The Latest

I have nothing much to say, but I'm trying real hard to not let another week go by before I blog again--so here I am! Let's see what I can remember...

I did some more sorting on Thursday and it felt GREAT. God the chuckwagon table all cleaned out. That had become the catch-all for a variety of things--old pictures, scrapbooking stuff (what didn't sell a few months ago), music books, school books, all of our tapes and CD's and who knows what else. It felt so good to throw a bunch of junk away (it's so liberating!!!) and create a pile of yard sale stuff, too. I usually find myself in turmoil over things like this because I want to get rid of things--but I'm a bit of a hoarder and find myself keeping most of the things I had planned on parting with. Not this time. I'm so tired of having STUFF that just SITS there and never gets used! I'm sure there's more that I could be parting with, but I'm pretty proud of what I've weeded out thus far.

In sorting through all of the old tapes that have just been lying around I found my old Brian Ehrhardt tape. He was a blind guy in the Church of God of Prophecy up in Denver when I was a kid. I met him and "guided" him around some at a couple Conventions when I was about 11 years old. He was in his mid-twenties, I think, and such a nice guy. He wrote songs, sang beautifully, and could play just about any instrument known to man. I've often thought about him over the years and wondered what became of him. I had actually been thinking about him just a few days before, so I was so excited to find his tape! I played it once and it brought back so many memories of that era of my life--one song in particular had been a great blessing to me back then. I've heard the tape playing in Katie's room several times since I found it. It makes me happy. And I was FINALLY able to find him online last night (I've searched before to no avail) once I finally spelled his name right. From what I can tell, he's with the Elders church (he was engaged to an Elders girl last time I saw him), has a studio and does some producing, as well as traveling around speaking and singing. Makes me happy... and sad! Perhaps he'll be back in God's Church some day.

Yesterday was spent in preparation for our Open House today. The folks came out and mowed down all of the weeds for us in the morning. Though it's not as short as we would have liked, it looks soooooooo much better around here. I cleaned all of the blinds (I hate that job) and washed all of the windows in and out. It makes SUCH a difference, especially when you've got such a great view out the windows! Vacuumed and did some other house chores, then left the rest for today.

Last night we got an e-mail from the realtor in Alabama informing us that God must have something else picked out for us because that yellow house that I loved has a contract on it. I was surprised when I didn't feel disappointed (!), but I really and truly didn't. What a relief! Ha! I feel like God has helped me to release everything to Him and I'm perfectly fine with the knowledge that He has a different house for us. It's just out there waiting for us to find it. That's sort of exciting! So last night I stayed up way, way, way too late looking at realtor.com and making a list of some 30+ MLS listings that I'd like to explore. That poor realtor girl. She has NO IDEA who she's dealing with here! Ha!

Today we finished up on the house, getting the floors vacuumed, the bathrooms scrubbed top to bottom, the wood floors wet-swiffed, the cabinets and stove wiped down and... oh, whatever else we did. The house was sparkling when Jason showed up for the Open House just before 2:00. We headed to town, stopping down at the corner to have a good prayer for God to sell our house. Katie & Joe ran into the library to pick up a couple of books they'd had on hold, then James treated us to a late lunch at the Olive Garden. It was sooooo good! We went to Hobby Lobby and by then it was time to go home and see how things went at the house. Jason said only one guy came by--and he only came to find a realtor to talk to about putting his house on the market in the spring. Ha! I've never had any faith in Open Houses (does anybody ever really buy a house that way?!), but I have faith in God...

I've been so blessed by this whole process. Sometimes when life is "normal" your spiritual life seems to get a little dry, even when you try hard to not let that happen. But I'm loving that we have this great big NEED to take to the Lord! It just feels so good to have something that is out of my hands, and only God has the answer. I love the opportunities to TRUST Him like this. It's so exciting! It's an adventure to continually put something at his feet and then wait and watch and see how He's going to work it out. Fun! Sister Galaviz shared John 15:7 with me a few days ago, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." She told me she's been reminding God of that promise over some things she's praying about, and that she was going to start praying that verse concerning the sale of our house as well. Then tonight Brother Grimes (from Alabama) felt led to share this with me, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24). I felt the Lord as I read it and I believe it with all my heart. :-) God's already got the answer and it could very well be on it's way and we don't even know it yet! God is so amazing. :-)

Tonight James helped Katie with her very first Bob Ross style painting. She did great, but says she's going to stick to sculpting with clay for now--she's getting REALLY good with that. I've just sort of crashed tonight. I'm fully intending to go to bed at 10:00 tonight. That will be a novelty! Looking forward to service in the morning, though our pastor is still in Colorado and will be missed greatly. Keep praying for the Clarksons! Last I heard there has been no change in Wilma. I know they would appreciate your prayers.

Have a happy Sunday!