Build on Jesus, build on! March 29, 2008

I am trying to motivate myself to write something all inspiring, but can’t seem to pull my thoughts together.  It may be because it is 1 in the morning and I should be asleep.   I have had so much going on the last 4 weeks that I haven’t had time to write anything on here and now that I am here, I draw a blank.  I am sure that staying at the church until midnight most nights for 3 straight weeks will cause this kind of brain toot!  But hey, it was all worth it…we had a really successful egg hunt and a great first Sunday.

Yes, we opened the doors to The Dwelling Place this past Sunday!  I am really excited about the direction that the Lord is taking us in and I am anxious to begin to see a change in the people and in the growth.  We are “transforming life” and are pumped about being a part of change in the lives of others. 

 I remember so vividly when we started Maranatha 8 years ago and how it seemed that weekly we added people to our congregation, I am praying for a return of the growth.  It has been a painful 2 years watching the thing we had poured our sweat and tears into, seem to come down, but that was only so God could rebuild.  Build on Jesus, build on!

If you attend The Dwelling Place then we are glad to have you!  If you are thinking of visiting, then come on we can’t wait to meet you!  If you just aren’t sure, then let me say this: if you are looking for a place where the pastor is “real”, his wife is not the “usual” kind of preachers wife, his kids aren’t perfect, and the people are friendly then you are coming to the right place.  Thanks for giving us a chance!

For more information about our new church, visit our website.  www.thedwellingplacecc.com

I married NOAH! March 9, 2008

Get on the boat, there’s a flood coming!  I just wanted to let you know that my husband has a new name, it’s NOAH!  We have had 2 floods this week and are hoping that the old addage of “everything comes in three’s” isn’t going to come true. 

Early this week we had a flood in our home and then Saturday a pipe burst and flooded the back of the church.  My poor “Noah” had to clean up from both messes, but we are hoping that the reason for the flood is that the boat is about to fill up to capacity! 

We are 2 weeks from the launch of The Dwelling Place, the new church and we have been distracted from all the work that needs to be done, cleaning up the flood waters.  We are however; pressing on with Jesus and are not discouraged.  We are trusting that people are going to see The Dwelling Place as a boat of refuge from the storms in their lives.

Today after our morning service we had a precious young woman come to both John and I in tears.  She shared her difficult circumstances with us and just needed some encouragement, to feel a little hope and that she wasn’t so alone.  The Lord allowed us to love her, help her out a bit, encourage her, and she walked away feeling “that the weight has been lifted from my shoulders”.  Thank you Jesus for the taste of things to come. 

We are so very privileged to have a “boat” to sail in the midst of the flood of life.  We want to honor the Lord with the way in which we captain this vessel.  Lord help us keep our eyes on you, even when the waters rise.  Thank you for keeping us afloat and moving forward and for allowing us to love those that you love even more.

Pray for us when you think of us.  Pray for the launching of The Dwelling Place and for the strength to get done what needs to be done.  Also pray for the finances to come in that will enable us to keep helping those that need help and to get this thing off the ground. 

Check out the church website.  This week the whole site will be up and running but right now it takes you to the church blog so keep checking back.  www.thedwellingplacecc.com

Praise Jesus! March 6, 2008

Ok, I know that it has been a few days since I wrote anything, but I have had one crazy week.  It just goes on and on. Oh yeah, and on and on!

Sunday my husband preached a sermon on having joy, much like the blog that I wrote last week.  This week my joy has been put to the test.  I don’t know where to begin, so I will start with the “biggest” thing that happened. 

Some time in the night Monday, one of the kids got up and went to the bathroom and flushed the toilet.  Now first let me say that just getting the boys up before they wet the bed is too fabulous for words, but to flush the toilet after using it…crazy fantastic!  At 6:30 the next morning Jordan went to take a shower and said, “Mom can I take a shower in your bathroom, cause the toilet overflowed and it’s nasty.”  (Yes, she is a piece of work, it never occurred to her that this was a big deal.)  Anyway, I shove John and tell him that the toilet overflowed and that he should go check it.  (I know that I could have but I am sorry, that is a man’s job!)  He comes back in the room to get a few used towels out of the dirty laundry basket but feels like he needs a few more, cause there is a lot of water.  He goes down stairs and then hollars at me (at by this time I am using the bathroom) “AMY HURRY AND HELP ME!”  I scream back “I’M PEEING!”  Ok, more then you wanted to know but just imagine how I felt knowing that he needed me and I was in no place to help him.

This is what I found when I got downstairs.  The water had run through the floor in the bathroom and was pouring through the drywall and popcorn ceiling onto my desk, papers, bills, computer, the laminate flooring (which doesn’t do well with water, it buckles) and the mess was everywhere.  So John, in his underwear and t-shirt is getting covered with toilet water, ceiling and just plain yucky stuff.  Needless to say, that when he tried to release the water that was pooled up under the popcorn, the ceiling fell in!  Praise Jesus!

 This is when you find where your joy comes from.  I didn’t freak out but it did cause my life to shift for the day.  All that I had planned to do was put aside, and the priority became clean-up.  I washed all the towels that we used with Clorox and went through all of the stuff on my desk, throwing out what was ruined and salvaging what I could.  Not a fun day.  To top it all off, I had on my favorite shirt (hot pink with sparkles, can’t you just invision it?) and I leaned in to the washer to get out a load of towels only to bleach a big circle on the front of my shirt.  Again I say, Praise Jesus!

Yesterday, I got a phone call from my neighbor saying that Animal Control had picked up her dog and mine.  Wishbone had dug out from under the fence again and for the first time in his life got “arrested” for frolicking with the neighbors dog.  $20 bucks later, Wishbone was home.  (By the way he dug out again this morning and had another close call with the dog catcher.)  Yet again, Praise Jesus!

My brother called me this week too, to brag on the brand new truck that he bought, complete with leather interior, heated seats, side mirrors that fold in with the touch of a button, big stereo, blah, blah, blah.  Yipee for him!  He called me as I was picking up the dog and I took the opportunity to remind him of my stinky week and laugh (yes laugh) that I would trade with him!  Praise Jesus!

I don’t feel sorry for myself, I really don’t.  I do have joy and I really do thank the Lord for what I do have.  I have a home that is mine, that has a toilet with running water (that doesn’t stop). I have many things to be thankful for, including a dog that digs out, because the kids love him so much.

Oh yeah, today Wishbone got in the house and chased the cat upstairs onto my bed and he scared her so bad that she pooped herself, on my bed.  Praise Jesus! You have to laugh ’cause I know that you are really glad that my week isn’t yours.  My cell phone quit working today too, but when I called the lady at Suncom she said that she thought her week was bad, I told her mine and she told me that I had won, the bad week award.  She also told me to try a “trade trick”  that worked and it got my phone working again.  Praise Jesus!

All that I can say, is that we must be doing something right, because the enemy is really trying  to distract us and make us miserable.  Guess what?!  I have been distracted but not discouraged.  I have been pressing on with my plans to get things done at the church.  But most importantly…I’ve got JOY!

I am pooped! March 2, 2008

Oh my aching back,  I am pooped!  We have spent the last two days at the church getting ready for the name change as well as the Easter egg hunt.  We thought that we might not do the egg hunt but then decided that it really was an opportunity to allow people to walk through the church and let folks know about the new church name. 

For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, we are changing the name of our church from Maranatha Christian Fellowship to The Dwelling Place Communtiy Church.  We are thrilled but have got so much to get done before then.  We are planning on painting the outside of the church and some inside.  We also are creating a new children’s church room and a super cool sign-in station.  However I need to be at the church everyday while the kids are at school but alas, I am doing math with Jonathan!  Thank you Jesus!

I guess when I think about it, having a math break will be good for my back!

One of the things that I did yesterday was go through at least 20 boxes of old books that once were in my father-in-laws library.  Some where so old that they were falling apart, and some were covered with mold.  Others were very dated with photos of people in their finest 70’s clothing.  There were some books that were duplicates from the Senate library, that he acquired while working on Capitol Hill, a really long time ago.  In the midst of all the books, I found phone books, craft magazines, and the all important carolina basketball magazines.  Now by the time I got down to the last 5 or so boxes, I was hating my in-laws for their contribution to the church library.  (I love them but I was hating the job I was having to do!)  In order to get rid of all the books, I had to really go through all of the boxes to look for personal things. 

These are some of the things that I found: tiny gift books inscribed from Big John to Betty Jo, report cards from elementary school, middle school, and high school for John, Joell, and Scott.  There was a collection of books that obviously Big John really liked cause Betty Jo had given him most of them and signed the inside of them.  A mothers day book that John signed from him, Joell, and “Scotty”.  I found pictures from when they lived in Delaware, old CBU conferences, and Scott as a baby.  One of my favorite finds though was a set of index cards complete with a written speech that Joell wrote.  They were shoved in some random book called “Pray with your eyes closed”.  Much later though, in between a few other books, I found the bulletin to Joell’s 8th grade graduation, which she gave the salutatorian speech!  How hysterical is that.  Needless to say I have a box full of memories that really made the whole effort of searching through the books, worth it. 

You never know what you may find if you just take the time to look.  I found that my father-in-law always signs most things to Betty Jo, “me”, that Joell is REALLY smart, that Betty Jo keeps everything (this I really already knew), that Scott used a baby walker as a toddler, and that John got a few good grades and a few bad grades in his day!   

Did I mention that I was really tired?