In Process

The renovation is underway! Many hours of hard work have been spent in this house transformation. Man, I sure wish it was as quick and easy as watching an episode of Extreme Home Make Over or an episode of a HGTV show... but reality check... we do not have a massive budget, a large work crew, editing or commercials. :)

It has definitely been a challenge in balancing family, ministry & renovations.

We had a little set back this week... our family went through the stomach flu... not fun at all, especially when you & your husband are both sick at the same time and need to care for three little ones! Thankfully, we are all on the mend!

And so goes the process... I guess sometimes transformation does not always happen as soon as we would like it to... there are challenges, set backs and hurdles along the way.

But as we fix our eyes on the vision and purpose, God gives us the grace and strength we need to press on!

We are thankful for many of you who have blessed us with your time and labor! We know that this endeavor cannot be accomplished without help... from the carrying of the massive 400lb support beam,

cleaning, painting, electrical work, removing insulation, moving boxes to helping care for our children... Thank you! At times we struggle to ask for help, not wanting to burden others, but reminded that it is important to express needs and give others the opportunity to come along side you.

So we continue to the process... More to come!

Picture 1- taken from the front door, shows the archway that went into the formal living room.

Picture 2- view from front door looking into the family room.

Picture 3 - taken from the formal dining room (which will become bedroom#4) shows the wall that separated the formal living room and family room being removed and the arch way removed.

Picture 4- guys holding up the super heaving support beam!

On the Move...

A long time ago, someone told me,"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." This has seemed to play out many times in my life..

I am fairly confident that I have a plan... much thought, conversation and prayer has gone into it... and then unexpectedly the direction seems to change. In this moment I have a few options:

1. Freak Out

2. Desperately attempt to control the situation

3. Take a deep breath... pray & choose to trust God

I would love to say that I always choose #3, but that would be lying... many times I attempt options #1 & #2 first, just to be reminded that they really do not work well and that #3 is the best option! :)

This last year has been one of great transition!!! (note the 3 exclamation marks)

About a year ago, I was pregnant with our third child (Skyler)... we put our house on the market, sold it... moved in with my mom while we looked for a new house.

We bought a great 5 bedroom w/ a loft, two story home in South Gilbert.. it was a bit of a process with the loan and other details.. but with the help of our awesome realtor Matt Dunshie all went through!

We got all moved in (never an easy process with three little ones) and we were ready to get settled into our new big house. Our plan was that this house would be a place to put down roots... seemed like the perfect place to raise children.. friends nearby, nice schools, sports leagues galore, gymnastics, splash pads, malls... suburbia!

Several weeks after moving into our new house, I began to feel a little unsettled in my heart and a little restless...I began questioning if, perhaps God wanted us to move to Tempe (something we have wanted to do for the last 8 years, but it has never seemed like the right time & other factors have not seemed to be in our favor).

But this made no sense... we just bought a house! God has provided for us to buy this house... we had prayed about it.. had peace about it and the list went on and on why this made no sense.

I didn't even want to verbalize how I was feeling to Shawn, but I really couldn't ignore it anymore.

As we began discussing this, turns out Shawn was having the same thoughts and inner dialogue.

We reasoned that we really just needed to settle into our new house and that maybe somewhere down the road we might move to Tempe.. but not now. (our plan)

This reasoning did not last long... God kept prompting our hearts that it was time to make a move. We felt like God was telling us this, "You can stay here and it will be fine or you can trust me to sell your house, move you to Tempe, get close to the campus and I will bless you and take your ministry to the next level."

We decided that after the holidays we would get our house ready to go on the market.

We had our first Chi Alpha of the Spring 2012 semester, came home, moved unpacked boxes out of the office/storage unit.. tidied up the house and our realtor arranged for pictures to be taken of the house the next day!

Our house listed on a Friday and .... get ready.... it SOLD the NEXT DAY!!!!

Confirmation!

So, now we were on the quest for a house in Tempe. Our target area was pretty small, as we were wanting to not only be close to the campus, but be in a specific school district. Not too many houses were available in that area... and those that were, did not really work or were less than desirable. After much thought and prayer, we went with location and decided to go with a 1967 fixer upper, less than 2 miles from ASU and a mile from the elementary school. I have given it the name Vintage Beauty ... this is it's name in faith!

So up to date, we have moved out of our 5 bedroom house, placed our belongings in a storage unit... bought the fixer in Tempe and God, in His great generosity, has provided a furnished two bedroom condo in Scottsdale for us to stay in (rent free-- another amazing testimony) while Shawn & whoever he can talk into/bribe/beg to come work with him on the demo and reconstruction.

So, we are on the move!

Through this process I am learning more and more to place my trust in God, to relinquish control and hang on tight while this adventure of life continues. I have been continually reminded of what a faithful Father & Provider we serve,that He cares about the details of our lives! I am learning to walk by faith and not by sight.. to say Yes to God, even when it does not make sense to me or to others.

Thank you to many of you for your encouragement, support, labor & prayers throughout this process. We are grateful beyond words.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." -Proverbs 16:9

To Be Continued ...