New Job, New Roommate, New Dog, New Job...

Oh yes.  Lots of new things. And no, that wasn't a mistake, I did say "new job" twice.  I just started my new job at DCC, which I am loving.  Its a little crazy, and very busy, but I am LOVING being busy.  Of course, I hardly feel like its new.  Its so wonderful to walk into work and know that you are actually going to have a good day.  So, all is well there!

Vicki moved back to Dallas yesterday, and as Caleb moved out, she moved in.  We've gotten accustomed to housing someone else, and we figured what's the difference?  She had a roommate back out on her and so we figured, we have an extra room and we love Vicki, so she's here! 

Of course, with Vicki... comes Gertrude Penelope Cleopatra Harvell... her dog.  Owen gets a little crazy when Gertie is around, and she has already peed in the house three times.  Owen, who is house broken, seems to think that if Gertie pees... he should pee.  Sound logic if you ask me.  So, I'm thinking there will be a little bit of an adjustment period, but we'll get through it!

Even more great news... Chris was officially offered the Associate Minister position at Cornerstone Christian Church.  We are so excited and we love the church so much!  God has blessed us with such a giving family there, and we are so blessed that they have asked us to stay for the next year.  The counsel voted on the issue last week, so he is "officially" in his new position this week.  

Always interesting around here.  I'm sure there will be more to come soon.

Goodbye Performisys

Well, at least sort of goodbye. Today is my last day at Performisys. This is where I have worked since last May, which means, this is was my first job as a college graduate, and the job I have had for my entire first year of marriage. Its not exactly what I had expected I would do, but it is what God gave me, and for that I am grateful. It put a helped to put a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs, and then some. Though it wasn't my ideal job, and I certainly will not miss the "job" part of it, I will miss the people. I can't imagine working for nicer people. God really blessed me, and I forgot that all too often. Thank goodness He loves me and forgives me for my often ungrateful heart.
I am however very excited to start my new job at DCC! In spite of all of the things about DCC I could do without, it holds a special place in my heart, and I am really looking forward to being there again.
I am still going to be doing some extra work for Performisys on the side, every now and then, but for now, Goodbye Performisys!

Last week should have been really bad...

but somehow, it wasn't. I can't explain it. As Chris and I were pulling back into our place, from a quick trip to Oklahoma for a funeral, Chris said "you know, this week should have been really terrible." I said, "yeah, it wasn't though, was it? I feel like I should be completely overwhelmed and exhausted, but I'm not."

As always, so much has been going on. Last week Chris was alone in the church office. Ron, our senior pastor, was out of town, so everything was left to Chris. He was preparing to preach on Sunday, and of course preparing for his regular youth activities. We got a call on Tuesday that his great grandmother had passed away, and the funeral was Friday. So we were going to have to head to Oklahoma on top of an already busy week. On Wednesday, I got laid off from my job. Fantastic timing! Oh, and by the way... Texas is ridiculous, so our electric bill for the last month was $350!!! For our apartment! Bad news. Not to mention that gas is so expensive and we had to drive to Oklahoma.

Yet somehow with financial stress, job stress, and family stress, we weren't stressed! God is awesome!

So, first thing Monday morning I had an interview with Dallas Christian College, and before I left the offered me the job! And they offered me more money than I thought they would! I start Monday. Praise God! I didn't even have time to stress about a job! I love how God provides.

Then Tuesday came with enough struggles of its own. I don't know if any of you know this, but sugar free gum is toxic for dogs, which is fantastic because my dog ate a whole pack! Wonderful. So we really needed to take the dog to the vet yesterday, but we did not have the money. We weren't even sure how we were going to be able to afford our rent check because of our electric bill and gas to Oklahoma. We have money coming in at the end of the week, but we needed our rent paid before that, and our dog was apparently going to die! So, we figured that just to afford rent we would need to come up with $75. We frantically scrounged around the house, and with the $50 check I had in my purse, the $5 bill Christ had in his wallet, and all of the random loose change coming to $26, we had $76! God is awesome again! (Go figure) We still weren't going to be able to take the dog to the vet, but low and behold, we got a check for $500 before the hour was over. God gave us what we needed and then some! We got to take our dog to the vet and he didn't die (though he did poop 5 times in the house!).

Then...

Later that day we found 20 bucks and someone gave us gift cards to The Cheesecake Factory! Haha! The Lord is crazy good to us!

CIY

We are back from taking our high schoolers to CIY's Move conference. We had an absolutely fantastic week! These kids are simply incredible. This was a first time experience for everyone except Chris and me. Vicki came with us, but even she had never been before. None of them had any idea what to expect, and all of them were blown away. Before we left for the conference, we had a bunch of individuals who would show up for Sunday school and youth group on a semi-regular basis, and have the usual "Hi, how are you?" conversations with one another. Before we left to come back to Dallas, these kids were a family. Aside from experiencing Christ in a way that they could never have imagined, I think that the most incredible thing they discovered was each other!

Unfortunately, we had one student who was, at the last minute, unable to come with us. She was put in the hospital the Monday before we left, and will continue to be there for many weeks to come. Our great God, though, managed to bring some good out of the tragedy. These nine high school students have experienced the body of Christ as it is intended to be. The unified over the common goal of encouraging their sister, and fighting for her in prayer. I have never seen such a genuine outpouring of love. The most powerful moment of the week was when we, in the middle of Friday evenings worship service, felt the Holy Spirit leading us to immediately hit our knees and cry out to the Lord on her behalf. With tear stained faces, and hands lifted to heaven each student, prayed, wept, and pleaded for her frail body to be healed and for her heart and mind to be released from Satan's grip. I saw, we all saw, and some of us for the very first time, the Church as God intended it. I know that lives were changed. I know that God healed and united hearts. I can't wait to see what He is going to do over the next year! I have seen, far too many times, kids come back from this kind of experience only to return to the life that they led before they left. I am praying that this will not be the case for these kids, and I serve a God who is powerful enough to really change hearts. I believe He will. I believe He already did.

Plus we had a lot of fun!

So Behind!

I know it has been a long time since I have posted, and actually its not that there isn't anything to report. In fact, there is so much to report that I have not been able to figure out where to start! God is doing so many crazy, and awesome things! I would love to be able to share all of the details now, but unfortunately, a couple more things have to fall into place before I can spill everything! I am hardly able to contain myself, but for now, I have to. I promise, though, an update will come!

"There is no participation in Christ...

without participation in His mission to the world." - James A. Scherer

I read that this week in a book I actually have already read, but for some reason I passed it by the first time without much thought. This time however, the weight of it hit me as if it was something roughly the size of a grand piano being dropped from a hundred feet and landing squarely on my chest.

If what Mr. Scherer is saying is in fact true, then I have to conclude that most of the Christians that I know rarely have, if ever, "participation in Christ." I suppose for that to really sink in and make sense, we would have to understand what Scherer meant by "participation in Christ," and although I cannot be sure on his exact intentions, I don't believe he meant to imply that we could not have at one time or another experienced the Love of Christ, but rather that we, without being active participants in his mission to the world, cannot experience the LIFE that comes in Christ, which according to Christ himself, is the very thing He came to bring!

So while I sit in church and sing songs of God's goodness, mercy, grace, and power, while I listen intently to sermons, pray and read, if I refuse to get my hands dirty doing his work, if I refuse to step out of my comfort zone, if I refuse to help those in need of God's grace, If I refuse to proclaim his gospel, I refuse any participation or LIFE in Christ.

Paul said in Acts 20:24, "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." Can you imagine living in such a way that all else is worthless compared to fully participating in the mission of Christ- the message of God's grace to the world? Later Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:19 that if the gospel isn't true than he, more than any other, is most to be pitied. Because, it was for the sake of the gospel that Paul gave his life, and if the gospel is not true than every once of Paul's life, after Christ, would have been wasted entirely.

I realized after reading what James A. Scherer spoke, I cannot claim that my life has been entirely wasted on the gospel. I cannot claim that my life is worth nothing to me except to testify to God's grace. I cannot claim to truly have any participation in Christ. So, this week I have been thinking about that statement, and I have been thinking about what my life would look like if I started living the gospel instead of listening to it, and frankly, I don't know what it would look like. I have seen it truly lived out in few people, but what I am certain of is that I want to be one of those people. I want to completely dedicate my life on the the good news of God's grace, I want to participate so deeply in Christ and His mission, that if it isn't true (and I believe more than anything that it is) my life will have been nothing but wasted.

So, my prayer is this, that Jesus would open my eyes to opportunities in which I can be Him to a dying world. And my prayer is that when I am given those opportunities He will give me the courage to participate.

One Year and Counting...

I can hardly believe that Chris and I have been married for a year now! It is just amazing how time flies. It really seems like its barely been a couple of months, but here we are a year later, and we have survived it! This may have been the most difficult and the most rewarding year of my life. I have been so very blessed to have such an incredible husband, and I can't wait to see where this next year takes us!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!