Grace

Wow, I didn't realize I took such a long break from posting on here. I guess we've been busy.
This post is all about Hannah. We celebrated her 7th birthday in November. Where does the time go? I can't believe she is already 7!

How did she go from this...

To this...

 

 We celebrated her birthday with some friends in Ventura. Hannah was thrilled to spend some time with Ventura friends. We were too! It was such a fun day.

 

 

This girl...she has my heart. I love the way she laughs, just hearing it makes me laugh. She is kind and compassionate. She is adventurous. She loves her friends, and as I think I have said before, can make friends anywhere. The first time we went to a new park here in Atascadero, she made friends with two sisters, and we have since met them at the park again several times. This extroverted girl has been good for this introverted mama.
Grace is her middle name, and she has shown me grace so many times. Unmerited favor. So many times as a parent I have felt like I've failed or not given my kids the best. I can be short with them. I can yell. I can lose my patience. Why is it always so much easier to see our faults instead of our victories?
But then, this beautiful little girl leaves this note for me:

(Translation: I love you Mom so much. I love you every day. I am lucky to have you.)

And that just melts my heart. It makes me think maybe I'm doing a better job as her mama than I think. For all those times I fail, she still loves me and says she's lucky. And isn't this how God loves us? His love for us is not based on our works, not on what we do or don't do. It is unmerited favor. Getting what we don't deserve.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Ephesians 2:8,9

I think I'm the lucky one.

An Overdue Update

Hi! We're here, we're alive and well. I apologize for the silence on the blog, things have been a little chaotic over the last three weeks. It's going to take a few posts to cover everything. So, I'll go back to the move. 

This was no easy thing, let me tell you. For a few months we were looking to purchase a home since there weren't many rental options. In August and September we made several trips to Atascadero to look at different homes, and even put in four different offers but nothing worked out. Finally, it was too close to our moving date to keep trying for a purchase so we switched to rentals. Having a dog really limits your rental options. And since Chris will be building bronco boxes and possibly painting, we needed a garage to store equipment and have a space for him to work.

So, three days before we had to move out of our home in Ventura, Chris went up to Atascadero one more time and signed a lease on a house. It was really the only rental available that fit our needs. God had us wait until the eleventh hour to know where we would be moving, which was very hard for me. I am still growing and learning how to trust. We just had to keep going back to the last word we had from the Lord, which was to move to Atascadero.

We are so thankful for all the wonderful friends who helped us move, we couldn't have done it without you. It means a lot, especially knowing they didn't want us to move but came and helped anyway. Case in point: we had dinner with a few friends a week before the move and asked them to not be too sappy or sad, we just wanted to enjoy their company. They took it to heart and brought a very appropriate cake.

In case you can't read it, it says Just Leave Already

We had a week of transition between moving out of our home and moving in to the rental. So we hung out at the beach house in Cayucos with our packed U-haul. Not a bad place to be stuck for a few days. The second half of the week the kids and I went back to Ventura so Hannah could finish up the first session at Beacon Hill. We were so blessed to be a part of that school even for a short time. They really helped to get us set up for this season of homeschooling (more on that later).

Finally on Oct. 3 we moved in to our rental. It's a beautiful home and is a good fit for now. We had lots of family help us move in, as well as the pastor and some members of our new home church, Shoreline Calvary Chapel. The neighbors next door are Christians and attend Calvary Chapel Paso Robles. The biggest issue with the house is the lack of yard space. There is almost no yard for the kids to play in. So, we are very quickly learning where the parks are to get the kids outside and active.

Hannah has already made friends with the pastors daughter. She still misses her friends in Ventura very much.

Chris started in his position as part time worship pastor last week. He's enjoying it and everyone at the church has been very welcoming.

I will try to post more soon about our happenings and getting settled. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Thank you to all those who have continued to pray for us. We couldn't have done this without your support!

Dear CCO

Dear Calvary Chapel Oxnard Family,

We do not have words to fully tell you how grateful we are for all of you. Calvary Chapel Oxnard has been our church home for the last nine years. We have grown and learned so much during our time with you. When we were newly married and new to Ventura, we spent a good while "church shopping." We focused our search in Ventura since we wanted to be part of a church close by where we could dig in, get connected and get involved. As we visited various churches, none of them felt like home. During that time, my aunt was attending Wednesday night services at CCO, and really encouraged us to check it out. We were hesitant at first because of our search parameters of Ventura, but went anyway.
[Side Note: The first Sunday we went to CCO, as we walked in the foyer and down the hall, we realized we had been there before! Several years prior, while in college, we were in Oxnard for a Fall Retreat with Campus Crusade for Christ. One evening during the retreat, we met at CCO for our time of worship and teaching.]
The first Sunday we attended, we knew that was to be our home church, and Lance wasn't even teaching that week! What really stood out to us was the time of worship, that people were really engaged. That was something we hadn't seen at the other churches we visited. It was obvious that God's presence was there in His people, through their worship and desire to give Him glory and learn from His word. 
And what I love about the way we were introduced to the church, is that it wasn't the pastor that was the draw (not to knock on Lance, we love his teaching!), but it was the body of Christ being a representation of Jesus. Just like Chris spoke about yesterday, every person at CCO is the church, it's not the building or the staff. 
From that time on we have been welcomed in to CCO. We have spent most of our married life there, dedicated our two kids there in front of you all, laughed, cried, prayed and served with so many of you. We have learned so much from you and grown in our own walks by learning from your examples. You have celebrated in seasons of rejoicing with us, and many of you prayed with us through our struggle to conceive a second child. 
When we bought our first home, the condo we will be moving out of in two weeks, many of our friends from the worship team and our home group showed up early on a Saturday morning to help us move. So many, that a coworker of mine who came to help was floored by amount of people who were there. You were a tangible example of Jesus to him by your service to us. 
We are overwhelmed by your love, your prayers, your generosity, and your support to our family through this journey. As Chris said yesterday, this is the hardest thing we have done, to step out in faith like this. And it feels like the hardest time has been the last few weeks. God is providing and has opened some doors for us, like Chris' new job at Calvary Shoreline. But our future housing still remains a mystery. I have struggled and worried over this, the exact thing I am not to do ("Do not worry," Matt. 6:33). And then Chris found this quote from A.W. Tozer as he was cleaning out his office last week:

How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none.  Eternal years lie in His heart.  For Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years.  God never hurries.  There are no deadlines against which he must work.  Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.
 
So I am hanging on to the promise that God is faithful, and since He called us in to this journey, He will get us there. Please continue to pray for us, and we look forward to sharing with you how God provides!
To CCO, we love you and will continue to pray for you. God has big, new things in store for you and we are excited to watch them unfold. Thank you for letting us journey with you.

God's Faithfulness

To keep you all up to speed on the happenings with our move and this crazy adventure...
We closed escrow on August 8! We are currently renting back our home until the end of September. I am packing up what I can, but it can be challenging when you have a toddler who wants to "help."
In August, Chris was encouraged by a pastor friend to contact the local Calvary Chapel pastors in the  Central Coast area to touch base and share our story of God's call to move. So Chris contacted both Bryan Stupar (Calvary Chapel SLO) and Jack Arnold (Shoreline Calvary Chapel in Morro Bay).
Chris emailed Jack on a Wednesday evening. That same evening, Jack was meeting with the elders of his church and they collectively decided they needed to actively start looking for a Worship Pastor. When Jack got in to his office on Thursday morning, there was Chris' email. Chris and Jack talked on the phone that Friday and Chris led worship at Shoreline the following Sunday when we were in the area to attend a family wedding and look for a place to live.
After some more conversations and prayer, Chris accepted a part-time position as worship pastor at Shoreline beginning mid October! We are excited to have some more direction and to join the Shoreline fellowship. Funny side note, Shoreline is the church we both attended in college. 
We are still frantically searching for a new home. With the help of some family, we are looking to purchase instead of rent because it will be significantly less expensive. Rental prices in the area are very high, and there are not a lot of rental options. Twice we have driven up to Atascadero to look at homes, and have put in two offers that did not pan out. Last week we thought we had an awesome, inexpensive short term rental option, but found out yesterday that it is not going to happen. So, tomorrow we make the 2 1/2 hour drive again to look at some more homes. 
I look at the calendar and to me it seems that time is running out. We are moving at the end of the month and don't know where we are moving too. But, we are holding fast to what we know - that God has called us to Atascadero - and He will make a way. 
This morning I read Galatians 6:9 as part of my Bible study, and then received it in an email from a friend later in the morning:

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Sometimes I feel so weary. Sometimes I feel very overwhelmed by all the unknowns. It is hard when it seems like God is silent when you think He should be speaking. But the more impossible it seems to me, the more of a miracle it will be when He does provide.

So please continue to pray for us, that God would show us a place to live and that we will not be shaken through this continued faith journey. God is faithful, and He will provide!

Summertime Fun

We have had such a full summer! It was so fun, but the end came so quick.
A highlight was a trip to the bay area and Lake Tahoe. While in Concord during the first part of our trip, we were able to attend the annual Switzer Family Cream Can party. The kids spent a lot of time in the pool at Mimi and Papa's house.

Caleb tried some lemonade...

And the next day it was off to Lake Tahoe. Mom and Mike spoiled us by renting a house to stay in along with my sister Megan and my brother David and his family.

The kids loved playing with Aunt Megan

Caleb and his cousin Kolton enjoyed lots of play time together, with the occasional parent intervention to encourage sharing.

We ate ice cream, because that is what Vanoli's do

 We also did some exploring around Lake Tahoe on foot,

By horseback,

 

And by bike

We also went by raft and floated down the Truckee River. I don't have any pictures of that since I opted not to bring my nice camera in a boat with my toddler, bad combination. It was such a relaxing ride that Caleb slept on a pile of life jackets for about half of it.

Even though it will still be a long drive to get there, I am looking forward to being a little closer to Lake Tahoe once we move. It is a special place that holds so many special memories for me, from childhood ski trips and sledding, to our honeymoon. I love being able to share that beauty with our kids. 

Moving Update

I realized I haven't written anything about our upcoming move since first announcing it in June. So in case you haven't heard yet, here's what has been happening.

At the end of June we put our house on the market. We listed on a Thursday, and by the following Tuesday we had two very good offers of the same price (just below our listing price), and one was cash. After some back and forth over the terms, we accepted the cash offer. We are in escrow now and it is set to close next week! Part of our agreement is that we will rent back from the buyers through the end of September. Chris' last day working at the church is September 15, so that will give us time to move without feeling rushed (at least I hope!).

Escrow has not been without it's hoops and hurdles to jump through and over, as I'm sure anyone who has bought or sold can attest to. A word of advice, do not stay at your house when your home inspection is done, have your realtor be there instead. It's way too stressful to listen to someone pick apart your house, down to the location of carpet tack strips. It's especially awkward if the buyers are at your house during the entire 2 1/2 hour inspection, hanging out at your kitchen table. 

One of the hoops: Chris had to cut a hole in our ceiling to prove there was no water damage, in a location that is not even close to any plumbing fixtures.

Just this last Wednesday we had an issue come up over the termite inspection and repair estimate, a week before the close of escrow. To complicate things our realtor was out of town and out of contact on a backpacking trip. When he came back into cell phone range on Thursday afternoon I think he was hit with a barrage of emails, voicemails, and text messages. By Friday afternoon he was able to have things straightened out we are still waiting to hear that everything is ok on the buyer's end.

Another word of advice, make sure you have a highly skilled, amazing realtor. Our realtor Tim Hughes has been so helpful through the process, keeping us informed and really being our advocate. I would highly recommend him if anyone in the area is looking for a realtor. 

Looking forward, we are on the search for a place to live in Atascadero. So if anyone knows of a 3 bedroom house for rent in the area please let us know! The rental prices seem a little high right now, so we are praying and trusting God to bring us the right place at the right time.

Chris is seriously considering opening up a painting business again, but hoping to mostly do the faux plaster like he did in our house. He has sold several Bronco Boxes over the last few months and we are hoping that will continue as well. I have been putting together a resume and am looking for part time architectural work. 

Please keep us in your prayers. Our big prayer requests right now are for the close of escrow this week and a place to live in Atascadero. Thank you for following along with us on the journey!

Embracing Summer

"As human beings, we cherish the little things. Big events are grand, and if we're blessed enough to experience some, we should be grateful. But at the end of the day, what we all want and need - children and adults alike - is a full life, one dripping with meaning and richness."
-Tsh Oxenreider, Organized Simplicity

This is my inspiration for the summer. I am making an effort to embrace and enjoy each day (which doesn't always happen, some days I/we are tired and cranky), especially with our move coming up at the end of September. I want to fully enjoy the rest of our time in Ventura County, experiencing lots of local things that make this area so special and spending time with friends that we will dearly miss.

This is both fulfilling and difficult, because as we strengthen and deepen those bonds with friends it adds so much joy to our life, but I know it will make the parting even harder. The easy thing to do would be to separate and distance, to shield my heart from the sadness of leaving.

But I just can't bring myself to do that.

So instead we are diving in full force, making lots of memories while also trying to not overcrowd the schedule.

We began embracing summer over Memorial weekend, camping with the Hawkins. This has become a favorite pastime, despite its challenges. But during the chaos of packing I remind myself that it's all worth the memories made, not only for the kids but also our late night grown-up campfire chats after the kids have gone to bed. Some of my favorite times.

These girls are besties

Enjoying marshmallows, because it wouldn't be camping without them

In June we had the end of school and the whole gas pipe/illness week. Fast forward to the 4th of July. We joined our neighbors the Archers for the pushem pullem parade in downtown Ventura. It's basically a mass of people walking down Main Street, blowing bubbles or throwing candy. The kids love the fact that they are participating in a parade. 

We decked out the wagon and Caleb and Lexi rode in there, how else do you keep track of a two and three year old in a sea of people?

Amelia and Hannah were in charge of tossing candy

We ended the day with bbq'd hamburgers, pasta salad, fresh fruit, iced tea, and of course s'mores

 The next day we got a wonderful visit from our friends the Kiners who will soon be moving to Florida :(
We made the most of our time while they were here, taking the kids to the carousel at the harbor, eating Ferraro's take-out, swimming, laughing, and putting all 4 kids in the hula hoop at once.

Then last week my neighbor Hollie and I hosted an ice cream social/water balloon fight with some neighborhood kids and friends from school.
 

I think Caleb ate his weight in ice cream and toppings (his appetite is back after not eating for a week and a half while he was sick)

I am really enjoying the slow summer mornings, getting to take our time getting dressed, just sitting down to breakfast with the kids and soaking in memories of what they are like at these ages.

The other morning Hannah was playing under the kitchen table and Caleb crawled under and just climbed in to her lap. Precious.

Hannah also had her first sleep over this summer at her friend Ali's house. And just yesterday we embraced summer by having a picnic with the worship teams from CCO, the Channel Islands church and the Santa Paula church. My kids were exhausted last night after about 3 hours in a bounce house. The rest of our summer activities list includes going to the Aquatic Center, a trip to the beach, the Ventura County Fair, the library, mini golf and farmer's market.

I hope you all are getting to embrace and enjoy summer. It's a special time of year with special memories waiting to be made.

An Unexpected Week

We had trouble with the gas man.
Last week started fairly normal on Monday morning. Chris has the day off, and the only extra plans we had was Hannah attending Vacation Bible School at a local church. We had decided to put the house on the market last Friday, which meant finishing up the last few house projects.

So Chris began in the morning by working on removing the glue stuck to our front porch from the old carpet that we had torn up. As he was working, he smelled gas out front and so we called the gas company. They came out in the afternoon and found two leaks at the valves on the outside of the house, so our gas was turned off until we could fix those.
After a trip to the plumbing store for new valves (they only had one), we quickly figured out we would need to call a plumber in the morning to get them replaced.

Tuesday morning, the plumber comes, fixes the valves, and we call the gas company back to turn the gas on. No such luck, there are still leaks. We call the plumber again.
Wednesday morning, the plumber comes, puts pressure in the lines and finds two more leaks and fixes them. He puts pressure in the line again to test it and there are still leaks, this time somewhere in a hidden pipe. The plumber tells us he can either randomly start opening walls to find the leak or we call a leak detection company (not cheap!).
We opt for the leak detection company and they come out Thursday morning. He finds three more leaks. The plumber comes back and fixes those, one of which involved cutting two holes in the walls by the fireplace.
Meanwhile, Caleb is not feeling well all day. By late that afternoon he has a fever of 103.3. I call Kaiser, and after convincing them that I do not want to wait on hold for 45 min to an hour just to talk with a nurse (a frantic mother can be persuasive), we get through to someone who tells us to go to urgent care. This would normally be an easy thing to do, except that it's already 5 pm, Hannah has her VBS performance that evening at 6 pm, and Chris is supposed to be at practice with the worship team. Instead he meets us at urgent care to pick up Hannah and take her to her performance, while Caleb and I wait to see a doctor. The doctor tells us he has croup, to expect a rough evening, and the best way to alleviate the croup cough is with steam from the shower. We have no hot water.
Caleb and I get home at about 7, and he is already asleep so we set up the humidifier in his room. By the grace of God he slept well and only woke up twice.
We call the gas company back to turn the gas on. No such luck, there are still leaks. This time we were able to isolate it to the underground pipe between the meter and where it enters the house.

Friday morning, Chris starts digging up the pipe in front of the house. We discover that it's very old cast iron pipe and three different plumbers tell us it has to be replaced. It's a job that involves a permit and inspection by the city, so we get a plumber lined up to fix it on Saturday. Caleb was also feeling much better that day so we figured it was a mild case of croup.

By day 5 I had busted out the Coleman stove, determined to have hot water and make tea

Saturday morning, the plumber and his crew show up and have it fixed by early afternoon. Yay! We call the gas company and wait for them to come out again to turn the gas on. However, Caleb was very lethargic again that day, and woke up with a lot of discharge from his left eye. That afternoon I take him back to urgent care and get a diagnosis of pink eye. While I'm out getting his prescription, Chris calls to tell me the gas is finally back on! That night we do hot showers, two loads of laundry, and two loads through the dishwasher.

All that to say, we couldn't list the house on Friday. It was a very hard week for Chris and me. Chris' knee is still healing from his knee surgery, so he's limited in how long he can walk/stand/work on projects. I was trying all week to get the house spruced up for showing, but when you have a sick toddler that just wants to be held and a plumber in and out of your house almost every day, that's not an easy thing to do. I had to cancel plans with three friends last week, dear friends who I was looking forward to spending time and praying with. I ended up feeling very isolated.

We knew in our minds that opposition and difficulties were going to come in this process of moving and being obedient to the call of God. But somehow, when it actually hits, it is still overwhelming. I felt like this was a test for me, how well was I going to handle these unexpected challenges? Sadly, I felt very defeated and overtaken by my emotions and fears. But God is good and ever so patient with us. He has walked us through and even provided some financial support that we did not expect.
So hopefully I will learn from this bump in the road and when the next one comes, remember that He got us through this one and my faith will be a little stronger and more sure next time.

"All the paths of the Lord are loving and faithful" Psalm 25:10 I have pondered this verse lately, and have found that it feeds my spirit. All does not mean "all - except the paths I am walking in now," or "nearly all - except this especially difficult and painful path." All must mean all. So, your path with its unexplained sorrow or turmoil, and mine with its sharp flints and briers - and both our paths, with their unexplained perplexity, their sheer mystery - they are His paths, on which he will show himself loving and faithful. Nothing else; nothing less.
-Amy Carmichael

Bittersweet

As most of you have heard by now, our family will be moving to the Atascadero area at the end of September/early October. This is both exciting and sad at the same time. Since the whole story takes a long time to tell, you can read the whole thing below. So, grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and read how God has been working on our lives.

Our Story...

December 2013/Beginning of January 2014

Michelle: We both individually sensed God telling us to “Get the house ready to sell.” However at that time neither of us vocalized that to each other. So Chris began working on building the trash enclosure in the kitchen, a project that had long been on our list of house projects to finish. I was excited to see him working on that project, and as he finished I said to him, “I'm really glad you finished that project, I've sensed that we need to get the house ready.” At that point he looked at me with a curious look and said, “I've heard the same thing.”

At that point I think I cried, knowing that some big changes were coming ahead. We had no further direction, but determined that is what we would focus on, getting the house ready. So we made a list of projects to complete and began crossing them off (we are list people, so crossing things off a list is very satisfying!)

Mid-January 2014

Chris: I was leading worship on a Sunday morning at our church, Calvary Chapel Oxnard, and was leading the song “Oceans” by Hillsong. If you're not familiar with it, you can listen to it here. As I was singing the bridge, God very clearly spoke to me (as clear as I’ve only heard Him a couple times in my life). Here are the words of the bridge:

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my savior

While I was singing this bridge I heard God say, “Really?” Now this was not audible, but I could hear Him speaking none the less.  I was shocked so I kind of just froze.  And then I heard God say a second time “Really?” To which I responded, “Yes.”  And then God said, “You're not going to be here much longer.” Which I knew meant “You will not be serving like this, as the Worship Pastor, at Calvary Oxnard much longer.”

When I got home from church that day, I told Michelle what had happened, and I think she cried again. We generally don't like change, and the reality that a very big change was coming was becoming more real. At this point, we still didn't know what this all meant. Was I just going to another ministry and we would stay in Ventura? Were we moving out of the area? We had no clue.

Michelle: For the next part of the story we need to go back a couple years. We were visiting some good friends in Atascadero, having dinner at their house. We loved the feel of the community, the small town, the spacious yards and big oak trees. Our friends were telling us about their neighborhood and what it was like to raise their kids there. As we left, Chris and I both agreed this would be great place to raise a family. That was the end of the conversation and we didn’t give it any more thought at the time.

Chris: Fast forward to 2014, as we were continuing to pray about whatever it is that God had next for us, that conversation years ago about Atascadero came to mind. We really questioned whether that desire was planted there by God or was just our own. We prayed that if it was our own desire that God would pluck it and remove it since we wanted to stay in the center of His will and not our own. As we prayed about it individually and together, the desire and tug from the Lord kept growing. Psalm 37:4 kept coming to mind: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  This verse doesn’t mean God will give you thing that you desire, but that he will place those desires in your heart in the first place.  So as we prayed it became clear that God put that desire in our hearts years back and was now telling us to act.  And with each trip north this year, we sensed more and more that the Atascadero area is where God was calling.

January-May

Chris: Ever since we started attending Calvary Oxnard (2005) we have felt very strongly that this was where God wanted us.  When I was offered the full time position as Worship Pastor the calling was very strong and clear.  Through the past 7 1/2 years that calling has remained clear and we knew exactly where we were supposed to be, Calvary Oxnard.  After that Sunday in January, when I heard the Lord speaking, we have both felt that same calling being shifted from Calvary Oxnard to Atascadero.  To what in Atascadero we are not sure, but we just keep hearing the same thing... “Move there.” 

Now we know that some people may try and read into this and ask the question: “what is the real reason they are leaving...what's happening behind the scenes that they aren't telling us?”  And the truth is...NOTHING!  We both feel like things at the church have never been better and that the worship ministry has never been in a better place since we have been there.  I love what I do, love the people I work with and we absolutely love Pastor Lance, our church, and everyone in it.  There is no rift, no underlying motive, no broken relationships, and no attitude of, “we can't wait to get out of this place.”  We love the area and we love the people. The easy and most comfortable thing for us to do would be to stay.  We know that this will be the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives and we don't look forward to the process, but we do look forward to what God wants to do next with us and there is excitement knowing that the Lord has spoken so clearly to move.

Michelle: During this time, beginning in February, I was doing a Bible study through the book of John with If:Equip. Every day there was a passage of scripture to read and then a time to journal. We finished the book of John at the end of April. At that time, the If:Equip study leaders posed the question: Consider the person and life of Jesus. If you believe it to be true…then what?

To ponder this, I read back over all my journal notes through the study of John and put together a bullet point list (I told you we like lists!) of the things God had been speaking to me during this time. Here’s a portion of it:

·         Whatever He says to you, do it

·         Believe Jesus the first time

·         Don’t make excuses and obey Jesus

·         Do what you see God doing, do not put the honor of men above doing God’s will

·         God sometimes sends us into the storm but He is never far away

·         Hear and obey, do not hesitate

·         Clarity will come eventually, but not without first walking the path of trust

·         Jesus makes Himself known to us as we obey Him.

·         Be confident in the promises of God

·         God always provides for us even in loss

·         Jesus freely meets us when we seek Him

·         God will equip us for His work

When I put this all together at the end of April, I could see how God was subtly preparing, calling, and comforting me all at the same time. We feel we cannot ignore the call of God and must be obedient to whatever it is He is calling us to next.

May 2014

Michelle: We drove north again for Chris' cousin's wedding in Lockwood, which he was officiating. During our time there, we strongly sensed that was where we needed to be (not Lockwood exactly, but that general area). As we drove home, we really felt the need to “spill our guts” to someone and get an outside perspective on all that had been happening. We had not told anyone our thoughts about moving, other than Chris' parents and siblings, who we told that weekend at the wedding so they could pray for us. We wanted the counsel of someone who could hear all we had to say and tell us, “You're crazy, this is nuts” or “It sounds like you are hearing from the Lord, keep on.”

So, when we got home Sunday night from our trip, Chris called our friends the Trigg’s. All he told them was that we wanted to run some things by them and get their input and perspective. We deeply admire the Trigg’s and knew that they had been through things like this in ministry before. So we set up a time to meet the following day. As we drove over to the Trigg’s house that Monday afternoon, Chris asked me how sure I was that we were moving. We both felt about 90% sure at that point that a move to Atascadero was coming.

When we sat down with Charley and Caryn, we told them everything that we’ve written about so far. The whole time we were talking, both of them sat there and smiled and nodded knowingly. I took that as a good sign that we weren’t crazy, at least their jaws weren’t dropping on the floor.

When we finished, Caryn responded first. She said after she got off the phone with Chris the previous day, the Holy Spirit spoke to her that we were moving somewhere in the San Luis Obispo area. Then Charley spoke and said as he had been praying that morning for us and for our conversation to come that evening and God spoke to him that if we were in unity of heart that we were moving north. Now our jaws dropped!  To us, this was major confirmation that we were hearing from the Lord and He was the one directing us, and it was not just our own crazy desires. Through the rest of our conversation, they gave us some great counsel and encouragement. As we drove home, we talked again and were now 100% sure we were moving north to the Atascadero area. For me, the reality also set in that while this was an exciting time of being called and directed by God, it was also going to be a difficult time of saying good-byes. 

Chris: After talking to the Trigg’s our next step was to tell Pastor Lance.  I was particularly dreading this conversation, not because I was afraid of his reaction, but because I respect him so much. He has poured in to me so much over the last 9 years and I didn’t want to seem ungrateful.  I was in my office on Wednesday, 2 days after talking with the Trigg’s, and sensing that I needed to tell him that day.  I prayed, Lord if you want me to tell him bring him in my office and have him ask how things are going.  Lance’s office is down the street from mine so this isn’t an everyday occurrence.  Within the hour I hear Lance come in the front door and my heart starts pumping. He goes about his normal business in our workroom and then walks down the hall into my office, leans against my desk and asks: “Chris, how’s life?”  I responded, “Well, you got about half an hour?”  I proceeded to tell him everything!  And let me tell you what an amazing Pastor we have.  He sat there beaming and grinning the whole time.  When I was done he genuinely was excited for us and that God was moving in this way.  He even offered to help us find some leads in the Atascadero area and said he wanted to help us in any way he could.  He told me that we needed to be obedient to the call of the Lord and to go when God says.  I told him that we were thinking about leaving in the fall, and no earlier than August, but still didn’t have a date.  He said to keep things quite until we had an exit date.

One of the things that we had trouble reconciling was Hannah’s school.  She will be starting first grade in the fall. We had checked out a lot of schools for her for the upcoming school year and decided on a school in Camarillo.  It is a hybrid program where the students are homeschooled Monday and Tuesday and are in a normal class setting the rest of the week.  We liked the school and the curriculum and felt a real peace from God about sending her there.  So before all of this other stuff came to a head, we signed a contract saying we were on the hook for the tuition for the whole school year and had already sent in a deposit.  We didn’t want to pay tuition for a full year when it looked like we were probably going to leave in the fall of this year so we didn’t know what to do. 

We were asking God why He would lead us to this school and then lead us in the opposite direction to Atascadero almost at the same time.  So I decided to call the Headmaster of the school and just be honest about everything and ask his advice.  So I did (on Friday) and I asked if it would be better if we put Hannah in public school and if we started the process now if they would let us out of our contract.  He stopped me and said, no, no, no!  He said, “We would love to have Hannah as long as we can, even if it is only for a couple weeks.  God is doing something in your family and we want to be a part of it. All you have to do is write a letter to the school board explaining your situation and I’m positive they will let you off of the remainder of your tuition payments.  Not only that, but when it is time for you to leave we will set you guys up with the curriculum and training so you will be able to home school her for the rest of the year if you want.  That way you won’t have to worry about finding her a school up there until you are ready to.”  I was sitting on the other end of the phone with my jaw dropped again. This made everything make sense and provided a way for us to leave when we thought it was right instead of in a rush or waiting too long to make everything work with Hannah for school.  Who would have thought…God knew what he was doing all along!

At the end of May we finished “The List.”  All of those house projects were done so we called our realtor Tim.  Tim helped us buy our condo and is an amazing man of God and a friend of ours.  We had him over and told him what God was doing.  He walked us through the process of selling a home, since we have only bought, and answered a bunch of questions.  After meeting with him we felt like moving to Atascadero at the end of September/beginning of October seemed right.  So I told Lance the next day that my last day on staff at the church will be September 15^th.  And then all this craziness started becoming a reality!

Michelle: So here we are, it’s out in the open. We are moving and now you all know. We still don’t know why for sure God is moving us there, but we trust He has a purpose for our family. Chris knows that he is not being called out of ministry, but doesn’t know which ministry he is being called to.  He still has his Contractors License and a growing business making Bronco Boxes (broncoboxes.com) and I have my Architecture License. So we have some options if need be when we get up there. These last six months have been a roller coaster of emotions, from excitement to sadness and everything in between. We feel a great sense of loss, leaving our friends, some family, our church and this beautiful area. But we are trusting that it is not in vain and that God will fill in where voids are left.

We sincerely hope to continue friendships we have made here, even though there will be distance between us. And I am hoping to keep up with this blog as we transition to keep you all informed of how things go. We appreciate all your prayers. If you have any questions about this crazy ride, feel free to talk with us about it or leave a comment here and I/we will respond.