September 2007 NYC Plunge

Eagles Flying

We are now home safe and sound from a long week-end in New York City. It was emotionally draining but well worth it. I have not laughed that hard in quite awhile. The team that God is forming is quite humorous. This time we just went as tag-a-longs to get back to the city and see what it is like in the winter. Guess what it's like - it's COLD! No surprise there. But it was SUNNY! Which was a nice surprise. Even though it was cold it was still pleasant to have the sun shining on and off. I did learn from Pastor's Wife that I need to get a sleeping bag coat and rain boots to wear there : )

Pete also met with a recruiter on Saturday. Josh is going to help him make some contacts in the Publishing field. We aren't ready to move yet (need to sell this house first) but we feel like it's time for him to start to put serious feelers out there.

I was able to spend a little time with a Mom of two boys who has lived in the city for the past 4 years and drill her with questions on what it is like to raise a family there. She was also kind enough to invite us into her apartment to see that. The bedrooms were much larger than I had anticipated but on the flip side she didn't have a dining room. Everything is a trade off it seems. Her super lets her store her sons bikes in the basement which is a nice plus.

When we got home, I was a little frustrated. It was just over-whelming to back here in a house that is still not completely read to sell and we are mentally ready to leave. It didn't feel like "coming home" but more like "leaving home" Does that make sense? Our move is probably still 7 months out. It's hard to live in the here and now when we are ready to see what God has planned for us there. When we landed there on Thursday, I hear "Welcome Home". I think that was more me than God but I was thrilled that I was even able to hear those words this time back.

I did get a nice surprise when I started to catch up on some of my blog reading to find Lynnae's post here about eagles flying and linking to another blogger showcasing one of my favorite songs, You are the Everlasting God. Make sure you wait until the end to hear his 4 year old read some of the scripture.

The Dogs Are Gone

Well Monday was a sad day around here for hubby. Both of his dogs moved to new homes. It was hard for him but he finally had peace that it was time. Trying to show a house (to sell or rent) with two LARGE dogs is hard! I would have to take them somewhere when someone was going to look at the house in a tiny Breeze with 3 kids. Not a good thing. On top of that, there was the constant cleaning of the house. They shed ALOT! NYC is not a place for labs. At least we don't think so.

I actually think both found better homes. Hemi (our black lab) moved down to City Mission and now has FIVE yards to run through-out. He loves to run! Neo (pictured here) moved into a family of 3 kids that are actually bigger than him that he can't knock over. He was just too much dog for our little girls.

I was sad to see Hemi go. He's been with us almost 3 years. He was a SUPER guard dog. I felt safe here having him home. But I knew if hubby found a good home for him, then he needed to move. Now we don't have to worry about them while we are gone with a a few trips coming up. It's hard to get a sitter for two large dogs.

The girls seem with with it. Not a mention of them since Monday. Of course now they fight over the kitten. Look here - K#1 is taking after her parents : ) At least the kitten will sit with them unlike the dogs.

Spiritual Warfare - Please Pray

Ever since probably September, when hubby and I went to NYC, we have fought over just the silliest things. Like sometimes fought HARD(in years past this was normal for us but not so much over the last year). And afterwards wondered what the heck we were even fighting over!? How silly is that? Pastor warned us to be prepared for that kind of thing. Satan doesn't like what we are doing. He's going to do everything he can think of to make us doubt what we are doing. I've really felt him turn up the heat some days.

Thursday night I had a VERY intense dream that Satan was taking over my body. I've NEVER had any dreams like that in my life. I don't normally dream and if I do it's a different version of the same dream over and over again. So this really got to me! I couldn't breathe - he took my voice away. I woke up with my heart racing 1000 miles an hour. It took me almost 2 hours to fall back asleep.

Please pray for not only me but also the entire NYC Launch team. We are all going through a lot and it's making us freak out many days.

Listening to God

Today church service was about listening to God - more specifically praying the listening prayer and then doing what God tells you to do obediently. I have a hard time practicing this because I just can't seem to get my mind to slow down. I always get "pop-ups" that distract me. I find that if I write down my thoughts (here in my blog or my journal) then it is easier for me to keep focused. I've found though that lately God has been speaking to me, even when I don't ask him anything in particular. He just knows what I need to hear. I am just so amazed at how deeply my faith has grown over the past few months and the impact God has had on me. Yet I still have so much more to learn. Two years ago I wouldn't believe half of the things that have happened to me would have happened.

Today we had our first NYC Launch Team meeting since almost a month ago. I just LOVE everyone on the team! They are all so different but yet so fun and interesting to be around. I get so much energy form them! After that we had a January Plunge meeting. That was just a short meeting to talk about the trip to NYC next week-end. I"m SO excited to go! I will miss the girls TREMENDOUSLY but I need to get back there. Even if the weather will be yucky.

The trip home is about 30 minutes so I had time to talk with dear hubby without any distractions (besides the fire we thought we saw blazing in the dark sky). I said to him, that I'm actually OK with everything about NYC, him finding a job, deciding about the girls and school, living in a shoebox, etc. The one that that keeps me up late at night is the selling or renting of this house. I know God can take care of it. I don't know why I haven't just asked him to. Pastor said to me tonight, do you think God will send you a confirmation and then forget about you needing to sell your house? Of course he won't. So what is my problem. Hubby replied to me, "If you would just give it up to God, he'll take care of it." Hubby is right. That is what I am going to pray about. I need to stop obsessing over it and just trust God that when the time is right, it will sell or rent.

After we got home, I started to read one of my favorite bloggers, www.beingfrugal.net. The first one that I read said:

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34"

That last verse is actually hubby's favorite. I could stand to learn a thing or two from him. So see, God does talk to me, even when I'm not trying to listen. And I do need to just give it up to him and stop trying to control the house situation.

This Is Why Somedays I'm Scared to Follow Where God is Sending Me

Somedays I have a bad day. Not a bad day in the typical sense of the phrase but a bad day in doubting God's Plan for us. I know he has a plan and I"m following it. But some day's I"m scared. Scared more for my family than for myself. You see, some religious leaders would have you think that if you follow God, your life (here on earth) will be filled with riches (as in money, fame, etc.). I don't believe that to be true. My church doesn't spout that as the gospel. As a matter of fact, at one of the very first meetings we had about the NYC church plant, Pastor read a passage from Luke, simply saying, that you must hate your life in order to follow Jesus. GREAT! Inspiring! NOT! But I am understanding more and more each day. Jon Kitna - Detroit Lions QB - spoke at New Community this past Wednesday about this exact thing.

I subscribe to the Purpose Driven Life daily email devotionals. It's funny how on the days I choose to actually open them to read and not just delete them, there is a message that I need to hear. Here is what was in todays:

"Serving others comes at a great price.

When you become a servant, you always give up something you could have kept for yourself – time, money, energy. But the greatest cost of all is yourself.

Serving others exacts a personal toll that cannot be measured in dollars and cents or hours and minutes.

In 2 Corinthians 6:8-10, Paul describes the price he paid for serving others: “We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are well known, but we are treated as unknown. We live close to death, but here we are, still alive. We have been beaten within an inch of our lives. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.” (NLT)

Later in the same book, Paul describes being jailed, whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, and robbed – all while serving the churches God entrusted to his care. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)

God’s servants find the sacrifices worth the price because they can look past the present pain or inconvenience, fixing their eyes firmly on Jesus who “for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)"

Not very uplifting : ) But I for I know that I have treasures built up in heaven for me. Even if I die, and it turns none of what I believe in s true (doubt it but just in case you aren't a believer), it'll all still have been worth it.

Just for Fun

I took a color test that I saw on a friends blog.

What's Your Color?

Sonyia, your true color is Black!

Your color is black. The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won't kill you. Overall, though, black is the color of professionalism and achievement, which means it's clearly the color for you.

And, I'd say I have to agree......

Missing Everyone Tonight

First, Happy Birthday to Drew! Not sure how old he turns but I know he's younger than me : )

Next, T$ left Mumma K home this week-end with two sick babies for a man's man week-end. I sure hope he has a good time while we are all hard at work on Sunday. Go visit him, he wrote a wonderful post about Mumma K.

We decided in December that we as a group would start to meet come January, twice per week. Friday as a fun sort of social where we could include our kiddos - we have 7 little ones (those under the age of 8) between us all and Sundays would be our work meetings.

So today was supposed to be our first "social" meeting. We haven't met in almost a month because of the holidays and vacations and the sort. Well we had it cancelled at the last minute last night. It's understandable with all that has been going on but I"m still sad. I was really looking forward to getting together with everyone. I don't want to sound whiny or needy but I depend on the support of that group to get me through rough weeks like I had this week. It wasn't a bad week - just a doubting week. I know to expect those but this one was long. Of course it was my man's first full week back at the office too since November. Although I just realized he worked at home two days this week. Maybe it's just that I can't get back into a routine since before the holidays began. So no meeting until Sunday and I miss everyone. And we are a chatty group. We only have 3 hours so I wonder how much actual work we'll get done since we have to get caught up with each other.

It is quite an eclectic group of people that are on the Launch Team so far but we seem to laugh our butts off every time we get together. We can always count on Fruit Salad now to give us something to laugh about if we run out of things : ) T$ calls the planting Pastor's Wife, Fruit Salad, on his blog. It's really all her fault that we going to NYC but that's another post in itself. She is one of the kindest, most Godly women I have met. I've met a lot of them over the past year and a half that I've been at Kensington (like Mumma K for sure) but she stands out. So I don't know if I can get away with calling her Fruit Salad. Besides, I totally can relate to her and how she got that nickname. But I don't want to get a nickname like that either : )

Guess I have no excuse not to get to work on the touch up paint on the kitchen cupboards tonight ....

New Buddies

Pictured here is Mumma K and T$. Aren't they just the coolest looking people around? Would you just want to be best friends for life with them?!? (ignore the Keep Park Clean sign above their heads : ) We met them for the first time at our meeting for the NYC Plunge we went on in September. I KNOW God wanted us to be friends. I had tried to cancel our trip at the last minute and they weren't even considering going. Then at the last minute they got the nudge to go. Then I prayed to God and left it up to him as to whether or not my man and I should go. It was actually the first time we had ever left the K girls for more than over-night since their births. I thought that was going to be hard for me but it turned out to be a wonderful thing for us. My man and I really needed that week-end away. Sorry for the tangent. So at the very last minute both the Kellys and the Pfeiffers spent a week-end exploring the Great NYC that we will all call home in 2008!

I FINALLY was able to have a Mom's Night Out last Friday and was lucky enough to spend with Mumma K. We thought we were hangin' with some of the other Mummas but it turned out that only the two of us could make it. I was just as happy to have a night out with her. I haven't been out without the kids in a few months so it was an extra special treat for me. I sarcastically told my man I'd be home in just a few hours (inside joke between the two of us - he's always longer out than he says he's going to be so I thought I'd exxagerate the time I'd be out) Turns out we were out for dinner and drinks for 5.5 hours! I didn't think I could talk to anyone that long!

Lesson learned:

1. Mumma K shouldn't let me drink alcohol because I'll talk non-stop and all about myself : ) When My Man asked me if I planned to have a drink (I'm a bit of a light weight drinker and rarely drink more than Diet Coke), I said, "Of course I am - I am going out with a Kelly! I was only teasing though)

Anyways, I feel so very blessed to be on this venture with those guys! On top of being totally cool folks, they have two beautiful girls the same age as our two oldest daughters. It's been comforting to know that our girls have friends with them on this life's journey as well. I thank God regularly for putting such amazing people in our lives to go through this journey with.