The Race is... OFF

Holly and I have to end this crazy race against time to buy a house in time to get the $8000 from Obama. We did this for several reasons, in no particular order:

1) We feel like we are rushing to find just any ole house so we can get the tax refund.

2) If one of us were to lose a job we would be hurting financially. We are trying to keep all of our bills dependent on one paycheck.

3) We want to buy a house that we really love.

4) We would like to save up a larger downpayment (~20%)

So yes, the house hunt is off. On the bright side, this leaves a good chunk of money that will go straight to our student loans :)

And the Look Continues...

Well, we are not going through with the Elm Street house. Through much good advice, thought, and prayer we have decided against it. The reason being is that this house does not have good resale value and there are about 3 things that we would want done almost immediately after we move in. Since we don't want to spend the money on those things, and instead put it towards debt, and also since we don't want to lose money when trying to sell the house again, we have decided to terminate the contract...and KEEP LOOKING.
Please pray that all goes well and that we either find that house that God has planned for us soon, or we realize we shouldn't even be buying a house! We'll see...

Jeremiah 10:23
"I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course."

The Cross

May thy cross be to me

as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs,

as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty,

as the brazen serpent that calls forth the look of faith.

By thy cross crucify my every sin;

Use it to increase my intimacy with thyself;

Make it the ground of all my comfort,

the liveliness of all my duties,

the sum of all thy gospel promises,

the comfort of all my afflictions,

the vigour of my love, thankfulness, graces,

the very essence of my religion;

And by it give me that rest without rest,

the rest of ceaseless praise.

--The Valley of Vision

Round 2

Holly and I had our offer accepting on a house! We feel much better with this house because our monthly payments will be less than $700/mnth (mortgage, taxes, insurance). This will allow us to pay off our debt faster while we invest in a home. We are set to close on April 28th! We are pretty excited.

Pros:

• .25 acre
• garage for my kayaks
• lots of storage space
• covered front porch
• washer/dryer hookups
• close to our church
• new paint inside and out
• new dish washer
• new hardwood floors
• no rotting wood
• 60 years old - good floor plan
• 3 bedrooms

Cons:

• only one car garage
• grass looks thin in some areas
• on a one-way street
• small closet space
• only one bathroom

Texas it is!

After much prayer, Holly and I have decided to stay here in Texas and just work work work to pay our debt completely off. We are on a plan to pay our school debt off in about a year from now. Yes, that's right... one year. Donations are accepted but not expected :D

What am I?

Holly introduced me to another song that really tugs on the heart. The song, by Shawn McDonald, really emphasizes our worthiness before God. The author questions over and over, "What am I?" because he is so morally bankrupt yet the holy King still calls him his child and dies for him. While some might say I have cleaned up my life I still stand a sinner before a wrathful and angry God. Thanks be to Him that God no longer sees my constant sinfulness because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

As I look into the stars
Pondering how far away they are
How You hold them in Your hands
And still You know this man
You know my inner most being, oh
Even better than I know, than I know myself
What a beautiful God
What a beautiful God
And what am I, that I might be called Your child
What am I, what am I
That You might know me, my King
What am I, what am I, what am I

As I look off into the distance
Watching the sun roll on by
Beautiful colors all around me, oh
Painted all over the sky
The same hands that created all of this
They created you and I
What a beautiful God
What a beautiful God
And what am I, that I might be called Your child
What am I, what am I
That You might know me, my King
What am I, what am I
That You might die, that I might live
What am I.

Crossroads

Holly and I are at a crossroads in our life. We both recently graduated college and have begun our careers. This is a really good thing and I'm excited... well sorta... bittersweet at best. Shortly after coming to know the Lord, I was influenced by Richard Wurmbrand, Jim Elliot, David Brainerd, and the like, to live a risky adventure at the helm of God's providence! I couldn't wait to get out of college so that I could take the gospel to the darkest places of the world.

As I was finishing school, God put very special lady in my life with a similar dream. We have looked into several programs (MTI, BCTP, Downline, etc) wondering what the possibilities were of us completing them. Now that we are both out of college the "rest of our life" has begun. Questions come up like, "what do we do now?" "When do we have kids?" "Do we still want to do MTI, BCTP, Downline or something similar?" "Do we want to be missionaries overseas?" "Do we want to be missionaries here?" etc... etc....

Here are two options we are considering for the time being as we try to figure out where God wants us:

Option 1: We both continue to work in the DFW area. We buy a house to get the $8,000 from Obama and put it towards our debt. By the time our debt is mostly paid off (2012) we will have a kid or two. From there we can decide if we still want to do a mission sending program and go into the mission field.

Possible problem(s) with option 1: We might get too comfortable with living the American Dream and lose our passion for missions.

Option 2: We buy a house in Memphis where we can do Downline and pay off our debt. We get the $8000 to help us out and remain in Memphis for 3 years. We have kids when our debt is mostly paid off and from there think about going into the business world or mission field.

Possible problem(s) with option 2: We are far from family as we will miss them. We also would like to raise our kids near their grandparents. We will also miss our friends here in Texas. We would have to start all over in Memphis.

This is just to give everyone a heads up on what we are thinking about. Feel free to contribute any thoughts and above all, pray that God will guide us wherever he wills.