2:00 Update: The move has been rescheduled to Friday. We haven't confirmed with our buyer that this is okay. Please join us in praying it's okay. It's technically their fault we are in this predicament anyway since they are the ones keeping us from closing tomorrow. So, the packers don't come tomorrow; they come Thursday instead. Friday they will load our stuff and take it to the new house. I will be really happy when this is over.
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I need to ask for prayer for our closing and move.
Our closing keeps getting pushed back further and further, and at this point will probably delay our move. I learned this morning that the moving company won't move you on the day of closing. Our closing will likely occur on Thursday, which is the same day we were to be moved. So, now we are likely going to reschedule our move for Friday. We are waiting to hear from our buyer to see if they are okay with us being in this house a day longer.
I trust and believe that God has a plan. I would like to be in on it, though. Please join me in praying that things get figured out so we can reschedule the move if need be. This is a big opportunity for me to not stress out and keep my eyes on Jesus. That's what my Bible Study has been teaching me. I guess this is my opportunity to put it into action.
Thanks!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
It's Best to Call...
If you need to reach us this week, please call us. We'll be checking email intermittently. We will be without Internet Thursday and Friday.
We move on Thursday. I think we close late on Wednesday (we'll see).
No word yet on if the Someone was able to help Chuck's VA file. I'm still praying.
Shoot me an email at ittybitties@msn.com if you want our new address. Our cell phones will stay the same and we will be adding a home phone. Two months of going over our minutes on our cell phones makes a home phone very attractive.
Packing of toiletries and cleaning supplies has officially begun. My denial about moving went out the window today. Oh my gosh, I'm moving this week. I have so much to do. Thank God for movers!
We move on Thursday. I think we close late on Wednesday (we'll see).
No word yet on if the Someone was able to help Chuck's VA file. I'm still praying.
Shoot me an email at ittybitties@msn.com if you want our new address. Our cell phones will stay the same and we will be adding a home phone. Two months of going over our minutes on our cell phones makes a home phone very attractive.
Packing of toiletries and cleaning supplies has officially begun. My denial about moving went out the window today. Oh my gosh, I'm moving this week. I have so much to do. Thank God for movers!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Someone Knows Someone Who Knows Someone
And that someone may be able to get Chuck's Veteran's Affairs disibility rating done before we close on our home. Please pray that it is so. It makes about a $6000 dollar difference.
And if you're going to be praying for that, could you add prayers that our closing can happen on Tuesday instead of Friday OR that we can get our move changed to accomodate the fact that the seller WILL NOT let us in before we close?
On a happier note, we had the new house sprayed for bugs today. The bug man told me that there shouldn't be much of a bug problem there since he didn't see much to be concerned about. That's good news. That doesn't cover mosquitoes. Mosquitoes seriously own the city, so that screened in porch will be well used.
Tomorrow morning we have someone coming to estimate how much crap we have that the military will have to move. We're getting closer! Saturday, I think, will be the day that I pull down all the pictures and fill nail holes.
That's all for now.
And if you're going to be praying for that, could you add prayers that our closing can happen on Tuesday instead of Friday OR that we can get our move changed to accomodate the fact that the seller WILL NOT let us in before we close?
On a happier note, we had the new house sprayed for bugs today. The bug man told me that there shouldn't be much of a bug problem there since he didn't see much to be concerned about. That's good news. That doesn't cover mosquitoes. Mosquitoes seriously own the city, so that screened in porch will be well used.
Tomorrow morning we have someone coming to estimate how much crap we have that the military will have to move. We're getting closer! Saturday, I think, will be the day that I pull down all the pictures and fill nail holes.
That's all for now.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Draw Your Strength from Him
Ahhh. Just what I needed. I'm doing this great Bible Study called "Because of Jesus" by Connie Witter. It is awesome. Since I've been waking up sick this week, I wasn't as far along in the study as I should have been. But once again, God's timing is perfect. The title of today's study was, "Draw Your Strength from Him." Yeah, perfect for where I'm at today. When I opened the book and read the title I knew it was going to be just what I needed. I envisioned this fuel tank within me that was empty. It seems that no matter what I've tried to fill it with today, I can't. I realized that I need to fill it with God. He is the only good fuel for my soul. I'd been trying to fill it with updates on our adoption, encouraging emails, reading blogs, reading comments on my blog, and information on Haitian adoption in general. None of that is fuel for my soul, but when I'm expecting it to be that fuel, I'm deeply discouraged when it doesn't fill me. The ONLY fuel I need is God. I will walk through the rest of this day with Him as my fuel. And maybe, just maybe, I've learned a lesson today that will follow me all the days of my life.
One of Those Days
I'm having one of those days. You know, the ones where nothing seems to go well, the ones where your emotions are all out of whack, the ones where you think, "I just can't do this."
I'm adoption weary today. I've read too many stories recently of failed adoptions. So, not only am I tired of waiting, I'm also afraid. I know that fear is not of God.
I'm house weary today, too. The seller of the house we are moving into will not let us in early. It is vacant and we are willing to pay rent, all of which is normal practice, but they won't budge. So, we are attempting to move up our closing date by 3 days and rent back this house. I'm also pretty bummed that God hasn't come through yet on the VA disability rating. He can do it. I'd like Him to do it. He hasn't yet.
I'm not feeling well to top it all off. I'm not sure if it's allergies or the flu, but I've had a headache for two days now and I feel nauseous.
Sorry to whine. Just being honest here. I'm going to spend some time with God now.
I'm adoption weary today. I've read too many stories recently of failed adoptions. So, not only am I tired of waiting, I'm also afraid. I know that fear is not of God.
I'm house weary today, too. The seller of the house we are moving into will not let us in early. It is vacant and we are willing to pay rent, all of which is normal practice, but they won't budge. So, we are attempting to move up our closing date by 3 days and rent back this house. I'm also pretty bummed that God hasn't come through yet on the VA disability rating. He can do it. I'd like Him to do it. He hasn't yet.
I'm not feeling well to top it all off. I'm not sure if it's allergies or the flu, but I've had a headache for two days now and I feel nauseous.
Sorry to whine. Just being honest here. I'm going to spend some time with God now.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Yesterday's Service
First of all, I apologize for the tardiness of this post. I said I'd post in the a.m. and it is definitely p.m. Most of this a.m. was spent sleeping because I had a fabulous time with a friend staying up until 3 a.m. playing some Super Mario Brothers 3 last night. We whipped out my old Nintendo and had ourselves a little sleepover. It was mad fun, but I am way too old to stay up that late!!
Okay, Church yesterday. It was awesome!! Most of our Launch Team was there at 7:30 a.m. to set up. I helped prepare communion. I broke the crackers, that was my job. Since I'm obsessive compulsive about most things, it was a good job for me. I had to break those crackers down to just the right size. By 8:45 we had communion ready to go. From there I went to help out in other areas, but most everything was done. We just had some straightening up and putting away of things to do. We were completely ready to go at 9:30. By 9:45 I was feeling like I could throw up and wondering where all the people were. And then they began to trickle in. I was standing near our information table watching the door and seeing people come in. Most had kids with them. Our people pointed them in the right direction for Children's Ministry and the auditorium. There was a good vibe.
Then, I got pulled into the toddler room (13 - 23 months). I agreed to help out there if they needed me. They needed me. Actually, they needed a lot more than me, but they got me. I walked into a room of 12 toddlers and about 8 of them were crying LOUD. It was insane. I grabbed a crying kid and settled her down. Then another and another. Two of them would not chill out. They were both toddlers of Lauch Team members and they both have a tendency to not like being left in Children's Ministry. We ended up having their parents come and get them because they were way too upset. So, we (me and 4 others) settled down with the babies and played. We talked about how God made the water and the dry land and the kids got to play with some water. One of them was insisting on getting in the tub of water. It was so cute!
So, I'm sure you're thinking, "That's nice Juli, but we want to hear about the service." I can only tell you what I heard since I wasn't in there: It went great!! The people were excited to be there. We show a video sermon and people seemed to be into it. They laughed when they should have.
After the service Chuck says people swarmed our info table looking for info to give to their friends. Chuck says it got a little crazy over there as people swarmed looking for stuff to pick up. I left the toddler room after most of the kids had been picked up and I hung out in the lobby looking for people to talk to. There were a few ladies there that I knew. They had attended a small group that Chuck led in Chesapeake 3 years ago. Both had stopped going to Forefront (because of how far away it was) and had also stopped attending Gel Group (small group). It was so good to see them there at church. They were pumped to be there and said they looked forward to coming back.
Chuck did really well. He remembered all his stuff that he had to say. He did jump up on stage before a video that he was supposed to wait for, but our production team just rolled with it and inserted the video later in the service. Some people who know him well told me that they could tell he was a little nervous, but that you wouldn't know if you didn't know him. I'm supposed to be able to view a video of the whole service sometime this week. There's a part of me that was relieved to not be in the auditorium because I would have been so nervous for Chuck that I don't know if I would have enjoyed the service. I sure hope that feeling goes away!
I will try to get Chuck to make an appearance on the blog so that he can tell you about things from his perspective. Oh, and by the way, he was so stinking cute on Sunday. He got some new duds and looked very handsome.
Okay, Church yesterday. It was awesome!! Most of our Launch Team was there at 7:30 a.m. to set up. I helped prepare communion. I broke the crackers, that was my job. Since I'm obsessive compulsive about most things, it was a good job for me. I had to break those crackers down to just the right size. By 8:45 we had communion ready to go. From there I went to help out in other areas, but most everything was done. We just had some straightening up and putting away of things to do. We were completely ready to go at 9:30. By 9:45 I was feeling like I could throw up and wondering where all the people were. And then they began to trickle in. I was standing near our information table watching the door and seeing people come in. Most had kids with them. Our people pointed them in the right direction for Children's Ministry and the auditorium. There was a good vibe.
Then, I got pulled into the toddler room (13 - 23 months). I agreed to help out there if they needed me. They needed me. Actually, they needed a lot more than me, but they got me. I walked into a room of 12 toddlers and about 8 of them were crying LOUD. It was insane. I grabbed a crying kid and settled her down. Then another and another. Two of them would not chill out. They were both toddlers of Lauch Team members and they both have a tendency to not like being left in Children's Ministry. We ended up having their parents come and get them because they were way too upset. So, we (me and 4 others) settled down with the babies and played. We talked about how God made the water and the dry land and the kids got to play with some water. One of them was insisting on getting in the tub of water. It was so cute!
So, I'm sure you're thinking, "That's nice Juli, but we want to hear about the service." I can only tell you what I heard since I wasn't in there: It went great!! The people were excited to be there. We show a video sermon and people seemed to be into it. They laughed when they should have.
After the service Chuck says people swarmed our info table looking for info to give to their friends. Chuck says it got a little crazy over there as people swarmed looking for stuff to pick up. I left the toddler room after most of the kids had been picked up and I hung out in the lobby looking for people to talk to. There were a few ladies there that I knew. They had attended a small group that Chuck led in Chesapeake 3 years ago. Both had stopped going to Forefront (because of how far away it was) and had also stopped attending Gel Group (small group). It was so good to see them there at church. They were pumped to be there and said they looked forward to coming back.
Chuck did really well. He remembered all his stuff that he had to say. He did jump up on stage before a video that he was supposed to wait for, but our production team just rolled with it and inserted the video later in the service. Some people who know him well told me that they could tell he was a little nervous, but that you wouldn't know if you didn't know him. I'm supposed to be able to view a video of the whole service sometime this week. There's a part of me that was relieved to not be in the auditorium because I would have been so nervous for Chuck that I don't know if I would have enjoyed the service. I sure hope that feeling goes away!
I will try to get Chuck to make an appearance on the blog so that he can tell you about things from his perspective. Oh, and by the way, he was so stinking cute on Sunday. He got some new duds and looked very handsome.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
It Went Well!!
This is just a quick post as naptime is calling...
It went really well! We were set up with plenty of time to spare. The count I heard was that there was a total of 213 adults and kids. The people who were new were VERY excited to be there.
I spent the morning with toddlers, so I didn't get to see the service. I will get to watch a video tape of it, though. Chuck did great.
We are pooped and are taking a nap now. If I don't post more tonight, I definitely will in the morning.
Thank you for the prayers!
It went really well! We were set up with plenty of time to spare. The count I heard was that there was a total of 213 adults and kids. The people who were new were VERY excited to be there.
I spent the morning with toddlers, so I didn't get to see the service. I will get to watch a video tape of it, though. Chuck did great.
We are pooped and are taking a nap now. If I don't post more tonight, I definitely will in the morning.
Thank you for the prayers!
Saturday, October 06, 2007
The Most Important Thing
The most important thing to me in the world is that I know Jesus. And not only that I know Him, but that I follow Him. It is in my choice to follow Jesus that I am promised eternal life in Heaven. If none of that makes sense to you, or if you want to talk more about this, please email me at ittybitties@msn.com.
The most important thing to me as a Jesus follower is that I share Him with others. He's just to good to keep to myself. I must talk to other people about Him. I've been given an amazing gift and the great news is that it's available to us all.
Tomorrow morning me and Chuck and over 100 other people are sharing Jesus with the city of Chesapeake. We've worked over a year for this. We've prayed harder than we've ever prayed before. We've made sacrifices of time, energy, and money. We've had immense joy and we've cried hard.
Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. we will share the hope of Jesus. We have prayed that people will come. We ask that you'd join us in prayer in these last 19 or so hours. Please pray that people will come tomorrow morning and that they will find hope; that they'll find a place with authentic people who really care; that they'll find Jesus, even if they didn't mean to. Please pray that everything will come together perfectly tomorrow morning for our services. We meet in a high school, so there is a great deal of set up involved. Please pray for good weather. Please pray for Chuck as he'll be on stage and has to remember to say A LOT of things. Please pray that all we do tomorrow is a reflection of Jesus to others and that we bring God glory. It is all for Him.
My heart beats hard as I type this. I am so excited and nervous all together. My eyes well up with tears as I think about people who could be impacted by our church. In all my life, I've never felt that what I was doing was more important than what we are doing tomorrow morning. Sure, I've shared Jesus before, but never in this way. New churches are far more effective at reaching lost people than churches that have been around for a while (just ask Barna), so we have a great advantage when it comes to impacting lives.
To God be the glory. I'll post tomorrow and let you know how it went.
The most important thing to me as a Jesus follower is that I share Him with others. He's just to good to keep to myself. I must talk to other people about Him. I've been given an amazing gift and the great news is that it's available to us all.
Tomorrow morning me and Chuck and over 100 other people are sharing Jesus with the city of Chesapeake. We've worked over a year for this. We've prayed harder than we've ever prayed before. We've made sacrifices of time, energy, and money. We've had immense joy and we've cried hard.
Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. we will share the hope of Jesus. We have prayed that people will come. We ask that you'd join us in prayer in these last 19 or so hours. Please pray that people will come tomorrow morning and that they will find hope; that they'll find a place with authentic people who really care; that they'll find Jesus, even if they didn't mean to. Please pray that everything will come together perfectly tomorrow morning for our services. We meet in a high school, so there is a great deal of set up involved. Please pray for good weather. Please pray for Chuck as he'll be on stage and has to remember to say A LOT of things. Please pray that all we do tomorrow is a reflection of Jesus to others and that we bring God glory. It is all for Him.
My heart beats hard as I type this. I am so excited and nervous all together. My eyes well up with tears as I think about people who could be impacted by our church. In all my life, I've never felt that what I was doing was more important than what we are doing tomorrow morning. Sure, I've shared Jesus before, but never in this way. New churches are far more effective at reaching lost people than churches that have been around for a while (just ask Barna), so we have a great advantage when it comes to impacting lives.
To God be the glory. I'll post tomorrow and let you know how it went.
Jarrod, A Miracle
I think that all babies are miracles. The fact that God makes these little people, grows them inside a woman's womb, and brings them into this world amazes me. Sometimes, though, the lives of these babies are filled with many more miracles. Jarrod is a baby like that.
Today is Jarrod's first birthday. It's also Brady's first birthday. Happy Birthday, guys! They don't know each other, but I know them both and I can tell you that they've had a very different first year of life.
Brady has pretty much had a 'normal' baby life so far. He is such a cute little guy! I will see him later today and I look forward to watching him eat cake.
At about 6 weeks old or so, Jarrod became a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. He spent months in the hospital. The outlook was grim. I know his grandparents, whom I see once a week. They asked for prayer and I prayed. God kept this baby strongly on my heart. And slowly, healing began to take place within Jarrod. Each week I'd see Jarrod's grandparents and hear how he was doing. Their path was tough, but they walked it with so much grace and faith in God. They believed that God would bring healing to their grandson, and He has.
I have not yet met Jarrod, but his grandma shows me pictures. I still pray for him when God puts him on my heart. He still has some challenges, but the fact that he has made it to his first birthday is indeed a miracle when I think of his early days in the hospital.
When God shows us miracles, I think it's important for us to pause and thank Him - not only for the miracle itself, but also that we were allowed to witness it. So, thank you, God for the miracle of Jarrod and thank you for allowing me the honor of witnessing it.
Today is Jarrod's first birthday. It's also Brady's first birthday. Happy Birthday, guys! They don't know each other, but I know them both and I can tell you that they've had a very different first year of life.
Brady has pretty much had a 'normal' baby life so far. He is such a cute little guy! I will see him later today and I look forward to watching him eat cake.
At about 6 weeks old or so, Jarrod became a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. He spent months in the hospital. The outlook was grim. I know his grandparents, whom I see once a week. They asked for prayer and I prayed. God kept this baby strongly on my heart. And slowly, healing began to take place within Jarrod. Each week I'd see Jarrod's grandparents and hear how he was doing. Their path was tough, but they walked it with so much grace and faith in God. They believed that God would bring healing to their grandson, and He has.
I have not yet met Jarrod, but his grandma shows me pictures. I still pray for him when God puts him on my heart. He still has some challenges, but the fact that he has made it to his first birthday is indeed a miracle when I think of his early days in the hospital.
When God shows us miracles, I think it's important for us to pause and thank Him - not only for the miracle itself, but also that we were allowed to witness it. So, thank you, God for the miracle of Jarrod and thank you for allowing me the honor of witnessing it.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Upcoming Move
We learned today that the house we are buying appraised for a little more than it needed to. Yeah!! God just keeps moving us forward. I've been guarded in thinking about what will go where, etc. in the new house in case things don't work out. This whole house buying journey was quite the rollercoaster ride, and I've been careful about getting to attached to this one in case something goes wrong. At this point, the only thing that can go wrong is financing. Our buyer is using a reputable mortgage company and so are we. We are approved for far more than we are spending on our home, so we should be fine. If our buyer were to lose his job, that would be a deal killer. I'm pretty sure he is military, so that is unlikely. I'm pretty sure Chuck won't be losing his job either.
Today I went out looking for refrigerators and dishwashers because we need them in the new house. Virginia is offering no sales tax on energy efficient appliances purchased this weekend. So, we will for sure buy our fridge this weekend and maybe a dishwasher. Anyone out there know how to install a dishwasher from scratch? Chuck can do it, but I don't want his back to have to do it. Those types of projects are killer on his back.
I also went looking for storage cabinets for the garage. I found what I want at Walmart. I was tempted to buy it, but didn't because I wanted to wait until we learned about the appraisal. Now that the appraisal is in, I'll probably go pick up the cabinet.
So, our timeline is 2 weeks. On Wednesday, October 17th the movers come to pack our home. While I LOVE that I don't have to do this, it's a little awkward to have people in the house packing up EVERYTHING.
On October 18th they will load everything up and take it to the new house to deliver it. They do not unpack our stuff. I'm glad. I like to do that at my own pace (which is furious) and put things where I want to put them.
We don't actually close on the houses until the 19th, which will be interesting since we are scheduled to move into the new place on the 18th. It is vacant, but we haven't yet worked out getting in early with our seller. Hopefully Ed will be able to get that worked out soon. We are actually hoping to gain access at least a week earlier. We want to have the house sprayed for bugs prior to moving in and we'd like to paint before the house is full of our stuff. We'll see how it goes. Plus, I haven't given up hope that Veteran's Affairs could come up with a disibility rating before we close so that we don't have to pay the loan funding fee. So, if you'd like to join us in prayer, please pray that we can get into the house early and that Chuck gets his VA disability rating very soon. God can do these things. They are so minor. We place them in His hands.
So, that's the scoop.
Today I went out looking for refrigerators and dishwashers because we need them in the new house. Virginia is offering no sales tax on energy efficient appliances purchased this weekend. So, we will for sure buy our fridge this weekend and maybe a dishwasher. Anyone out there know how to install a dishwasher from scratch? Chuck can do it, but I don't want his back to have to do it. Those types of projects are killer on his back.
I also went looking for storage cabinets for the garage. I found what I want at Walmart. I was tempted to buy it, but didn't because I wanted to wait until we learned about the appraisal. Now that the appraisal is in, I'll probably go pick up the cabinet.
So, our timeline is 2 weeks. On Wednesday, October 17th the movers come to pack our home. While I LOVE that I don't have to do this, it's a little awkward to have people in the house packing up EVERYTHING.
On October 18th they will load everything up and take it to the new house to deliver it. They do not unpack our stuff. I'm glad. I like to do that at my own pace (which is furious) and put things where I want to put them.
We don't actually close on the houses until the 19th, which will be interesting since we are scheduled to move into the new place on the 18th. It is vacant, but we haven't yet worked out getting in early with our seller. Hopefully Ed will be able to get that worked out soon. We are actually hoping to gain access at least a week earlier. We want to have the house sprayed for bugs prior to moving in and we'd like to paint before the house is full of our stuff. We'll see how it goes. Plus, I haven't given up hope that Veteran's Affairs could come up with a disibility rating before we close so that we don't have to pay the loan funding fee. So, if you'd like to join us in prayer, please pray that we can get into the house early and that Chuck gets his VA disability rating very soon. God can do these things. They are so minor. We place them in His hands.
So, that's the scoop.
Link for the Bar Service
Here's a link to a video about our bar service:
http://www.hamptonroads.tv/index.cfm?locvid=133836&tid=r700&fv=1
http://www.hamptonroads.tv/index.cfm?locvid=133836&tid=r700&fv=1
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Opening Service at the Bar
Last night our Pembroke Campus, the one that meets in a bar, started. It was awesome. I decided to go since I'll be serving in Children's Ministry at the Chesapeake Campus and will miss the sermon this Sunday.
I got there super early with a friend who is actually on the Pembroke Campus Launch Team. Her job was to run the computer for the night. I got to help prepare communion. It was so neat to watch them get set up, to watch the band practice, to see the bar begin to fill up, and to see a real church service happening in a bar.
The bar was packed! There were well over 100 people (someone told me 108). At least half were people from our church, but there were lots of new faces. Even a few news crews came out. I'll be sure to post links to stories if they end up on the internet.
All in all, I'd say it was a huge success. It was nearly silent during the message, and it was an awesome message all about how God loves bad people and how our church is a church for bad people. Our senior pastor shared part of his own testimony of his badness and the forgiveness he's experienced from God.
My favorite story from last night is about a girl who stopped by our information table on her way out and picked up a free Bible. Someone overheard her say, "This is the first time I've ever even touched a Bible." Now how cool is that?? She went to the bar for the evening and left with a Bible!!
I got there super early with a friend who is actually on the Pembroke Campus Launch Team. Her job was to run the computer for the night. I got to help prepare communion. It was so neat to watch them get set up, to watch the band practice, to see the bar begin to fill up, and to see a real church service happening in a bar.
The bar was packed! There were well over 100 people (someone told me 108). At least half were people from our church, but there were lots of new faces. Even a few news crews came out. I'll be sure to post links to stories if they end up on the internet.
All in all, I'd say it was a huge success. It was nearly silent during the message, and it was an awesome message all about how God loves bad people and how our church is a church for bad people. Our senior pastor shared part of his own testimony of his badness and the forgiveness he's experienced from God.
My favorite story from last night is about a girl who stopped by our information table on her way out and picked up a free Bible. Someone overheard her say, "This is the first time I've ever even touched a Bible." Now how cool is that?? She went to the bar for the evening and left with a Bible!!
Monday, October 01, 2007
Church
I realized recently that I haven't blogged a whole lot about the church campus we are starting. I blogged about our Tuesday night bar service, but I don't think I've said a whole lot about the campus Chuck and I are involved in.
I've been pretty vague about where we live and all, but I'm just gonna spill it and hope that no one comes to stalk me.
We attend Forefront Church in Virginia Beach (yes, that is in Virginia). Well, I should say we used to attend Forefront Church in Virginia Beach. I say that because yesterday we began attending Forefront Church in Chesapeake (also in VA, right next to Virginia Beach)!! Chuck and I are involved in one of the coolest things ever - our church is going to a multi-site model to reach more people, and yesterday we had our practice service for our new Chesapeake Campus. It was awesome. It was not perfect or flawless, but it was indeed awesome. Last summer Chuck accepted the job for the Campus Pastor role at this new campus, but didn't come on staff until May. For over a year, he and the staff of our church have been working diligently to get our Chesapeake Campus started. Our Chesapeake Campus is live everything except for the preaching. We have video of the same message being preached at our Virginia Beach Campus. As our staff worked out the filming for Chesapeake, the bar campus (AKA - Pembroke Campus) evolved.
I was nearly in tears as I looked around yesterday - just in awe of how God brought everything and everyone together. We had a full Children's Ministry, we had a rockin' band leading us in worship, we HAD CHURCH IN CHESAPEAKE!! I'm just so excited that it's finally here and that God has blessed it so much. I can remember last year in November when we had like 3 volunteers signed up for our Chesapeake Campus. We probably easily had 60 people volunteering in some capacity yesterday. It is just incredible to have watched this grow. And I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.
Please join us in praying that this Sunday - our opening Sunday - will be a day that completely honors and blesses God. Please pray that many lost people will come through our doors and find hope.
I'll be sure to let you know how our opening Sunday service goes. Feel free to check out our website in the meantime: www.forefront.org
I've been pretty vague about where we live and all, but I'm just gonna spill it and hope that no one comes to stalk me.
We attend Forefront Church in Virginia Beach (yes, that is in Virginia). Well, I should say we used to attend Forefront Church in Virginia Beach. I say that because yesterday we began attending Forefront Church in Chesapeake (also in VA, right next to Virginia Beach)!! Chuck and I are involved in one of the coolest things ever - our church is going to a multi-site model to reach more people, and yesterday we had our practice service for our new Chesapeake Campus. It was awesome. It was not perfect or flawless, but it was indeed awesome. Last summer Chuck accepted the job for the Campus Pastor role at this new campus, but didn't come on staff until May. For over a year, he and the staff of our church have been working diligently to get our Chesapeake Campus started. Our Chesapeake Campus is live everything except for the preaching. We have video of the same message being preached at our Virginia Beach Campus. As our staff worked out the filming for Chesapeake, the bar campus (AKA - Pembroke Campus) evolved.
I was nearly in tears as I looked around yesterday - just in awe of how God brought everything and everyone together. We had a full Children's Ministry, we had a rockin' band leading us in worship, we HAD CHURCH IN CHESAPEAKE!! I'm just so excited that it's finally here and that God has blessed it so much. I can remember last year in November when we had like 3 volunteers signed up for our Chesapeake Campus. We probably easily had 60 people volunteering in some capacity yesterday. It is just incredible to have watched this grow. And I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.
Please join us in praying that this Sunday - our opening Sunday - will be a day that completely honors and blesses God. Please pray that many lost people will come through our doors and find hope.
I'll be sure to let you know how our opening Sunday service goes. Feel free to check out our website in the meantime: www.forefront.org
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Responsibility
Responsibility - what does it mean? For years, I had no idea. It took some hard lessons in life to teach me about responsibility.
The kind of responsibility I'm about to talk about is not in the same category as taking care of your home or kids or health care. It goes deeper than that. The kind of responsibility I began to learn about 8 years ago is self responsibility.
You see, life is rough. Crap happens. Things go wrong. We get lied to. We get cheated. And we can live our lives as a victim if we want. I've learned that I ALWAYS have a part. Even in the super nasty things that happen in life. It's not always a big part, and it's not always that bad, but it is a ball I set in motion that I must look at.
Looking for my part in bad situations, quite honestly, sucks. I hate it, but I've learned that it is something I must do. I make decisions every day, and some of them come back to bite me. For example, right now my stomach is a wreck. Today Chuck and I ate at Outback (thanks to a gift card!) and I ate my steak medium rare. I loved it. I always do. But, I know that eating a nearly raw steak is going to upset my body, it always does. I made the choice, now I live with the consequences of that choice. I could just say, "Gosh, every time I eat a medium rare steak at Outback I get sick. How come they keep getting me sick?" But you see, the problem is mine, not Outback's.
I have some really hard stuff going on in my life right now. But, before I go pointing the finger I have to look for my responsibility in it. And it's there. I've made choices that put me in a position to be hurt. I have to take responsibility for that. It doesn't change the situation or the wrong that has been done to me, but it gives me a fair perspective and keeps me from playing the victim role.
And I think God blesses us when we take responsibility. It's what He's about, because it's truth. Taking responsibility for my actions is living out truth in my life. I've come to realize that not everyone out there operates this way, and that's too bad because there is so much freedom in it. When I look at myself for who I truly am and what I've done, I get free. The nagging in my spirit goes away and I have peace, even in the storms of life. It's when I don't choose to look at my part that I struggle. God's grace is so overwhelming when it comes to taking responsibility in my life. He is SO good.
The kind of responsibility I'm about to talk about is not in the same category as taking care of your home or kids or health care. It goes deeper than that. The kind of responsibility I began to learn about 8 years ago is self responsibility.
You see, life is rough. Crap happens. Things go wrong. We get lied to. We get cheated. And we can live our lives as a victim if we want. I've learned that I ALWAYS have a part. Even in the super nasty things that happen in life. It's not always a big part, and it's not always that bad, but it is a ball I set in motion that I must look at.
Looking for my part in bad situations, quite honestly, sucks. I hate it, but I've learned that it is something I must do. I make decisions every day, and some of them come back to bite me. For example, right now my stomach is a wreck. Today Chuck and I ate at Outback (thanks to a gift card!) and I ate my steak medium rare. I loved it. I always do. But, I know that eating a nearly raw steak is going to upset my body, it always does. I made the choice, now I live with the consequences of that choice. I could just say, "Gosh, every time I eat a medium rare steak at Outback I get sick. How come they keep getting me sick?" But you see, the problem is mine, not Outback's.
I have some really hard stuff going on in my life right now. But, before I go pointing the finger I have to look for my responsibility in it. And it's there. I've made choices that put me in a position to be hurt. I have to take responsibility for that. It doesn't change the situation or the wrong that has been done to me, but it gives me a fair perspective and keeps me from playing the victim role.
And I think God blesses us when we take responsibility. It's what He's about, because it's truth. Taking responsibility for my actions is living out truth in my life. I've come to realize that not everyone out there operates this way, and that's too bad because there is so much freedom in it. When I look at myself for who I truly am and what I've done, I get free. The nagging in my spirit goes away and I have peace, even in the storms of life. It's when I don't choose to look at my part that I struggle. God's grace is so overwhelming when it comes to taking responsibility in my life. He is SO good.
Haiti
Many of you know, but in case you didn't, I was in Haiti last week. I had the wonderful honor of escorting a friend's daughter to Miami. Erlande is 8 years old and joined her family on Friday. It's one of the coolest things God's allowed me to be a part of.
I learned some sad news while in Haiti. I had the opportunity to talk to our Haitian processor and I learned that our paperwork is not as far along in process as we've been told. Yes, we did clear Parquet last week, but it was for the first time. According to our facilitator, your paperwork goes to Parquet, then goes for Judgment, then goes back to Parquet for the Judgment to be signed off on. We were told last Friday that we had gotten the 2nd Parquet approval needed so that our dossier could move on. On Sunday I learned that wasn't true. Our paperwork had been in Parquet since the end of January, so that's 8 months sitting in one office. Now we are waiting to hear that we have Judgment, then our paperwork will go back to Parquet for them to sign off on that. It was totally disheartening to learn this, but at least we know the truth now.
My stay in Haiti was wonderful. The last 4 times I went to Haiti we had to stay at an expensive hotel because that is where our mission trip leaders decided to stay. This time I stayed at Wall's International Guest House and absolutely loved it. It was not as nice as the hotel, but they made up for it in other ways. The food was delicious and breakfast and lunch were included in the daily cost - which is only $35 if you have an airconditioned room. The staff was amazing - completely polite and helpful. They went above and beyond to help me out. They have a great swimming pool that they vacuum daily. They also have wireless internet access available for only $2 a day. There were drawbacks - the showers were cold. Not ice cold, but definitely cold. The AC was only for five hours at night. There are not choices at mealtime - it's what they make and that's it. Overall, I felt that the good far outweighed the bad and I will never again stay at Visa Lodge if I can help it.
I've turned off comments on this post because I'm sure some people will be as upset as we were about what I've posted about our paperwork and I don't want a bunch of discouraging comments linked to this. I didn't share it to get people riled up. I shared it because this blog's purpose is to share our journey in adopting our boys. We post updates - all of them, good and bad. As always, feel free to email me if you want.
I learned some sad news while in Haiti. I had the opportunity to talk to our Haitian processor and I learned that our paperwork is not as far along in process as we've been told. Yes, we did clear Parquet last week, but it was for the first time. According to our facilitator, your paperwork goes to Parquet, then goes for Judgment, then goes back to Parquet for the Judgment to be signed off on. We were told last Friday that we had gotten the 2nd Parquet approval needed so that our dossier could move on. On Sunday I learned that wasn't true. Our paperwork had been in Parquet since the end of January, so that's 8 months sitting in one office. Now we are waiting to hear that we have Judgment, then our paperwork will go back to Parquet for them to sign off on that. It was totally disheartening to learn this, but at least we know the truth now.
My stay in Haiti was wonderful. The last 4 times I went to Haiti we had to stay at an expensive hotel because that is where our mission trip leaders decided to stay. This time I stayed at Wall's International Guest House and absolutely loved it. It was not as nice as the hotel, but they made up for it in other ways. The food was delicious and breakfast and lunch were included in the daily cost - which is only $35 if you have an airconditioned room. The staff was amazing - completely polite and helpful. They went above and beyond to help me out. They have a great swimming pool that they vacuum daily. They also have wireless internet access available for only $2 a day. There were drawbacks - the showers were cold. Not ice cold, but definitely cold. The AC was only for five hours at night. There are not choices at mealtime - it's what they make and that's it. Overall, I felt that the good far outweighed the bad and I will never again stay at Visa Lodge if I can help it.
I've turned off comments on this post because I'm sure some people will be as upset as we were about what I've posted about our paperwork and I don't want a bunch of discouraging comments linked to this. I didn't share it to get people riled up. I shared it because this blog's purpose is to share our journey in adopting our boys. We post updates - all of them, good and bad. As always, feel free to email me if you want.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Inspection Went Well
I heard from Chuck that the home inspection went well. Thanks for all your prayers. With the whole funding fee problem I really prayed and asked God to use the home inspection as our way out if it wasn't His plan for us to be in that house.
The inspector found a few minor things that we will ask the seller to fix, but none of them are deal breaker items. The AC unit is 20 years old, so we will FOR SURE be buying a home warranty plan.
The only item left is the appraisal, and we're not worried about that.
Thanks again for your prayers!
The inspector found a few minor things that we will ask the seller to fix, but none of them are deal breaker items. The AC unit is 20 years old, so we will FOR SURE be buying a home warranty plan.
The only item left is the appraisal, and we're not worried about that.
Thanks again for your prayers!
A Dream Come True
Today I visited the Immigration Building and MOI in Haiti. I will blog more about my trip later. I want to talk about my visit to the Immigration Building.
Before I begin, I need to give some background info. On July 9th I posted about a dream I had. I'd hyperlink it if I could figure out how. Instead I'll paste it below:
In my dream I was in this great big room in Haiti, probably as big as a large gymnasium. There were tons of people - white and black, adults and kids. In this room appointments were happening that were making it possible for kids to go home to their forever families. It was loud and chaotic, but everyone was happily waiting to be called. There was happiness in the room because all the Haitian kids were very close to going home. Their American families were there
with them. I watched as one family got called. They were adopting two Haitian kids. I began to cry so hard when they got called because I knew that meant they were very close to going home. Pictures of the Haitian kids were taken for their passports so that the passports could be made. Then they waited to get their passports.In my dream I knew that it wasn't our turn. In fact, Chuck and the boys weren't there. It was like I was getting to watch it all happen. I wasn't
upset at all that it wasn't our turn. I was just so thrilled to see that these kids were finally getting to go home.
Today I believe this dream came true. We were in the Immigration Building and we had to walk through this huge room (yes, probably as big as a gymnasium). There were probably 30 rows of folding chairs, and the first 10 or so rows were filled with people waiting. As soon as we were in the room my mind flashed back to the dream. It wasn't exactly the way I saw things in my dream, and there weren't a bunch of kids, but I really sensed that this was the room I dreamt about. Passports are issued in the immigration building. I was with my friend, who was there to get her child's passport. It wasn't my turn, but I was so happy for her.
When I had the dream, a good friend told me she believed it was prophetic. I believe it was. When I thought about the dream back in July, it made no sense to me because why would I be in Haiti where passports are issued if it wasn't my turn?? Well, I was there today and it wasn't my turn.
Just another sprinkling of God's love in my life.
Before I begin, I need to give some background info. On July 9th I posted about a dream I had. I'd hyperlink it if I could figure out how. Instead I'll paste it below:
In my dream I was in this great big room in Haiti, probably as big as a large gymnasium. There were tons of people - white and black, adults and kids. In this room appointments were happening that were making it possible for kids to go home to their forever families. It was loud and chaotic, but everyone was happily waiting to be called. There was happiness in the room because all the Haitian kids were very close to going home. Their American families were there
with them. I watched as one family got called. They were adopting two Haitian kids. I began to cry so hard when they got called because I knew that meant they were very close to going home. Pictures of the Haitian kids were taken for their passports so that the passports could be made. Then they waited to get their passports.In my dream I knew that it wasn't our turn. In fact, Chuck and the boys weren't there. It was like I was getting to watch it all happen. I wasn't
upset at all that it wasn't our turn. I was just so thrilled to see that these kids were finally getting to go home.
Today I believe this dream came true. We were in the Immigration Building and we had to walk through this huge room (yes, probably as big as a gymnasium). There were probably 30 rows of folding chairs, and the first 10 or so rows were filled with people waiting. As soon as we were in the room my mind flashed back to the dream. It wasn't exactly the way I saw things in my dream, and there weren't a bunch of kids, but I really sensed that this was the room I dreamt about. Passports are issued in the immigration building. I was with my friend, who was there to get her child's passport. It wasn't my turn, but I was so happy for her.
When I had the dream, a good friend told me she believed it was prophetic. I believe it was. When I thought about the dream back in July, it made no sense to me because why would I be in Haiti where passports are issued if it wasn't my turn?? Well, I was there today and it wasn't my turn.
Just another sprinkling of God's love in my life.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Prayer Request
Okay, we have a prayer request.
We are using Chuck's VA benefit for our home loan. As you probably know, Chuck was medically retired from the Coast Guard in May. As a disabled veteran, one of the benefits is that we don't have to pay the funding fee for the VA home loan. Well, Vetran's Affairs hasn't yet rated Chuck for his disability, so therefore we aren't yet eligible to have the funding fee waived. We are talking thousands of dollars that we will have to roll into our mortgage.
Chuck has been on the phone with Vetran's Affairs and they have told him they are sorry, but the best they can do is pay our lender the funding fee once he is rated (which could be a number of months). That's great, but our monthly mortgage payment will be higher because of this. Even though Vetran's Affairs says there is nothing they can do, we know God can do it. If it's His will for us to not have to pay the funding fee, He will make it happen. Please join us in prayer that this is so.
I really feel like this is just one more of Satan's schemes in our life lately to get our focus off of what is important. We will continue to keep our eyes on Jesus and the direction He has for us.
We are using Chuck's VA benefit for our home loan. As you probably know, Chuck was medically retired from the Coast Guard in May. As a disabled veteran, one of the benefits is that we don't have to pay the funding fee for the VA home loan. Well, Vetran's Affairs hasn't yet rated Chuck for his disability, so therefore we aren't yet eligible to have the funding fee waived. We are talking thousands of dollars that we will have to roll into our mortgage.
Chuck has been on the phone with Vetran's Affairs and they have told him they are sorry, but the best they can do is pay our lender the funding fee once he is rated (which could be a number of months). That's great, but our monthly mortgage payment will be higher because of this. Even though Vetran's Affairs says there is nothing they can do, we know God can do it. If it's His will for us to not have to pay the funding fee, He will make it happen. Please join us in prayer that this is so.
I really feel like this is just one more of Satan's schemes in our life lately to get our focus off of what is important. We will continue to keep our eyes on Jesus and the direction He has for us.
Update on House Stuff
Our house passed the termite and moisture inspection yesterday, so it is good to go. Our home inspection on the new place is scheduled for tomorrow at noon. If the inspection turns out good the appraisal will be ordered. So, we are getting there. I'll blog more when I know more.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
About the House
I just sent an email to my friend Kelly, telling her a little bit about the house, and realized I should share some details here. Earlier this week Kelly reminded me that when the original house we fell in love with became unavailable I told her that obviously God had something better in store for us. I had lost sight of that. I told Kelly that there was no way God could give us something better than that in our price range because that sold for more than what we are willing to spend. I should have known better. Not only is the new place better than that one, it's also in a better school district. I'm sorry I doubted God and Kelly.
Anyway, the house is 1300 sq ft, which for us is exactly 220 more sq ft than we currently have. It also has an attached one car garage and an attached screened in porch. I LOVE a screened porch, especially in a city where the mosquitoes seriously wage war against the residents.
It has 3 good size bedrooms, and the master bedroom has a bathroom with a stand up shower off of it. It has lots of closet space. The living room is huge with a vaulted ceiling (which Chuck loves). The dining area isn't a separate room, rather it's off of the living room and kitchen. There is this bonus area off of the dining area that will work as an office for us. The kitchen is vintage 1957. The only things that are maybe newer is the linoleum flooring and the countertops. The rest is all original, but pristine. It has a very retro look about it. There is currently no dishwasher, but that will change, I promise. My Dad and Chuck spent some qualitiy time nearly 3 years ago putting in a difficult dishwasher. Hopefully this one will be easier. The cupboard space isn't great, but it's probably better than what I have here. I will definitely buy a storage cupboard for in the garage for a lot of my smaller appliances. The street is a cul de sac, although the house isn't in the the cul de sac. Our current home is on a very busy cut through road. We are sooooo looking forward to a street with less traffic.
Our home inspection is Tuesday, so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm so excited. If things work out we will close on both houses on my birthday. The people buying this house want to get in sooner, but we just can't move before the 18th.
That's all for now.
Anyway, the house is 1300 sq ft, which for us is exactly 220 more sq ft than we currently have. It also has an attached one car garage and an attached screened in porch. I LOVE a screened porch, especially in a city where the mosquitoes seriously wage war against the residents.
It has 3 good size bedrooms, and the master bedroom has a bathroom with a stand up shower off of it. It has lots of closet space. The living room is huge with a vaulted ceiling (which Chuck loves). The dining area isn't a separate room, rather it's off of the living room and kitchen. There is this bonus area off of the dining area that will work as an office for us. The kitchen is vintage 1957. The only things that are maybe newer is the linoleum flooring and the countertops. The rest is all original, but pristine. It has a very retro look about it. There is currently no dishwasher, but that will change, I promise. My Dad and Chuck spent some qualitiy time nearly 3 years ago putting in a difficult dishwasher. Hopefully this one will be easier. The cupboard space isn't great, but it's probably better than what I have here. I will definitely buy a storage cupboard for in the garage for a lot of my smaller appliances. The street is a cul de sac, although the house isn't in the the cul de sac. Our current home is on a very busy cut through road. We are sooooo looking forward to a street with less traffic.
Our home inspection is Tuesday, so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm so excited. If things work out we will close on both houses on my birthday. The people buying this house want to get in sooner, but we just can't move before the 18th.
That's all for now.
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