boldly that The Lord is good - his faithfulness extends to all generations! He has indeed restored the years. We see it, even as we are just entering this new chapter. And yes, there will be more tears, and growing pains, throughout this new journey but we rejoice because we have tasted and seen once more that the Lord is good. 


1 Chronicles 16:9
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

Psalm 40:3-4a 

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord...

so many things!

It's been a while since I last blogged, but its because so many things have been going on! So here they are in no particular order:

1)We just got back from our Thanksgivemas trip to Memphis. Every year, we do Thanksgiving and Christmas together with my parents, hence Thanksgivemas. Usually we are there the week of Thanksgiving, but this year our friends Joe and Leann were in town! They're missionaries in Argentina,but they're on furlough for a while so we got to see their little boy and meet their baby girl! So. Much. Fun!! We got to stay with our friends Maria and Alex which was a blast and their dog Dorsey may have converted Andy into a dog-lover. And if that wasn't enough, my friend Natalie got engaged while we were in town so we got to celebrate with her! Talk about God's perfect timing - so great!

2)On a different note, that ever elusive puzzle that I was so excited about back in March - well the puzzle was completed today, but instead of being a beautiful picture of a sunset or rainbow or some other happiness, the picture was a big fat "NO" sign. It's frustrating for sure, but I know God knows better than me. His thoughts are not my thoughts; His ways are not mine. Some other good stuff is happening though so that's good. More on that soon perhaps

3)We got to hang out with a student last night who is just hurting emotionally. Her parents just split, her mom who she's living with doesn't get her at all, and she is doing her best to hang on until she graduates in early June. She called us out of the blue and asked to hang out - said she didn't care what we did, she just wanted out of the house. So we got mexican food and talked for a couple hours! Andy talked "geek speak" with her about video games, and it made me thankful for a husband that knows so much about so many topics so that the can effectively minister to so many! If you think of it, keep B in your prayers!

Thats the synposis of our life right now. Hopefully, I'll keep this up to date better now