Slower-Paced Lifestyle?

Someone said we have a slower-paced lifestyle up here in Montana. In reality, it is true. No two-hour-long drives to work. Leave for work at 8:30. Get home at 5:00. Go home for lunch. All that lost time is regained - I really enjoy that.

But then there are some weeks that are really hectic. I've mentioned those weeks before Easter about three times now. And then there is that November-December period before the Christmas Dessert. Even when I was expecting things to slow down after Easter, we had a Women's Retreat (I had to help Andrea get together all the music). This week alone we have:

• Brochures that need to be finished for this fall's 9th annual Pastor's Conference
• This year's AWANA Award Night
• A Maximum Impact simulcast outreach to business people in the area,
• A wedding
• Mission Mania missions conference

Well, needless to say, I really am enjoying the slower-paced lifestyle :-)

Easter and Beyond

Well, our last entry was just before Easter. Easter Sunday, Good Friday, all the postcards inviting residents to Hannaford – it was a busy time. All in all, Easter went well. The postcards went out. On Good Friday, we watched The Passion of the Christ again and then had a quiet time of communion and worship. It was nice and really set the mood for Easter morning three days later.

Easter was not as packed as it might have been. It seems we had several visiting families, but at the same time, we had a number of regulars out visiting family for the week or weekend. All in all, we numbered about the same. It was a couple of good services, though.

Prepping for Easter...

We've got some new photos in the photo gallery. Be sure to check them out - kind of cool are the photos of the new foyer. It's really nice and more than just a hallway. Also check out some of the photos of worship in January. These are during our second service. Things have gotten so packed, we've been running a video and audio feed to our fellowship room so people can sit in there, too.

Anyway, things are pretty hectic this week in bringing everything together for Easter: An Easter worship choir, two DVD features, a creative reading, the praise team music, decoration, and more. I can see already (on Wednesday) that I've got my work cut out for me. Andrea's working hard, too. We've decorated the sanctuary with symbols of new life - our theme for Easter is Alive Again! A Celebration of New Life. Instead of gloom and sadness of the death on the cross (very much an important element of the Gospel), we want to focus on the rest of the story, the resurrection, and what it means for those who embrace Jesus.

Still, it seems pretty exciting. On Friday, we're having a worship ministry gathering at our house to celebrate Good Friday. We're going to view The Passion or the Christ followed by the breaking of bread and then some reflective worship. On Easter, we're prepared for a larger group than usual, especially since we sent out an Easter invitation of over 10,000 post cards to the growing areas of Helena. A 0.5% response would mean 50 people!

Last week, it was beginning to get warm for around here (in the high 60's). Tonight, however, a new storm blew in - pretty heavy and icy in town and at the church. It will probably linger through Easter. It's not so bad at home since we're situated differently in the valley.

Welcome to our new e|Something blog!

Thank you so much (all of you) who have been visiting our e|Something blog!

We're hoping that this will be a more convenient way for us to leave updates and a better way for you to provide comments, feedback, questions, and other interactions. We'll still be posting photo galleries and such on the e|Photos page, but list the links of new photos here.

It'll also give you an easier way to figure out if there is anything new - you can "subscribe" via an RSS feed or by email (see the e|Social icons in the right sidebar).

Well, that it for starters. Be sure to tell us what you think, and come back soon!

Home Offer Accepted

Well, our offer on the latest home has been accepted (Nickname: Blue Columns). We now have to pay an inspection fee and get earnest money in the next few days. Then escrow should close by October 15 on both our new and our old home. This is kind of exciting but scary on the financial end!

OK! OK! Time For A Big Update...

1. We moved all out stuff from the truck to storage with the help of quite a few guys from Hannaford. With that, we were able to get a few comforts for the rental. I was also able to get to my books so I finished my 4th and 5th assignments for class this week. All I have left for this block is about 30 pages of reading logs in the next two weeks.
2. We finally received the call we've been waiting for. Although we lowered the price on our house in Rialto, we got an offer at the full, new asking price. The buyer seems to be good and wanted to start escrow immediately. This releases us to move forward on our plans up here.
3. We also made an offer on one of the homes (Nickname: Big Blue New). We really liked the newness and size of the home. The only drawbacks to us were the price (just at the top of what we can afford) and the fact that it needs some work for sprinklers, landscaping, etc. We're not sure we afford to add what it needs. For that reason, we offered about 3K less than the asking price hoping that it might be accepted. It wasn't. At that point we considered offering the full price. 3K isn't that much, but would require us to finance and we're not sure we could afford the monthly budget.
4. After some prayer and consideration, we have decided to make an offer on a home that is asking about 5k less than the other (Nickname: Blue Columns). It is a very nice house with only a few drawback as well. It has about 600 less square feel (one less bedroom) and the back yard is right on the interstate. On the plus side, it is already landscaped, has underground sprinklers, and is in a better neighborhood. It is ready for move in with no work to be done or money spent. We've decided that the back yard is large enough and we can plant trees or eventually add a larger fence. We also decided that we'll deal with the smaller home. After all, it's still about 500 square
5. Lastly, we've posted some photos of this Sunday's Western Roundup at Hannaford. Youth Pastor Brad Ives spoke sharing about the prodigal son and about coming home. As I've helped him prepare the PowerPoint this week, Andrea and I couldn't help but think about settling in at our new home. It's great here and we know that God has called us here, but change is change. It's hard to feel settled. I've mentioned to several that in the past 6 years of our life, God has continued to remind us that we don't find true comfort and security in worldly positions, places, or people, but only in Him.
   
   I've felt secure in a five-year corporate graphics position at PDV, but then God called me to leave that and follow his calling into ministry. We placed our finances in His hands and he provided freelance and consultant work for three years while we served at FBC. Again, we've moved to a different state without a home to go to and with all our money wrapped up in our home. We have very little cash and things are very tight. He has provided for us through family and the church.
   
   Andrea and I feel very insecure. We have no real home to call our home and we are without most of our creature comforts. We literally feel as though we pitched our tent in this place for a short time and have been waiting for God to move us on. At the same time, we are still working on my office at Hannaford so I have felt without a home there as well. Finally, we have been especially concerned about our financial situation until we actually sell our home. Today, we have about $5 in our checking account.
   
   So today in worship Brad talked about "coming home." We realize that our true home is in the arms of God. All these things and concerns are only the decorations. God wants us to find our security and be settled in Him. I think He just wanted to remind us again before we get settled here. Thank you God. We're home!