Debt Beat Down UPDATE

So, we're pretty pumped to say that we have payed two of the seven bills off as of this month!!! Two of the smaller medical bills are now in the past and we were also able to save nearly $80 by paying one off early. I would like to add that no matter what anyone says, always ask, because you never know what someone will say when you tell them you have cash and can pay X amount up front! So, now we have decided to simultaneously start saving back an emergency fund that will give us two months of living expenses just in case of...obviously....an emergency and also paying on some of the other bills. Once we have our emergency fund we will be able to focus all of our attention on saving and paying off the rest of our bills. The next bill payoff may be some time away, but we are in an interesting season right now and look forward to bringing everyone up to speed on that soon! We have been stretched and growing in ways that I can't even explain lately, and really are excited to see what God has in store just around the corner!

Passion, Purpose

I think that it is safe to say that there are some huge things going on in everyone's lives right now whether they realize it or not. God is definitely at work in some crazy way right now because everyone we talk to seems to have the same desire...a NEW CHURCH...and when I say church, I don't mean we need to move into some new building...we need to change the way we see what the church is. I'm sorry to say this..no wait...I'M NOT, but people need to get out of the idea that the church is the building on the corner and actually get out of the church building and see what God really wants to do with them. God has definitely called me to be more than just some church attender and yes, while going to church is a great thing, becoming the church, living it out in community with others, and serving those around you without any expectations is what I feel like the church should be.
Through the last year our lives have been "flip turned upside down" to quote the Fresh Prince! We had some thoughts of what might happen, but God threw any preconceived notions we had out the window and blew our minds like you wouldn't believe. Within weeks of moving to an area that we didn't know anyone period, we were plugged into Lifepoint Church and getting to know people that would forever change the way we lived our lives for Christ. Now, on to the reason for me getting off on this rant. I was looking through an old pile of papers when I found a card that had come from an event that we went to for the leaders at Lifepoint. On this card was written the one thing that I think has prepared Sara and I for the position we are in right now. This is what Sara had written: "If the need is there, we should fill it when called. I've felt that way since they spoke to us last, regardless of our circumstances or if we'll get paid or anything."

Now, not to say that Sara and I had figured it all out, but I think in a weird, unknowing way, we had. If we are seeking God, then our desires will get pushed aside, and His desires will take hold. We shouldn't be looking for that one thing, but in all that we do, look for God and He will give us the opportunity to do that one thing we love. It may not be now, and it may not be in the way we expected, but when the only thing that you expect is for God to show up, then God will use you and there will be much greater joy in that than seeking out a passion. My father-in-law has said find your purpose and pursue it with a passion. Wise words for anyone to listen to, and I will tell you that my purpose is to do whatever God calls me to do, and following Him with a passion no matter where that may lead us! I pray that God wrecks your hearts in a way that gives you the desire to get out of your seat and pursue HIM. I'd like to know where HE takes you!!!

Heading HOME from Home!!!!

Two weeks later, and we are now less than 20 hrs from getting in the car again and heading back to Wilmington. It had been nearly 10 months since I had been back to what I've always called HOME, and I've learn a ton in my two weeks back. When we moved, we left because the only thing holding us here was comfort. Now, a year after making the decision to move, we realize the only thing we have here is Family. We do miss the area, the landscape, family and friends, but our calling is so much greater and we are so ready to get back. As I've said to some people here, this is what I called home for 22 years, and now I feel like I've been completely disconnected from our world for 2 weeks and I'm HOME! Does that mean home for me has changed...I don't know, but our world is definitely not in Arkansas any more...our family is, but what God has for us is in the Carolina's. We have fallen in love with the people, the church and the area, and now we are just waiting to see what it is that God is calling us to do! We followed faithfully in the move, we've grown, learned, and been ministered in ways we would have never gotten here in Arkansas. So, as we head back tomorrow morning, we look forward to it in ways we never realized. Driving back I remember having the thought of "what if we don't want to go back?" But that is not even part of my thinking right now. My heart has been shifted in ways I didn't realize and I'm so absolutely pumped to get back and lead people to Christ through all that I am and do! God has been preparing us for something great in the most wild roller coaster I've ever been on. We are looking for our place in ministry, we are trying to get out of debt, we are looking to lead people around us in a whole new way, and we are working on our relationships with God and each other so that there is nothing to get in the way of God and His hand on our lives. I was told once, Just follow God and PRAY that you don't get in His way! I'm afraid that getting in His way may be pretty painful, so I'm trying to follow Him and looking forward to having NO CLUE in where that may lead us! God has done unbelievable things in our lives through the last year, and now looking back on our 2 week visit back Home, we are leaving for HOME with a new passion and perspective, NOT TO MENTION ANTICIPATION!!!

Life's a Trip...

So, after having just completed one of the longest road trips I've ever taken, Sara and I are finally back in Arkansas. I'll tell you one thing, it was an odd feeling driving back into an area that I actually recognized. I was full of emotion but I truly couldn't tell you what that emotion was...excited, anticipation, fear...you name it, I felt the full range and I couldn't explain why. I felt like I was so delusional from just having been up for nearly 30 hrs with about 4 hours of uncomfortable sleep that I didn't understand the feelings. Now that I'm sitting at "home" with my parents, I think about the realization I had on the way here. I realized that I had become the one in the family that was going to be traveling home for the holidays...never thought that would be me...didn't even see myself living outside of Arkansas, much less half way across the Country! I will tell you, seeing that first Arkansas license plate and HOG sticker on someones truck brought back my Arkansan PRIDE instantly!!!

I look at all that God has taken us through in the last year and can't help but wonder what is going to happen this next year. At this point a year ago, we were planning on moving back in with my parents on our way out to Wilmington, NC...and now we will head back in 2010 knowing that there are some huge possibilities ahead of us in the near future(More on this as details come). I'm pumped to see what God has in store, but I'm truly looking forward to seeing all of our family in the next two weeks and getting a chance to reconnect and relax. God is doing a work in my heart, and I just don't want to get in the way of what He has planned. As many of us have the chance to take some time off, I would encourage you to not only to focus on family, but sit down and focus on what it is that God wants from you, make sure you are healthy during this break. Relax, recharge, and seek God. I'm looking for God to really speak and reveal things to me over this break, and I hope that I can challenge you to do the same. God has something great in store for you no matter what position you are in currently, just look to Him and He will blow any expectations you have out of the water! Everyone have an amazing Christmas and ASK God to speak to you! SEEK HIM!!!

Just Be Jesus!!!

I was thinking this morning about a comment that was made to me right after Sara and I moved out here that will forever change my life. My heart breaks for people in a way I didn't know it could. We were challenged to truly love those that we serve, even in our everyday working lives. This lead me on one of my strange yet interesting thought processes that ultimately led me to thinking about growing up in the Baptist Church. I love the church I grew up in, love the people, love the leadership that was over me, and love the ministry they have...but the one thing I truly hated was door to door ministry! I didn't understand it then, and maybe that is because I was scared half to death to do it...but anyone who know me well will tell you that I am extremely analytical and look for the practical and logical reasons for doing something...and I never agreed with it! I remember going on mission trips and dreading the time where I would have to go door to door and "Witness" to people. My mind thought like this...if someone like me walked up to the door of someone like my dad, this is how it would go: Knock Knock Knock.......door opens and huge 6'4" man meets me at the door...me-6'0" and 140 pounds soaking wet. I'm freaked out, say something along the lines of do you go to church or are you a Christian, my dad would look at me, say something close to you don't need to go to church and I'm not interested and the door would shut. Now, note that my dad is not a mean, hard man, but he is like me, logical and real, and what he knows is that the Christians that he has dealt in his past are not the type of people that he wants to be.
So, after thinking this morning about what I was told and what I was "trained" to do in the Baptist Church, I came to the conclusion that the only way to truly reach people is to love them and JUST BE JESUS!!! This begs me to ask the question, how do you make friends? Do you just walk up to some strangers door and ask them to be your friend or be friends with someone else they don't see with you? NO, you get to know them, let them learn to trust you, and live life together helping each other through the hard times. This to me is the way that we should do it...now, not to say that some door to door evangelism doesn't work, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that know Christ because of some bold kids, but you know as well as I do that when someone knocks on your door, your first reaction isn't...AWESOME, someones at the door! I've learned to love those around me, build relationships, and let Jesus reach them through that, I just need to be Jesus to them!!! Jesus went into the homes of those he knew or he had met through daily living, NOT just knocking on a door and asking them to be his friend and welcome him in for the night....I challenge you to search the scriptures, look at the life of Christ and see what it is that He is calling you to do and how, and JUST BE JESUS