Sorry for the lack of post in July.
Let me summarize. :) Working on the house, working on support, working on the house, working on support, working on the house..... :)
In the last week of June and first week of July our support jumped from 70% to 80% in about 2 weeks. We couldn't believe it. Danny was calling it "Christmas in July"! Honestly I really believed that the rest of our support was just going to pour in over the following couple of weeks. God has other plans. It was last Thursday, going on the 3rd week of still being around the 80% mark (we had been at 82% and then lost some support) that I found myself in a heap of tears, crying to the Lord.
"Lord, but THIS is the way our support was going to come in, all these contacts in Springfield (only 1 responded to meeting with us) were supposed to want to meet us, and they were going to partner with us, and these people we are waiting on for decisions are all going to come on for BIG amounts and God THIS is the way we were going to be DONE by August!"
And the Lord gently showed me that "No, this was YOUR plan, I never promised this was the way I WOULD do it." Isaiah 55:8 says "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", declares the Lord.
Humbled.
The Lord prompted me to come and pray. Danny and I spent the afternoon in the MSU Crusade office praying to God, asking for direction. He answered.
In May (maybe April) Danny had the thought to count how many supporters we have that are our prayer partners, but are not financial partners. It was almost 150. He thought if every one of these people did partner with us financially, at only $5 a month, that would = nearly $750 in monthly support, if they partnered at $10 a month, almost $1500! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? We thought and prayed about sending out an ask to these supporters, but were hesitant because most of these have stated they either do not feel led to support us, or do not have the means to. We decided that if we were to do it, we would wait until we were closer to the end of our support, maybe 80%.
Well apparently we forgot about that. We hit 80% and I never even thought of it. We sat at 80% for 3 weeks, and last Thursday while praying for direction, the Lord put it on my heart again. We set out to work that afternoon and the Spirit led the writing of an ask letter. By Monday we had mailed 138 ask letters to our prayer supporters. Last night we had our first response, someone came on for $10/month. Praise the Lord! Please keep us in your prayers.
So on the much wanted update on the house... we are basically finished with the construction, all painting is done, and now we have actually begun unpacking... wow. I am so thankful for Danny's skills. You won't even believe it when you see it. I will post pics below.
Saturday we are leaving St. Joe, I can hardly believe it. We have loved our time here and have been so blessed to spend so much time with our families, and also reconnect with old friends. Looking forward again, to another new season.
Here are some pics!
This is with wood paneling pulled off, sheet rock up, mudding and sanding done, waiting on the "Drywall Dr." to come and lay on the texture.
Texture on, paint finished! (this is also with new carpet laid and furniture in :)
I am wanting to show how the space between the living room and kitchen looked after removing the wall. Below you will see the most beautiful frame Danny built around the opening.
This is the beam that Danny (with the help of some great guys) put up after first: putting up two temporary walls on either side, tearing down the original wall (sheet rock, on one side, wood paneling on the other) re-routing 4 electical outlets in the wall, tearing down original wall, then placing TWO 16 foot beams up to hold the load.
In this picture Danny is bolting the two beams together before sheet rocking over it.
This picture is taken from the same place as the one above it. Hard to believe isn't it.
Standing in living room facing kitchen before.
Standing in living room facing kitchen after. WOW! So thankful!
