I think that most of our friends and family know that we are now in Houston! Where it is already spring and mosquitos are abundant. We are actually loving it here! I think much to many peoples' surprise. I think we came in anticipating the worst of the worst with traffic and weather, but really we don't have a whole lot of problems with either. Let's face we are both from the southern part of America where it's hot most of the year anyways - this really isn't that different. BUT ... check back in with me in August and I will probably be singing a different song.
Our home in Waco is under contract.. which is a blessing beyond description. We packed up all of our "essentials" and moved here about 3ish weeks ago. Our realtor suggested we leave our furniture to stage the house and about 2 weeks later it is under contract! And... I happen to know the couple that will be moving in and can I just say for some reason it is pure joy knowing that they will the new home owners! Something about it just affirms the whole flip - our prayers have always been that the next home owners would find that home a sanctuary.
We are currently living in a mother-in-law suite at the sweetest couples home. They have two grown children, one grand daughter - who is precious, and one on the way! Mr. and Mrs. Ford (they fit their names well) are as sweet as the south gets - incredibly hospitable and giving. When they heard that some strangers needed a place to stay to help build this church they opened their doors. GUYS there is hope... there are people like this in this world! We were so encouraged. Really this whole community down here is the same way, just so incredible to be here and experience such kindness. Oh and we are living here for free.
I have started my new job, and I LOVE it! The job hunt before coming down here was pretty stressful. We wanted to be here to help build this church but we couldn't just walk away from a mortgage without anyway to pay for it. There was a balance of obedience and responsibility that we wrestled with for ....oh about 2 months. Needless to say God won in the end - he always does, and the answer was yes. Yes we needed to do what we felt like he was calling us to do and yes we needed to be responsible. This could be expanded upon for pages on end, so I'll just leave this topic at that. Wes drove back and forth from Houston going to interview after interview and it always came back that they just weren't looking for anyone to fill that position. Frustration and exhaustion would have been an understatement. I on the other hand didn't lift a finger to job hunt. I didn't send a single resume or make any phone calls. I just figured once we moved I would job hunt. Well out of the blue I got a phone call from my now boss, Chad, and he said he wanted to give me a job. He and I had talked at one of the church meetings and (not knowing he was in remodeling) I told him about the company in Waco that I worked for and how much I loved my job and was sad to be leaving it. Months later it was still on his mind and so he hired me! It is very similar to my job in Waco except here I am the only designer with the company, and I am loving it.
Although we moved in faith with only having one job, the first Monday we were in Houston Wes got a job. So there. God is faithful, sometimes it just takes a step in the right direction.
The Church! The church! The church is so exciting. Wes is the worship leader - which he is incredibly gifted at. We have an amazing worship team. The band itself had never played together - if you know about this then you know how big of a deal it is - and literally the first practiced they jelled (gelled??) immediately! It was truly a gift to say the least. Of course all the random guys that are just super talented were waiting around to be in a worship band... no thats not usually how it works. And just to sweeten things all of them have been in Antioch or around Antioch and carry the vision and the value of worship. So we are all on the same page! Its no easy task to pull a bunch of random people, from a new city, with different back grounds and flow in worship together and be like minded and like hearted. If you know what I am talking about then you are blown away too! God is good, and he is in control! We have somewhere around 120ish ppl. that attend on Sunday morning and we have about 6 or 7 lifegroups that meet during the week. The childrens ministry is incredible! We are a mobile church meaning that we don't have a building yet - so every sunday we set up and tear down. I'm absolutely blown away by the commitment and selflessness of my team. We get there at 7 am with smiling faces and pull in huge hairy creates... yes they are gray and hairy. We unload everything including folding walls, toys, snacks, and giant rugs for the kids. They even have allergy signs??? I help with stage set up and layout of the worship center, and I rotate in singing every other week or so. We love it. We love living for something bigger than our selves, and through the process of loving and seeing peoples lives changed ... ours change too.
If I have learned anything the past couple months its a lesson that I have learned many times but this time it went a little deeper...
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice," - 1 Samuel 15:22
Samuel said this to a king who disobeyed God and the king's response was that he sacrificed for God, and Samuel quickly shot back its not about sacrifice its about obedience. Thats the extreme para phrase version... You can read if for yourself for more of the details and to get that perspective of God's heart for yourself.
So many of us feel like in order to please God then we must be sacrificing someting. But don't sacrifice something for the sake of sacrifice - like some kind of legalistic burden - I know this because if I'm not careful I do this. Read about his character and learn, and see that its all about relationship. He is not interested in going through motions with you he is interested in your heart. So give it up! I have to go through this ... oh almost daily.
Okay I won't rant about that any longer - here it is Houston update #1 - Not sure if you noticed but every thing that is purple is what God has done. He provided a place for us to stay, sold our house in 2 weeks, 2 jobs, a growing church, and community that we LOVE. He is faithful and we are living proof of his faithfulness today.
Oh.. and we are on the house hunt and found an amazing potential. Its the weirdest house ever... which is so appealing to me :). Ill keep you posted if we get it or not. It will be an incredible remodel.
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