The Light...

...at the end of the tunnel. Yes, I can finally see it. After being "homeless" as newly weds for the past 5 months, Amber and I finally have a date set to move into a house. Well, assuming everything goes well from here on out. After looking at all our options to renovate the house I actually own, we decided it was best to sell, and find a house that was move-in ready. With much thankfulness, and full of praise, I gladly report that as of Sunday, we are now under contract to buy our first home and to sell my first home (not suitable for a married couple).

There have been many lessons I've learned since being married. But the one that has been the most "in-my-face" (one that I've been learning since I put my trust in Christ), is ironically how to trust Christ. In this case, it's trusting Christ with providing for my family. Especially with my wife's sickness (she has fibro), my tendency to control and provide is more apparent.

God sometimes speaks to me through my dreams, and recently, I don't think I've been listening. Since we've been back in Austin, when we first started looking to remodel, to most recently looking for and selling a home, I haven't slept well. Pretty much every night is filled with stressful dreams. And it continually got more and more intense. Pretty much a sure message of "HEY! You need to ease up. Stop stressing about things and trust me. Know that I am God and have rest!" But I didn't listen.

This past Sunday was the Chicago marathon, in which our friend Jen successfully finished. She decided to pray for someone different each mile, and we were mile 6. When I first learned that she wanted to pray for us, I was thinking, "Wow! That's a really cool idea, and really nice that we made the list." I had no idea how important mile 6 was really going to be.

If you're reading this, I don't know what your take on prayer is, but at least consider that God really does hear our prayers and responds. After waiting a week of negotiations on the house we were trying to buy, and listing our house for just a few days, on SUNDAY, God heard the prayers during mile 6, and the sellers accepted our offer, and we received a full price offer on the house we're selling.

God knows the very number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12). God is intimately involved in our lives, every detail he cares for us, and will love us. Will I finally learn that I truly can trust Christ?

A Different Beginning

Every fall for the past 8 years have been marked by a new group of incoming freshmen, their hearts a blank slate ready to be written on by the influences of the college campuses. As a collegiate missionary, my prayer and hope is that every freshmen that steps foot on the campus will have an opportunity to hear the message of Christ. They will decide to surrender the lordship of their lives to Jesus, and experience the fullness of the joy and blessings of being a child of God.

But this fall is different for me. Instead of getting on campus and meeting these freshmen. Instead of meeting with staff and planning on how to plant on grow spiritual movements on these campuses. Amber and I are busy raising our financial support. It's an odd fall for me not being in the thick of all the high momentum of the start of the school year. But it's also been a blessing.

Amber and I have been on the road since we got married back in May. Yeah, that's four months of living out of a suitcase, staying in a dorm, sharing space with other people. Not counting our honeymoon, we've had maybe 2 weeks total that we weren't sharing space with other people. Through all this transition, however, we've had to learn quickly how to communicate well. We've had to learn how to still find rest and joy in the Lord even when everything is less than ideal.

The transition continues as we are finally back in Austin. In addition to working on raising our financial support, we are having to settle into our house. Unfortunately, that's not without some challenges. I know I've made my mistakes in the past, but forcing my wife to move into a flea and rat infested house will not be one. So, until we can rid the house of those pests, and gut and redo the kitchen and bathroom, we will be sharing space yet again. This time, with my cousin and 2 little boys who apparently only have two voice volumes-loud and louder.

Stay tuned as our journey towards normalcy continues.


yeah, this hole in my home actually opens up to the outside