Ever feel like your life is a roller coaster? That's how we've been feeling the past few weeks! We are finally fairly settled in here, so I actually have time to update this blog. My apologies for getting so far behind, but my hope is to post at least every other week to keep everyone up to date on our lives and ministry here.
The first amazing thing that happened was we reached 100% funding the week before we moved! God's timing is so incredible! He surprised everyone by providing people who pledged to give the funds we needed, and He did it in only 3 months! It was another amazing confirmation of our call here.
Our move was fairly uneventful, but the day we left Colorado Springs was not! We had the van all packed up and were preparing to put the last few items in and hook up the trailer for the car. We had parked the Durango right behind the moving van, and when we went to move it, the car wouldn't start! Ugh! Did I mention it was 50 degrees and raining that day? We finally were able (with the help of some amazing friends!) to get our car to the shop where they discovered we needed a new battery. Thankfully, that was the only problem. We got a late start, but we did make it to Albuquerque that first night with no problems. The next day was LONG, but we made it to our new house by about 9 that night. Several of the guys with whom Trevor works were already here waiting to help us unload, so they along with Trevor's sister and her husband unloaded us in record time. We are so grateful for all the help we received! God was definitely watching over our family and protecting us along the way.
Because we were fully funded, Trevor was able to begin working immediately, and he was so grateful for that. He was able to participate in the planning for this first semester and to begin getting to know his staff. He loves what he's doing down here. He's come home numerous times and said, "I love college ministry!" God prepared him and placed him in this exact place, and Trevor couldn't be happier. He spends lots of time hanging out with students, meeting new students, and really discipling the young men he's getting to know. He's had several opportunities to share about Christian Challenge with churches and on ASU's campus, and he's also had a chance to do a bit of guest preaching at a small church just east of here. God is using Trevor in so many awesome ways, and we are grateful for all the opportunities he is getting to use the gifts he has.
The boys have settled in wonderfully as well. Colson started first grade at the beginning of August and is thriving in his class. He loves riding the bus to school and has made some friends in his class. He will also start playing soccer at the end of September (when it is finally a tiny bit cooler!), and he's really excited about that. Kasen is doing preschool online right now and is busy each morning on the computer. He learns quickly and keeps running to find me and share what he's doing! He is also taking a couple of classes through the parks and rec-a singing class and a p.e. class. He seems to love everything he does, and he makes friends everywhere he goes! Our little social butterfly. Keegan is doing great also-trying to keep up with his brothers, starting to talk a bit (most of which we don't understand yet!), and he's going to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Bible Study Fellowship with Mommy.
We are doing well and enjoying our new home. We feel so blessed to be here and to be serving the Lord. Thanks for keeping up with us! Our next newsletter should be coming out in the next week or so!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
A God Thing
My apologies to everyone! I meant to post this before we moved but, as often happens, life got in the way! Here's the story of what happened before we moved-more to come on our move and our first six weeks in the next couple of days. May God bless you all! Chelsea
Things are happening quickly around here! We have been blessed beyond what we could have imagined, and we can only attribute everything to the Lord. He has been so good to us, and He has confirmed our call to ASU time and again as He makes details fall into place in His timing. Here are a few ways we'd love to share how He has blessed us recently.
First, we have a rental home in Phoenix! Last month we spent a few days in the sweltering heat looking for a place to live. The first day, we thought we could look at homes ourselves and not worry about using a real estate agent. First lesson-agents make things so much easier! We looked at a couple of homes that day and were not impressed; in fact, we were a bit discouraged. On our way home, we decided to get in touch with a realtor who was a friend of Trevor's sister. She was truly an angel for us! She quickly found a dozen homes that she thought might work for us, and we narrowed them down further. The next day, we ventured out again. The first few homes were, shall we say, not in the best condition, but we soldiered on. We finally found one that we really liked, it had everything we wanted, and it was well within our price range. As we were about to leave, the owner came by, and we were able to have a short conversation with him and introduce ourselves. We asked if he had any rental applications for his house, and he said he did have a couple he had received just that day. When we told him we were interested in his home, he told us he would wait to go though all the applications until he had received ours. Quickly deciding we really did want this home, we rushed to complete the application. An hour after we had parted, our realtor called us and said that she had just received a phone call from the owner's real estate agent. Not only was the owner impressed with us, but he had instructed his real estate agent to place our application ahead of the other two he had received and give us the house if everything checked out! It turns out that our landlord is also a believer, and when he found out that a pastor and his family were interested in his home, he wanted us as his tenants. However, the craziest thing happened after we'd already returned home. We looked up the house to refresh our memories about the layout and discovered that two days before we looked at it, the price had been reduced by $225 a month. It would have been completely out of our price range, and we never would have even thought about viewing it. God is so good, and He gives us what we need before we even need it!
Because things were progressing so well in Arizona, we had almost made up our minds to rent our Colorado home to some friends. We were still going back and forth about it, but we were pretty sure we would have to rent since we didn't seem to have any other options, and we had not received any reasonable offers to buy our home. The day after we returned from Arizona, we were informed that we had the Phoenix rental home. That same day, Trevor had made plans to meet with the young guys who were interested in renting our home in Colorado and to go over some particulars. The morning Trevor was to meet with them, we got a phone call from our realtor in Colorado saying that we had an offer on our house. However, the offer was not something we could accept. We countered, believing that, in this buyers' market, there was no way the buyers would accept it. Trevor went to lunch with the guys, and as he was finishing his conversation with them about renting and expectations, his phone rang, and our real estate agent said "They took your offer! Your house just sold!" Trevor was a bit flustered, but the young men were very gracious, and Trevor helped them look for another place to live. So in the space of two days, we found a home to rent and sold our current home. God does things so well when we wait patiently for Him!
Our final piece of great news is that we have reached over 90% of our support-raising goal! We are humbled by this and by the fact that, in about 3 1/2 months, we have received pledges from people to support our family for almost an entire year! It is amazing to think that God has impressed upon people to obey Him by supporting us. We will continue to walk in faith as people begin to fulfill their pledges, and we are excited to see how God will raise up people to fill in the last 10%. It is overwhelming to see how many people are excited to see how God will work at ASU!
Our next step is actually physically moving to Phoenix. We are in the midst of packing up our home here, and we plan to move July15-16. Prayers would be greatly appreciated as we make our way from Monument to Phoenix in a huge truck, towing one car, and followed by another. This will be a long, slow trip, but we know God will be with us. He has confirmed our call to Phoenix through so many ways, and we trust Him to take care of the rest of the details!
We are grateful to all of you for your prayers and financial support. Please let us know how we can be praying for you. We plan to get a newsletter out in the latter half of July, and we will be in touch with you all if you have any prayer needs or questions as to how to begin fulfilling financial pledges. May God bless each of you and receive all glory and honor!
Things are happening quickly around here! We have been blessed beyond what we could have imagined, and we can only attribute everything to the Lord. He has been so good to us, and He has confirmed our call to ASU time and again as He makes details fall into place in His timing. Here are a few ways we'd love to share how He has blessed us recently.
First, we have a rental home in Phoenix! Last month we spent a few days in the sweltering heat looking for a place to live. The first day, we thought we could look at homes ourselves and not worry about using a real estate agent. First lesson-agents make things so much easier! We looked at a couple of homes that day and were not impressed; in fact, we were a bit discouraged. On our way home, we decided to get in touch with a realtor who was a friend of Trevor's sister. She was truly an angel for us! She quickly found a dozen homes that she thought might work for us, and we narrowed them down further. The next day, we ventured out again. The first few homes were, shall we say, not in the best condition, but we soldiered on. We finally found one that we really liked, it had everything we wanted, and it was well within our price range. As we were about to leave, the owner came by, and we were able to have a short conversation with him and introduce ourselves. We asked if he had any rental applications for his house, and he said he did have a couple he had received just that day. When we told him we were interested in his home, he told us he would wait to go though all the applications until he had received ours. Quickly deciding we really did want this home, we rushed to complete the application. An hour after we had parted, our realtor called us and said that she had just received a phone call from the owner's real estate agent. Not only was the owner impressed with us, but he had instructed his real estate agent to place our application ahead of the other two he had received and give us the house if everything checked out! It turns out that our landlord is also a believer, and when he found out that a pastor and his family were interested in his home, he wanted us as his tenants. However, the craziest thing happened after we'd already returned home. We looked up the house to refresh our memories about the layout and discovered that two days before we looked at it, the price had been reduced by $225 a month. It would have been completely out of our price range, and we never would have even thought about viewing it. God is so good, and He gives us what we need before we even need it!
Because things were progressing so well in Arizona, we had almost made up our minds to rent our Colorado home to some friends. We were still going back and forth about it, but we were pretty sure we would have to rent since we didn't seem to have any other options, and we had not received any reasonable offers to buy our home. The day after we returned from Arizona, we were informed that we had the Phoenix rental home. That same day, Trevor had made plans to meet with the young guys who were interested in renting our home in Colorado and to go over some particulars. The morning Trevor was to meet with them, we got a phone call from our realtor in Colorado saying that we had an offer on our house. However, the offer was not something we could accept. We countered, believing that, in this buyers' market, there was no way the buyers would accept it. Trevor went to lunch with the guys, and as he was finishing his conversation with them about renting and expectations, his phone rang, and our real estate agent said "They took your offer! Your house just sold!" Trevor was a bit flustered, but the young men were very gracious, and Trevor helped them look for another place to live. So in the space of two days, we found a home to rent and sold our current home. God does things so well when we wait patiently for Him!
Our final piece of great news is that we have reached over 90% of our support-raising goal! We are humbled by this and by the fact that, in about 3 1/2 months, we have received pledges from people to support our family for almost an entire year! It is amazing to think that God has impressed upon people to obey Him by supporting us. We will continue to walk in faith as people begin to fulfill their pledges, and we are excited to see how God will raise up people to fill in the last 10%. It is overwhelming to see how many people are excited to see how God will work at ASU!
Our next step is actually physically moving to Phoenix. We are in the midst of packing up our home here, and we plan to move July15-16. Prayers would be greatly appreciated as we make our way from Monument to Phoenix in a huge truck, towing one car, and followed by another. This will be a long, slow trip, but we know God will be with us. He has confirmed our call to Phoenix through so many ways, and we trust Him to take care of the rest of the details!
We are grateful to all of you for your prayers and financial support. Please let us know how we can be praying for you. We plan to get a newsletter out in the latter half of July, and we will be in touch with you all if you have any prayer needs or questions as to how to begin fulfilling financial pledges. May God bless each of you and receive all glory and honor!
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