Update on Mitch

The doctor's appointment today revealed at least two bulging discs which are pressing on nerves and causing pain and numbness in the left arm and hand. One is borderline for surgery but the doctor believes that within 2-3 months, both could be much better. Though this timeline is a bit discouraging for Mitch, he believes the least invasive course of action is preferred. Please continue to pray for him and for healing in these discs. Thank you!

A Lot to Talk About

It has been over a month since our last post and there's a lot to talk about and thank the Lord for. First of all, we're settled into our new home. We're enjoying the space of a four-bedroom home and are looking forward to little projects, as time and money allows. We thank the Lord, once again, for how He helped us get into this home. Looking back, we're embarrassed to recall the amount of worry we devoted to the whole process and recognize the good and perfect provision of our Lord. (Find our new address at right.)

We thank the Lord for our precious daughter and are blessed to see her growing into a young woman right before our eyes. Earlier in the month, her middle school chorus gave its first concert at a community Oktoberfest. Then just a couple of weeks ago she attended her first middle school dance with a young man from our church. This doesn't mean she's dating. . .it was just a dance!

Our Dodge Durango is no more. We recently traded it for a used, more fuel-efficient car. The car's been a pleasure to drive and has certainly not hurt our feelings at the gas pump. We thank the Lord for giving us a four-wheel drive when we needed it in mountainous Nevada and are thankful now that He has given us another vehicle with much lower miles and much higher m.p.g.

Mitch has intense shoulder/back pain right now. Out of the blue he awoke in the middle of the night a few weeks ago with incredible pain which sent him to the emergency room. An x-ray revealed nothing out of the ordinary so he had an MRI this morning. He'll see the doctor tomorrow and he hopes to learn more about the source of the pain and find a better pain management program. The Lord has shown Mitch His grace and strength at this time but it has been a painful process. We appreciate your prayers for him.

Finally, and probably the reason why we've not posted in over a month, Jane has a new job. You may recall that she was hired as a first line sub at a nearby school. About a week or so after she started subbing at this school, the principal of another elementary school asked her if she would take a 1st grade maternity leave sub position at his school until January. She is thankful for the Lord's gift of full-time work, even though the position is a challenging one.

God has shown us His tremendous blessing and faithfulness in the events above and at our church. We are seeing the Lord add to our numbers, seeing men and women grow in their knowledge of the Lord and of His Word, and have been overwhelmed with our body's loving and generous gifts during pastor appreciation month.

Now for a few pictures. . .

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and for the ministry here.

Answers to Prayers!

This is a quick post to let our faithful prayer warriors know how God has answered two of our recent prayer requests.

1. We have a tentative closing date of September 20 on our new house. You may recall that we are supposed to be out of the rental house we're currently living in by September 19. Thanks to the generosity of our church members, we've received incredible offers to store our stuff and stay in extra bedrooms and even lake houses. But God did something even easier! He opened the new house up for us to move into! The seller called us this evening to let us know that he'll be out of town for the next week and that he's already signed the necessary paperwork for the transfer of ownership of the property. Because he also knew our need, he also said we could move in beginning tonight! It's just like God to do something this spectacular and just exactly when we needed it. We were preparing to box everything up, store it in a member's garage, and accept the gracious offer for temporary lodging. But now, we're just going to move everything up the street and into the new house.
2. This past Wednesday Jane interviewed for a first line substitute position at a nearby school. This position is guaranteed eight sub days each month, earns sick time (!), and will usually be the first one called for other sub jobs at the school. She has accepted the position and starts subbing at the school tomorrow. Her first assignment--1st grade! She is very excited to see how this position may work into a full-time teaching position in the future.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. God is so good and we are praising Him for these incredible answers to our prayers.

What an Exciting Time it is--An Update!

Thank you for your prayers for us as we are seeking the Lord's will and waiting for Him to reveal it to us. Since our last post, we've found "the" house, made an offer on it, and the offer has been accepted. We signed pre-closing loan paperwork on Friday and the appraisal has been ordered. On Monday it will be inspected. We're set to close by September 30. That is all good news. However, you recall from our earlier post that we have to be out of the home we're renting on September 19. So it is our prayer that the process will speed along more rapidly than usual (by God's hand, in fact) and that we can close and move out of this rental and into the new home without any problem. On the other hand, if God's grace is simply that He's found us a home but it will take a little doing to get into it, we are grateful for this, too. If this is the case, church friends have offered us a garage in which to store our things and extra bedrooms to sleep in. Once again we're on the edge of excitement waiting to see which way the Lord will take us. Keep praying for this and we'll keep you posted.

Finally, we'll post this picture of our silly cat. If you know cats (or maybe it's just a quirky behavior unique to ours), an area can be free of clutter except for one item and they'll lay on that one item every time. Mitch laid his Bible on the bed today after church and where do you think Callie chose to lay? I guess it doesn't hurt to simply lay on God's Word if you can't stand on it!

What an Exciting Time it is!

We have been looking at homes in Paris, TN since God confirmed the call to pastor at Jones Chapel Baptist Church. It's been both fun and frustrating. We've placed bids on two homes since and, for various reasons, God has closed both doors. Well, today we learned that the search must intensify because the home we are renting has just sold. That means we must move out in thirty days (by September 19).

In this whole process we can be sure of several things:

• God called us to Jones Chapel Baptist Church in Paris, TN.
• When He called us to Paris, we had no idea where we would live but God provided us a rental miraculously. (Reread our June 14 post "Answered Prayers" as a reminder.)
• We need another place to live by September 19.
• God has promised in Philippians 4:19 to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Numerous other truths from His Word apply here: Matthew 7:11 and Jeremiah 29:11 just to name a couple.

What we don't know:

• Is it the Lord's will for us to buy the home we need or to look for another rental for the time being? The answer to that determines whether we put all our efforts over the next several days looking at homes for sale or homes for rent.
• Based on two homes we saw for sale today, we could be very happy with either one. One is on the west side of Paris in an agricultural area, closer to Paris' business district but farther from Nicole's school. If we bought this home, we would continue to drive Nicole back and forth to our ideal school for 6th-8th grades, and then after that she would be bused into the city for 9th-12th grades. The other home is on the northeast side of Paris in the Kentucky Lake area. This home is actually in Nicole's school district (so no driving to school would be necessary) but it's farther from Paris' business district. Both homes are just about equal distance from the church, about 15 minutes away--just in opposite directions. Should we put an offer on one of these (and if so, which one) or continue looking? Or is this discussion futile because God's best home (and location) is yet to come?

Jane's Grandma Freda used to say in times like this, "Won't it be exciting to see what God will do?!" This is the perspective we desire to have. It demonstrates our faith in our trustworthy God who IS more than able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). We just have to fight the urge to fall back to worry (which, in its base form, is really doubt). Would you join us in fervent prayer about this issue?

Won't it be exciting for us all to see what God will do? Thank you for your prayers!

How Helpful is This?

Do you see the cute little ice scraper in the picture above that we were given as a freebie at the county fair? The woman at the booth told us it would be helpful. It begs several questions:

1. Is this all the ice scraper we'll need living here in Tennessee? It's pictured here next to a cell phone so you can see just how small this little ice scraper is. Is this someone's idea of getting off the little bit of ice we'll experience here?
2. Is the woman nuts? Was this a joke? Maybe you've seen the Wendy's commercials where a guy is eating a burger the size of a button and drinking from a straw and cup the size of a thimble and he proudly tells you it's $2.99. This ice scraper makes you think, "$2.99."
3. Did the woman mean this ice scraper would be great for scraping ice off my side view mirror (or from a Barbie car or a Matchbox car for that matter)? If so, it could be helpful.
4. Will this little scraper be helpful in finding my keys in my purse?
5. Have we died and gone to weather heaven? (I guess this is related to #1 above.) After living in the mountainous, snowy west and shoveling snow and scraping windshields, maybe moving to Tennessee is God's weather gift to us.

Seriously, as the weather changes, we'll soon find out how this cute little ice scraper will be "helpful" and we'll let you know! For now, we're having fun with the possibilities.

County Fair

It's county fair time! Nicole actually had the day off from school just for the fair so we took advantage of the time and enjoyed the evening. Nicole especially enjoyed riding rides with a church friend she ran into. This picture is of the "Sizzler." I think she & her friend Bethany rode this three times in a row!

First Day of 6th Grade

Today is Nicole's first day of 6th grade at Lakewood Middle School. She is excited to meet new friends and change classes like a middle schooler. She is especially excited to be in Chorus this year. Mom & Dad are excited for her, too, and nervous about her first day. Thanks for your prayers for our baby girl as she goes back to school.