“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly realms.”
Ephesians 6:12
Our
journey continues and we are moving forward again in the relocation
process. Soon we will be reunited as a
family under one roof in a rental home in Springfield, Illinois but honestly,
not at all how I had envisioned it.
Before anyone gets real excited…the Newburgh house has not sold. Our realtor, Jenna, has been working so
diligently for us and has produced showings and even some people walking
through at an open house, but still the right buyer has not emerged. So again, I appeal to you all to be faithful
in your prayers for the sale of our home in Newburgh. God has a plan for this sale. Brad likes to say, “God’s not going to show
up, God’s going to show off!” Please
keep Jenna and the sale of our home in your prayers and if you think about it,
tell God I’m ready for him to show off at anytime!!! Anyway, I had envisioned us selling our house
within 4 months and being moved by Thanksgiving. Neither happened, so we wait and see what God
is going to do.
Currently
I am looking forward to cooking Thanksgiving dinner for Brad’s family
here. It’s going to be a great day
because not only is it Thanksgiving, but my birthday as well. So not only pumpkin pie but birthday turtle
cheesecake from Sam’s Club for dessert!
YUM! It will be the last big
holiday we celebrate in Newburgh and so I want it to be special for
everyone. Then the days that follow will
be busy with packing and sorting what to take and what to leave behind and
staging our home for showings and open houses while we are away. The rental house is only a two bedroom one bath
home…so we are taking just the basics with us.
It’s going to be an adventure for sure and again, we covet your prayers
in the transition period of being a family again under one roof, transitioning
the children and me from our home and friends in Newburgh to a new place,
church, community, and settling into the rental house. We are grateful for the opportunity to be
together again and begin serving RCC and the community as a family. This home allows us to rent month to month, have
our two dogs, and do exactly that. What a blessing!
Lastly,
I want to talk about the verse I posted above and share with you where we are
right now because over the last several months our situation has grown from
just trying to sell our house and reunite again as a family into an all-out
spiritual attack. I’ve grown up in
church, knowing the Lord and loving Him and have read this verse many times but
never really experienced it until the day Brad left to start as the Preaching
Pastor at RCC. Since that time our
family has been engaged in a spiritual battle we’ve never experienced
before. It has been one continual thing
after another, after another, after another for the last six months. This past week we had the smoke detectors,
which are hardwired (so when one goes off….the other seven go off), go off at
4:30 a.m. and then three more times in the next 2 hours. An appliance broke, and another item in the
house broke within the next two days. We
have just had the refrigerator replaced under the home warranty and the van had
a part recalled on it and while they were repairing that found another
issue.
When
these things started at the beginning of the summer it was annoying to be
honest to have these “inconveniences” take place and even more annoying when
they wouldn’t stop. Since September it’s
become tiring and I find it no coincidence that it is continuing. Personally I have been experiencing things
I’ve never experienced my whole life and at some point I hope to share that
part of the journey with you, but until that time, I am asking you all to
please pray for God’s protection for our family as we continue on this journey
to RCC. That He would be a shield about
us. That we would be able to put on the
full armor of God so we will be able to stand up under this onslaught so that
when this battle is over, He can be glorified and praised for the victory!
As
believers our only offensive weapon is the sword of the spirit, God’s
word. So if any of you have Scriptures
that would be appropriate for us, I ask that you message me with those
please. We also as believers have the
joy of coming alongside others as they go through these trials in life and so
many of you have done that for us so I want to take this time to say, Thank
you! Thank you for your encouragement,
prayers (please don't stop those!!!), and support. We would not have
been able to make it these last months without you. I am so grateful for God’s family. God bless you all and have a very Happy
Thanksgiving! 