And So It Begins Part 2

The second part of this story picks up the day after my last post. Last Monday (a week ago today) was a fairly normal day. Mondays are Scott's day off so we spent the day working around the house. We talked about how the previous day's sermons Scott had been able to preach and about how encouraging it had been to have been contacted by a church. We talked a little more about getting a hotel room for Saturday night so we could visit the church on the Sunday we were in Michigan but didn't finalize any plans.

That night Scott and I had the opportunity to attend a banquet fundraising even for the Bible camp that we attend during the summer. While we were there the man from the pastoral search committee from this church in Michigan called back. We missed the call because we were in the banquet and because of the hour time difference it was too late to return the call after we were done. He didn't leave a message so we were curious as to why he would be calling back again since when he talked to Scott on Friday he said that if they wanted him to come candidate they would be calling sometime in December to set up a time.

Tuesday morning Scott got a hold of the chair of the pastoral committee and this is where the story gets really interesting. Apparently on Sunday the pastoral search committee was looking over the preaching schedule for the month of November to see who was speaking which week and they discovered they had somehow overlooked November 13 and did not have a speaker scheduled.

They asked Scott to some and begin the candidating process at their church that weekend!

He asked Scott if we had been praying that it would work for him to speak that weekend (which we hadn't but had been earnestly praying for God to make His will clear to us). He laughed and told Scott "Well someone is pulling the strings for things to work out for this weekend."

The church also offered to pay to get us a hotel room for both Saturday and Sunday night (since Scott will be preaching both services on Sunday) so it worked out well that we had not placed a reservation yet on a room.

We are still amazed at how God has worked the timing of all of this. We don't know if this is where God will choose to have us serve long term but He has made it VERY clear that He wants us there on November 13.

Please be praying for us as this weekend quickly approaches. Our prayer is that God's will be done and He is glorified through this process. We are praying both the church and Scott and I will have wisdom to be able to discern God's will.

I told you all at the beginning of this story I do not know how it will end but it has been quite an adventure so far.

And So It Begins Part 1

I am going to start telling this story but I have to be honest with you and let you know that even I don't fully know how the story will end.

As most of you know my husband, Scott, graduated from seminary last spring. Over the summer he started making contacts and sending out resumes to begin the process of finding a pastoral position in a church.

Last Wednesday my aunt asked me if it would be possible for me to make a trip up to Michigan sometime in November to pick up my grandma and bring her back to Iowa to spend the holidays. The original plan had been for her to bring her down but many circumstances had arisen making it no longer a possibility for my aunt to make the trip.

At first I was not at all sure that it would work. It is about 9 hour one way trip from here to my aunt's house and it would be very difficult for me to make the trip alone with our three kids. Then I thought maybe if Scott could get a day off work we could make it a three day weekend trip as a family. I had been wanting to take Scott up to Frankenmuth, MI to see Bronner's, the world's largest Christmas store, and thought that this might be an opportunity to take a quick trip as a family.

Scott and I talked about it and he decided to check if he could get time off work. There was only one weekend between now and Thanksgiving that would work due to other responsibilities we have so it would have to be the weekend of November 13. Right now things are very busy at work and a 1 1/2 weeks before Thanksgiving is some of the busiest time at a company that ships frozen & refrigerated foods (pies, turkey, ham etc). He asked about getting time off and learned that he would be able to get not just one but two days off so we could leave Saturday, November 12 and return home Tuesday, November 15.

The day after my aunt had asked me if we could come out and we had decided that it would work for us to come out that weekend in November I half jokingly told Scott that we should see if there were any churches in Michigan that needed someone to preach that Sunday. About a month before this Scott had sent his resume to the Michigan Regular Baptist state association representative but hadn't heard back about any churches looking for pastors. Scott laughed and said "That would really have to be a God thing because it is only 3 weeks away and churches would have speakers lined up". Plus we had not been contacted by any churches yet. Honestly as far as contacting churches Scott and I realized that with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching most churches would not be actively looking for pastoral candidates to come until after the New Year.

Scott left for work and about 2:00 that afternoon the phone rang. It was a many on the pastoral search committee. He had received Scott's resume and was calling to see if Scott had taken a position anywhere yet. I took his name & number and told him Scott could call him back the next morning.

Friday morning before Scott left for work he called and talked to the chairman of the pastoral search committee. They talked were able to have a good conversation. Scott was asked several questions about his beliefs on certain issues and was given a little more information about the church. Scott told him we would be in Michigan the Sunday of November 13 if they needed someone to preach. The man told Scott that right now he was just trying to go through the resumes he had been given because some of them had already taken positions. The church was not planning to start the candidating process with anyone until January. He also told Scott that November is their missionary month and they already have speakers lined up for the whole month. Scott told him to let him know if for any reason their speaker for the 13th fell through. Scott was encouraged by the conversation and by the fact that he had actually been contacted by a church for the first time!

After the phone call Scott and I got to talking and we decided we would like if it would work to visit the church on that Sunday just to give us the opportunity to meet the people and see if we thought it might at all be a good fit for us. Since we were already going to be in that general area (as oppose to 9 hours away) and we would want to go to church somewhere on Sunday. We started looking at hotel rates in the area with the plan to stay on Saturday night somewhere nearby if we could find a good deal. We did locate a few with good rates but Scott was busy preparing two sermons to preach at our church on Sunday so we decided to wait until after the weekend to book any reservations for that Saturday night.

Our pastor was out of town on vacation and had asked Scott to preach both services Sunday. Unfortunately Ellie was sick with a fever so I was not able to attend. Scott felt like the sermons went well and overall at the end of the weekend we found ourselves greatly encouraged at the Lord's leading in our lives. Even though we still didn't have any definite prospects for candidating the combination of being contacted by this church and Scott having the opportunity to preach both services rekindled a deep desire to be in full time ministry.

Little did we know but God still had another chapter to write in this story.

Mice + Lab Work = Lesson in God's Grace

I hate mice! They are dirty, nasty, repulsive vermin!

We have been in this house for almost 4 1/2 years and we have heard mice in our attic in past years but not in the main house. Well a couple days ago that changed. I was up feeding Ellie and saw one run along the edge of the wall.

Needless to day we are in all out war against this little pest because the thought of sharing my house with a rodent repulses me.

Yesterday morning I took Will to have his annual lab work done for his allergy testing. The test requires them to draw two vials of blood from his arm which is obviously not pleasant. I held Will on my lap as the lab tech poked started getting things ready. Will started whimpering in anticipation and when she put the needle in the tears flowed and through his tears he cried out, "Mommy" pleading with me to have it stop.

As I was driving home I found myself thinking about how much I despise mice and how I strongly desire him to end up dead in a trap. It was then that my feelings about the mouse and the recent events in the lab collided in my mind.

To a holy God I am dirty, nasty, repulsive vermin!

I thought about how I held my son as he wept and pleaded for me to stop the pain. The only reason I allowed him to be hurt was because I knew it was for his own good. I certainly would never have allowed him to have his blood drawn or be injured in any way to save the life of a mouse. I mean the very thought is ridiculous! I mean that mouse doesn't love me, it's only goal in life is to seek his own good, it destroys and defecates on my property. That mouse deserves death and I want it to die!

My eyes welled with tears as I was reminded anew of the sacrifice God made when he sent his son to suffer and die for me.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

Christ died for me, dirty, nasty, repulsive vermin, so that I can live!

WOW!

Because of Christ's death I am no longer dirty, nasty, repulsive vermin. I am child of God.

So the lingering question is why continue to live like a mouse?

"Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts." Romans 6:11-12

The End of Our 6 Month Challenge

Yesterday, September 1, officially ended our 6 month challenge. God has been so very good to our family!

When Scott and I decided to do this challenge we set the goal of paying off $10,000. That would be a little over 1/3 of our total debt. We thought that it would be quite challenging to reach that amount but we wanted a challenge so we set the number high (we are a one income family and $10,000 is about 1/3 of our total annual income).

The beginning of March I put up a piece of graft paper. Each small square represented $10 of debt. I divided it into larger $1,000 squares. I labeled these squares 1-10 (for our $10,000 goal). The paper had two extra squares that I left blank (the magnet is over these extra squares but they were not numbered). Since our goal was $10,000 and knew that would be a stretch so I only numbered ten squares.


Well THREE MONTHS into our challenge we went over the $10,000 mark! Several times in those first few months God provided money for us from unexpected sources.

At the end of our 6 month challenge we have paid off $12438.06! Our entire graph chart is full plus an additional $438! (I know there are a lot of exclamation marks in this post but we are very excited!!)

This is what our chart looks like today at the end of our challenge.

We still have quite a way to go before we are debt free. This challenge has been such an encouragement to us to see the many ways God can provide. We have learned many valuable lessons on frugality and many money saving sacrifices we chose to make have now become habits and no longer seem big sacrifices (although I am very thankful that we were able to find a good deal on internet so I can try blogging again).

O to Grace How Great a Debtor

Debt has been on my mind a lot the past few weeks as we prepared to start our 6 month challenge. I often find myself going about my daily household tasks looking for ways that we can cut costs. We have a chart on our refrigerator where each month we will mark off the amount of debt we have been able to pay off.

We have chosen for the next six months to live daily like someone who owes a great debt.

A few days ago as I found myself again going over our expenses and searching for ways to shave off an extra dollar here or there to put toward our challenge and I found myself humming the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Many Blessings". As I worked I hum/sang through the words until I got to the fourth verse and was suddenly struck by these lines:

"O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be"

Over the past few weeks I have spent many hours pondering and planning how to find ways to pay our monetary debt. I have been "daily constrained" to try to pay our debt. As these words ran through my mind the Holy Spirit struck with great conviction.

Do I truly live my daily life in a way demonstrates that I am a great debtor to God's grace?

I have spent hours pouring over menus, shopping lists, and food prices in my quest to pay back monetary debt. We have cut out quick convenience foods and opted to make things from scratch. But how often in my spiritual life am I willing to take the effort of preparing a spiritual meal from "scratch" rather than just grabbing a nice quick spiritual convenience meal from a devotional book, or a quick passage?

I mentioned in my previous post that I was looking forward to what God would teach us through this 6 month challenge and here just about a week after starting He has convicted me to spend the next 6 months not only learning to live daily as someone who is constrained to pay a great monetary debt but more importantly to learn how to live daily as someone who is "to grace a debtor".

Romans 6:17-18

"But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

6 Month Challenge

Today, March 1, 2011, is the beginning of a sort of contest for our family. We have decided that over the next 6 months we are going to see how much of our student loan debt we can get paid off. We have been paying cash for Scott's tuition for about 5 years but we have loans from college and seminary from before that time.

In about two months Scott will be graduating from seminary and we are burdened to pay off as much debt as quickly as possible so that we can be ready to serve wherever God would lead our family. Paying off debt is a pretty boring and kind of depressing thing so we have decided to try to make it a little more fun for us.

So over the next 6 months we will be pinching and scraping together every extra dollar that we can to put toward paying down the principal amount on our debt. It will be difficult as we have decided to cut things that we have previously considered necessities. We will be getting rid of our home internet which will be a big adjustment and means that I won't have many opportunities to blog or keep up with my friends on Facebook.

We are excited to see what God is planning to teach us through this. We pray that not only will He bless us financially but that we will also be drawn closer to Him as a family. We will also be using this time to pray and seek God's will concerning the next step for our family. We covet the prayers of our friends and family during this time and I will keep you update on our lives as much as I can over the next few months.

Accident Day

This morning Scott took time to give the kids and me an extra hug and kiss when saying good-bye.

That's because today is "Accident Day."

One year ago today started out completely normal. It was a cold and windy February day but after a long winter of LOTS of snow we were glad to see the sun shining and no snow in the forecast for the day.

The day was really completely ordinary for all of us - well that is until it wasn't.

It was a completely normal day and like we often do Scott and I use his 1/2hr drive home from work to talk on the phone and catch up on the events of the day.

I still get a sickish knot in my stomach when I think about the next few minutes. My first thought was something like "Oh great he just put the van in the ditch" but soon realized from the tone in Scott's voice that it was much more serious than being stuck in the ditch.

Scott was not in a ditch. The van hit a patch of black ice caused by blowing snow along with a big gust of wind which sent the van through the median into the oncoming lane of traffic where it flipped and landed on its side. Fortunately the seatbelt worked just as it was designed but unfortunately that meant that Scott was now suspended in the van unable to get free from the seatbelt. I sat on the other end of the phone listening to my husband as he tried to get free from the seatbelt so he could get out of the van all the while knowing that at any moment a semi or really any other vehicle appear in the lane also unable to stop because of the ice and come crashing into him.

Within seconds of his accident a car came by in the lane Scott had been travelling (not the one he was stuck in). The driver pulled over and ran through the median. He was able to climb in through the back of the van so Scott could push up off of him allowing the seatbelt to release.

I am so amazed and thankful to that man. I do not know who he is and will likely never meet him but he was willing to risk his life by climbing into our van while it was sitting in an ice covered lane of interstate traffic.

Another amazing aspect of this story is that while within seconds of the accident someone had driven by on the opposite side of the interstate and stopped to help during the entire time Scott was stuck in the van (probably about 5 min but it seemed like FOREVER) not one vehicle came by in the side of the interstate where the van was! This is a very major interstate and even in bad weather trucks continue to zoom along this road.

Scott walked away from the accident without as much as a bruise! He was a little sore mainly from being suspended by the seatbelt and struggling to get free but there were no visible marks, scrapes etc on him.

The week after this accident which so easily could have had a very tragic ending was when our daughter was conceived. Today she turned 3 months old and she is in my arms as I type this. When she was born we gave her the middle name Fidelity which means "Faithful". One of the reasons she was given that middle name was because of this accident and God's faithfulness to our family by not only sparing Scott's life but then choosing to bless our family with another new life.

Today is "Accident Day" and it is a day to celebrate God's goodness to us.