Sunday, July 10, 2005
Life verses I
So, the Lord has seen fit over the years to provide me with a verse here and there that captures my life in some key way. This morning the verse that struck me like a thunderbolt was 1 Thessalonians 2:8. "We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become so dear to us." [CSB] THAT is how we feel about the students God has so graciously brought into our lives over the past three years. As we move on to a new life and ministry in Joplin, MO, it struck me that I really hope that the students we have had to work with understand that simple truth...
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Moving from Bloomington
I am swiftly losing my mind. Between dealing with the realtor in Bloomington, the realtor in Joplin, the moving company, the mortage company, the insurance company and all the other pieces of the transition puzzle, I am about ready to shoot someone. Not that anything is going horribly wrong, yet... I am just tired of dealing with it all. Waiting for phone calls, sending faxes, tracking down last year's tax returns, etc., etc., etc., is driving me crazy. The latest headache: the independent inspection on our Bloomington home. I've never met the man, but he has to be the most anal retentive human being on the face of the earth. NOTHING on this house is below code, but according to Mr. Grumpy Pants we have 10 repairs to make. I called the builder, James Baird, and although he's very understanding of the nature of the concerns, even he sees the petty and at times errant nature of some of the flagged items. For instance, although we live on top of a hill, the inspector flagged us for not having adequate drainage. WHAT A CROCK! We have perhaps the best drainage in the entire city of Bloominton! Anyway, the frustration is mounting, but God is ultimately in control. THAT is the only key fact in all this. He knew we'd get those ten flags. He knew we'd have trouble getting the house closed in time to move. He knew all the problems we're experiencing before they we knew we'd be moving. And, truthfully, as anxious as we are about it all, nothing major has happened. There aren't any large or insurmountable issues we're facing. Its just the cumulative weight of all the little stuff... God is good. He is in charge. That is enough.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
2914 North Hickory
God is good. Knowing we had sold our home in Bloomington and were moving in two weeks, we more than a little concerned about the fact that we had no place to live in Joplin. When the realtor, Cherlyl Chandler, became difficult to reach (she had jury duty) we got dwonright panicky. So we got some friends to watch the kids and flew to Joplin on Wednesday morning. Our realtor met us there at 4:00 and we spent the rest of the day and most of the evening searching for our new home. It went well, but we were stressed out, exhausted and in a hurry. Late that evening we decided on a house, 2914 North Hickory. Right price, good location, huge. The floorplan wasn't the best, but it would do. Since it was new construction we put insane riders on the bid and offered 4 thousand dollars less than the builder wanted. (I figured he would at least know what we wanted then and as a builder might work with us to provide it later). Then we went to Jack and Jane's to sleep.
The next morning we went to the realtor's office at 9am. If we were exhausted before, we were positively zombified the next day. Neither Mandi nor myself were able to sleep at all. Maybe I got an hour, maybe less. Cheryl took us to look at two more homes and we also visited the top two from the previous day. All four would have been a good fit for us and we began to rethink our decision of the day before, anticipating that the lowball crazy offer we'd made would be rejected and we would have an opportunity to choose another house if we wanted. Problem (blessing): the offer was accepted unconditionally. I wanted to test the builder for drugs. We came in low, asked for serious upgrades, and his answer was yes.
We're still not crazy about the floorplan, and its not the fanciest house in the world (one step above rental quality), but 3200 square feet on a good sized lot, in town and at $188,000, is enough to offset any concerns we might have. He even went ahead and put sod in the back yard! I just assumed he'd use seed and straw, like most other builders do, particularly when they're getting lowballed on the house. What a blessing! Cheryl's response to it was that she wants me along next time she has to buy a house for herself.
Thursday afternoon we boarded the plane for home, satisfied that we had seen God's goodness at work in our favor again. Then the last leg of our flight, St. Louis to Indianapolis, was cancelled. Our first thought was for the kids. Would the babysitters be able to stay that much longer? While we pondered our situation in the line for the courtesy phone that the airline, American, uses to reschedule flights for its stranded customers, the man in front of us, Paul, mentioned that its only a four hour drive between the two cities. Immediately you could almost see the lightbulbs going on over people's heads. We joined Paul and two others, Jamie and Michelle, and agreed to split the cost of a rental car. We would make it home after all, another blessing.
While we got ourselves organized I spoke with the American representative on the courtesy phone and the company agreed without discussion to refund half of our tickets. Another blessing.
On the four hour drive to Indy we shared about our respective lives and someone asked me about our ministry with students. A 2-3 hour witnessing session was born. About halfway through I was so tired of answering questions about the Bible that I told them all it was okay to change the subject because I didn't want to just dominate their time or offend anyone. Their response was that it was the most civil conversation they'd ever had about religion and they wanted to keep talking. I shared more. No one was converted, but I know that they heard the truth, that they understood the message of the gospel, and they heard it in a loving, non-contentious way. When they went to bed that night I'm sure the Holy Spirit was still whispering in their ears. What a blessing!
Finally, because we got the house so cheap we decided to use the professional movers we'd had give us estimates earlier in month. Why that constitutes yet another blessing is this: When the second estimate came in, we showed the man our copy of the original estimate and he almost choked on how cheap it was. He literally could not understand how we could get such a deal. (It should be noted here that the moving industry is very competetive. The sales reps from each company know the sales reps and rates of their competitors. And, moving is NEVER cheap.)
At the end of the week we have accomplished a lot, and we have again been blessed far beyond all we could ask or imagine. Why God continues to shower us this way is still beyond my ability to comprehend. This, however, I do know: allow Him full creative control of your life, and you will be constantly amazed by the power of God to turn your mundane journey into a divine odyssey.
The next morning we went to the realtor's office at 9am. If we were exhausted before, we were positively zombified the next day. Neither Mandi nor myself were able to sleep at all. Maybe I got an hour, maybe less. Cheryl took us to look at two more homes and we also visited the top two from the previous day. All four would have been a good fit for us and we began to rethink our decision of the day before, anticipating that the lowball crazy offer we'd made would be rejected and we would have an opportunity to choose another house if we wanted. Problem (blessing): the offer was accepted unconditionally. I wanted to test the builder for drugs. We came in low, asked for serious upgrades, and his answer was yes.
We're still not crazy about the floorplan, and its not the fanciest house in the world (one step above rental quality), but 3200 square feet on a good sized lot, in town and at $188,000, is enough to offset any concerns we might have. He even went ahead and put sod in the back yard! I just assumed he'd use seed and straw, like most other builders do, particularly when they're getting lowballed on the house. What a blessing! Cheryl's response to it was that she wants me along next time she has to buy a house for herself.
Thursday afternoon we boarded the plane for home, satisfied that we had seen God's goodness at work in our favor again. Then the last leg of our flight, St. Louis to Indianapolis, was cancelled. Our first thought was for the kids. Would the babysitters be able to stay that much longer? While we pondered our situation in the line for the courtesy phone that the airline, American, uses to reschedule flights for its stranded customers, the man in front of us, Paul, mentioned that its only a four hour drive between the two cities. Immediately you could almost see the lightbulbs going on over people's heads. We joined Paul and two others, Jamie and Michelle, and agreed to split the cost of a rental car. We would make it home after all, another blessing.
While we got ourselves organized I spoke with the American representative on the courtesy phone and the company agreed without discussion to refund half of our tickets. Another blessing.
On the four hour drive to Indy we shared about our respective lives and someone asked me about our ministry with students. A 2-3 hour witnessing session was born. About halfway through I was so tired of answering questions about the Bible that I told them all it was okay to change the subject because I didn't want to just dominate their time or offend anyone. Their response was that it was the most civil conversation they'd ever had about religion and they wanted to keep talking. I shared more. No one was converted, but I know that they heard the truth, that they understood the message of the gospel, and they heard it in a loving, non-contentious way. When they went to bed that night I'm sure the Holy Spirit was still whispering in their ears. What a blessing!
Finally, because we got the house so cheap we decided to use the professional movers we'd had give us estimates earlier in month. Why that constitutes yet another blessing is this: When the second estimate came in, we showed the man our copy of the original estimate and he almost choked on how cheap it was. He literally could not understand how we could get such a deal. (It should be noted here that the moving industry is very competetive. The sales reps from each company know the sales reps and rates of their competitors. And, moving is NEVER cheap.)
At the end of the week we have accomplished a lot, and we have again been blessed far beyond all we could ask or imagine. Why God continues to shower us this way is still beyond my ability to comprehend. This, however, I do know: allow Him full creative control of your life, and you will be constantly amazed by the power of God to turn your mundane journey into a divine odyssey.
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