Today is a beautiful day in Washington! The sun is actually shining without rain and I praise God for it : ). He has already blossomed the flowers and the gorgeous cherry blossoms with His rain and now He is providing the sun, yay!
I have recently been given words of encouragement, by God, to keep my mind pure and holy for Him. He has shared Philippians 4: 8&9 & James 1: 12-18 with me. I love that He knows what I struggle with and desires my being to be and constantly seeking Him. It is amazing to me the sin that I can get in within my mind. Just dwelling, worrying, doubting, controlling everything in my thoughts. How gracious is God to remind me to take every thought captive to the obedience of Him and control what I am thinking to be admirable, honorable, and glorifying to His praises. Thank you God for protecting my mind so that I don’t downward spiral into ugly messes.
Another Praise God…..Grow (our Children’s Ministry) is growing/sustaining!! I think the spring weather has gotten people out of the house and back into church! We have seen familiar faces return from the winter with smiles and hugs : ) I am so thankful that God has been answering those prayers, because as the children’s pastor you begin to doubt the ministry when there aren’t that many children attending. Some wise people have continued to reassure me that even if one comes, the week’s preparation is worth it….what if that one kid is the next Billy Graham or Jim Elliot! perseverance and controlling my thoughts have been key, think positive and trust that God knows what He is doing : )
Pray for our upcoming summer in Grow, as many teachers are either getting married, going home for the summer, or having a baby; that others within Epic will step up for June, July, and August to teach, setup and tear down. Also, we are going to have VBS for our first time, the 2nd week of July, and a team from LaCrosse, WI will be leading it. Pray that I can get everything ready for them, so that they can understand and lead it completely by themselves!
Campbells Housing Adventure: Some of you know, while others may not…Jeff and I began looking for condos the beginning of February. Jeff had a strong calling to stay here is Seattle with Epic Life and to be better stewards of our finances regarding buying a home, instead of putting money in someone else’s pocket (aka – renting).
I on the other hand was not so on board with the idea of staying. One being, we will have a baby soon and I want to be close to our families. Two being, this summer is the end of our three-year committment here. Of course, I love the ministry and ministering and I love our body of believers here at Epic. God has really blessed our church with a strong community that loves and cherishes us. But still there was and often times still is, this underlying desire to live in the middle of NY and MN.
I told Jeff that we could start looking at places because I knew I needed to submit to him as my husband. My heart though was not there yet. Thankfully one day I didn’t have work until 9am and got to spend 3 hours with God. Reading, praying and journaling about the struggles and desires of my heart. I asked that God would reveal to me a Scripture reading that would speak to me, so clearly, as to what Jeff and I are to do about houses. Is the door open to stay or are you closing it? Where do you want us to be?
I flipped my Bible open, randomly, and landed in Acts (can’t remember the chapter and don’t want to go get my journal out of my car). The chapter was about Paul describing his next missionary journey to start more churches and his struggles and God’s desires for him. It spoke so clearly to me, that yes God has the door open for us to stay in Seattle. As I continued reading the study notes, a commentator commented on one of the verses saying, “God often asks us to go above and beyond the call of duty, to further the kingdom of God.” And that was my slap in the face! Lovingly of course : )
God knows my desires of my heart and my passions for life in His will, better than I do and I need to trust Him with that! Even though it seems very difficult at times…which is so stupid….look at what He has done for me, why doubt! I say “Good Grief” to that!!! Proverbs 3: 5&6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
So…..we have looked and looked and looked at condos/townhouses for two months now. We are approved for a certain amount and it is a FHA approved loan. FHA typically means for 1st time home buyers, complex is over 50% owner occupied and move in ready. Therefore, we only looked at FHA approved homes. Well it came down to two places – one was a major fixer and the second was move in ready. Well last Friday we found out that the fixer was not FHA approved and will never be and the move in ready HOA dues were more than what they were advertising, which put it out of our budget. Needless to say, we had a meltdown!
We had to start all over looking at places on Saturday because everything we had looked at the last two months had a pending sale! They are selling like hotcakes!! Imagine our disappointment and fear of not finding a place! Of course doubt had to be added and anger : ) But praise God that Jeff and I spent time before the Lord just confessing our sins about this whole house ordeal….God blessed us! We went to meet with one of our realtors and she was so encouraging and even referenced that we should pray. (we are unsure where she stands personally with God). She encouraged us to look at three more places that day that aren’t FHA approved, but could be during the offering process. Well we did and the first place we went to was it!!
Townhouse, two bedrooms (one is a loft), 1.25 bathrooms, large living and dining, smaller kitchen, and our own little yard!! Here is where God really needs to work His miracles: it isn’t FHA approved (typically townhouses aren’t) and it is a short sale…..which the “short” part of short sale is necessarily short! Those types of sales can last up to 7 months!! But we prayed a lot, asked our parents and church to pray and we put an offer in on Sunday, April 3, 2011. Guess what, the next day the seller agent accepted our offer and put more restrictions on days of inspections and closing so that the banking agent will know that both parties want to close before June 1st! Huge praise. And the seller agent has closed 6 short sales, which apparently is unheard of. And the agent said she doesn’t see why the townhouse wouldn’t get FHA approval because the complex is over 50% owner occupied and it is move in ready!
So now pray that the bank approves our offer. It is a smaller bank, so we are hopeful that they will look at our offer sooner, as oppose to a large bank that has so many homes/contracts to view.
Ok done updating now because I have other work to do : )
