a hodge podge

We closed on our house yesterday. We are now official homeowners. (How did this happen? 2 kids and a mortgage!)

Even Emma seemed to understand and all day was so relieved to have “home”. I only moderatley panicked before, during and after closing. I can’t take it back to the store if I change my mind! BUT we are excited.

After the closing, Daniel and I first came to the house before getting the girls from my parents and THIS was posted on the windows:

What!? They were warning stickers stating the house was under surveillance and demanding that a Certificate of Occupancy must be obtained before moving in.

WHAT?!!?

The stickers were signed and dated for yesterday. Posted the day we purchased our first home. Talk about immediate stress. We literally only owned the home for minutes and there was already a problem. I called the number posted, and prayed in the Spirit while on hold. The unhelpful man told me to call a different number. No answer there. I call back to Mr. Unhelpful. Another number is given. They, also, are unable to give me answers but think the inspector who posted the signs might know something. He has one office hour per day and is unreachable. But where and who I question out loud, has my answers. What is wrong with my house and why weren’t we notified or red flagged in an inspection?

The inspectors secretary explains that he gets all of his orders from the city and it is the city that will have all the information I need. She offers me a phone number….it’s the first phone number that I called twice. To my delight, someone else answers. I explain my situation and she takes my name and address and the name of the inspector.

“Oh really? He just walked in for a meeting, please hold……holding…..He’s says it’s your lucky day. Take the stickers down. The city only wanted to start monitoring it because it has been vacant!”

Thank You, Jesus.

Once we were given permission to enter our own home, we photoed our first keys and unlocking. Daniel also carried me over the threshold and proceeded to walk around the house saying “That’s my toilet, that’s my light fixture, that’s my ugly kitchen floor”…and then he did “snow angels” in the carpet. (Why not!? It’s our house, right!?)

We brought the girls back took our first family photo and showed them their room. Emma was so excited she was jumping and dancing in her no-longer-gold room.  

We had a wonderful dinner last night with our families and our pastors. We had subs on a blanket in the living room floor and prayed for God’s blessing and protection over our home. Daniel also enjoyed his first game of pool with his brother.The four of us “camped out” together on the living room floor last night.

Today we were busy painting. We have a crew lined up for Saturday to help us move in all our belongings.

It’s good to be home.

Yesterday we decided to visit Chicago for Memorial Day Weekend. Daniel has both Friday and Monday off so we’ll leave tomorrow night. Sunday morning we’ll visit either Willow Creek or Bill Winston’s church. I am VERY excited for our vacation.

To give the moms a break Daniel is leading worship on Sunday for the first time in a looooooong time (since our church closed in ‘06). The girls were helping him practice. Emma was helping strum and Anna was organizing his music.

Have you heard this song? Right now, this is my song.

Man. Singing it in worship is so…right. The song lyrics and our singing it acknowledges that God is God and HE is mighty to save. It seems that when we focus on Him and how great He is that He is pleased. (NayJ, not how grey He is! he he) Last night I could not not sing it as a prayer for nations, for my brother who is battling with Chrons, for the 17 month old daughter of a friend of a friend who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, for people I love that need healing in their hearts…He is mighty to save.

Everyone needs compassion
Love thats never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Saviour
The hope of nations

Saviour He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave…

So take me as you find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I Surrender
I Surrender…

the first of a new series of outstanding highlights from our church: bethel christian church preached by our pastor, bill farina. even if these are things we’ve heard many times before, i think it is always good to be reminded.

• you can’t skip from promise to fullfilment without prepration.
• we have a High Priest and Advocate in Heaven and a Helper on earth.
• you don’t recieve the gift or the promise by focusing on the gift, but on the gift Giver.
• if i want to get full of the Spirit of God, get a revelation of who Jesus is adn exalt Him in my heart.

last week we started Bible school…for the third time. we started by correspondence in ‘02 taking authority of the believer, then in ‘03 we moved to tulsa for vbi and then last week our church launched bethel Bible institute. we felt that even though we’ve taken these classes several times it would be good to stay sharp and get involved with the school. we are taking old testament (taught by our pastors) and authority (taught by my mom & dad).

bunny trail: i love learning about the new testament - especially the history of the new testament and the life and times of Jesus and the early church. (angie, have you seen this book?) back in college all in one semester i took pauline lit, the book of acts and the holy spirit & the church. it was a fun semester!

ok, all that to say, that as much as i love the new testament i often have a hard time processing paul’s writings. it is so power packed that i feel like i can’t even process one phrase, let alone one [long] sentence or chapter.

part of the assignment from my parents is to read the book of Ephesians. i decided to read in the Message Bible and i’m learning so much and having so much life given to my heart. i have to share!

from Ephesians 1

every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

from Ephesians 2

immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! (my note: He still wants us to rely on Him!)

I went through and underlined any time it said God, His, Him and the verb that God did for me. How’s that for a nugget?! I hope it encourages your heart as it did mine.

ps - anna is getting too wiggly to hold while typing.

the last time i was on an airplane was the day after we found out i was pregnant with emma (almost 3 years ago!) but i am going to be on one in a week and a half! on the 19th we are flying out to see our wonderful friends and former pastors (jerry, julee and kids: jess, jayni, jilian) in colorado. and we get to stay for a week. we just got the tickets today.

i’m kind of nervous about flying with the girls, but i’m finally at the tipping point of this seesaw of being more excited than nervous. besides….we will be seated in the back of the plane that is “reserved for famalies” (ie. - so ya’ll can be loud togther). so, if anyone has tips on flying with kids (angie), please share.

it’s now been over a year since we’ve seen the 5J’s and we are so so so excited. and they get to meet anna! yeaaaaaa!

sunday morning i was not in the most “churchy” of spirits. for many reasons i was overwhelmed, frustrated and was hosting a plain ol’ bad attitude. our church was welcoming a very speical guest speaker and a great man of God: our pastor’s dad. i was expecting him to call me out, announce to all my bad attitude and give me the treatment i deserved. he gets up, takes the mic, and says “there is someone i have a word for, an indiviudal….” [i think: "here goes..."] “…i don’t know who you are…” [phew, but this will still hurt] “…God wants me to tell you that the dream He has given you long ago…keep pursuing it. He is not an indian giver”. i start crying and know the word was still for me. such an encouraging word - basically I Am Not Disqualified!

the Lord also revealed some things to me from my heart on sunday - my first expectation of God is not always one of love, encouragment and kindness but more often one of judgement and righteouness. since it seems i have the latter down pretty good, it’s time to do a study on love…

every time i pasted the link blogger changed it and made it a blogspot site
here it is:

www.portablechurch.com