Here We Go....Again

What drives us to this madness? Yes, we are repainting some rooms in our home, again. After only a few short months living there, we began to rethink our initial color concepts in our master bedroom and bathroom. Both colors we chose just had too much gray, and we were very limited to what type of furniture and accessories would coordinate with our color scheme. So, we went back to the drawing board and are adding a splash of color. Our bathroom will be a really beautiful and slightly darker than normal, terra cotta red. We are still deciding what to do in our bedroom, but we are leaning towards a color slightly closer to a sandstone than the current grayish something-or-other we have now. Jessica is already talking about painting the guest bath as well, since that was the only room (other than the laundry) not painted in our original campaign. HELP!!!

After today, my real estate license will have officially expired...for now at least. For so long I have thought about leaving the business altogether, so I was expecting to just let my license lapse during this renewal period. I did not take any continuing eductation (CE) classes, and I was not prepared to continue working. However, God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams this month, and I feel as if by leaving the business, I would be turning down those opportunities for future blessings. Brock said it best when he said, "if it didn't cost me anything, and I didn't have to take those classes, would I stay in the business?" My answer is yes, which he helped me to realize that in reality, it is my own unwillingness to put forth an effort which is driving me away, not my desire to be doing real estate. Good point! So starting within the coming weeks, I will complete those CE classes, and place my license with another company that won't cost me nearly $1000 a month just to be able to say I still sell real estate...brutal, I know.

Short Weekend

Well, I was really looking forward to this past weekend, and it did have it's ups and a couple of downs. I enjoyed watching Alabama open a can on Georgia, although I did hate the loss for such an admirable football team at home during a "blackout." Growing up an Alabama fan, and then going to school in Auburn, I always had a rivalry with Georgia. They were, however, always the team to respect. But when they hired Mark Richt to be their coach, my entire view of them changed. The team changed, and my respect for them became even greater. Every team should wish for a coach with as much character and integrity as that man.

A bid down for the weekend was watching yet another pitiful Auburn performance. Although it is another "W" in the overall picture, I still can't help but think that were it not for our defense, we would not even be ranked right now, and maybe sitting with a 1-4 record; 2-3 at best. Things really need to shape up down there, and fast.

My weekend did end well, however, in that Jessica made it home safely yesterday. I missed her over the past couple of days, and it was nice to see her pull in the driveway. While I was at church yesterday (the church where I will be helping with the youth program), I was officially introduced to the congregation...all 15 of them. There are still a lot of people who normally attend church absent due to health or family problems, and I look forward to meeting them in due time. I am very excited to see this church grow, because as I saw yesterday, they are just one big happy family. Everyone greeted me and remembered my name, gave me a big hug, and then asked about Jessica. It was nice to come to church and feel like a part of the family instead of just getting lost in the crowd. Every size church has its pros and cons, but for now God has truly opened an incredible door of opportunity here, and I am happy.

A Dream Come True

First, my thanks go out to all my prayer warriors out there who have been wholeheartedly praying for Jessica and me. The Lord has heard your prayers, and he has been so good to us. Tonight, I was honored with the offering of a position as a youth minister at a local baptist church here in Calera. The church is really small, but they have a strong desire to grow within the community. The only problem is that they neither have had, nor currently had any kind of youth program for visitors with teenagers. Their funds are low, but their passion for the Lord is gigantic. I am so excited to have this opportunity, and I am so honored that God has shown His favor towards me by entrusting me with this next generation of youth.

There is a lot to do since there is no existing program. My main focus in the beginning with consist mainly of outreach as I try to grow the familiarity of the church and the new program. I will need a lot of support, specifically in the area of prayer. Pray that the Lord will grant me courage to put my all into the outreach of the community; strength to stand before a group of middle and high school students with passion and conviction; wisdom to speak with the Lord's words and not my own; and compassion for those that do come to see what all the hype is about. Please also pray for the youth of the community, and for the church. Much of what happens will be as a result of the acceptance of this program, and I pray for those divine appointments that are just around the corner.

A Gift of Love

Jessica and I have recently become a sponsor of a little girl in Peru through an organization called Compassion International. Student Life does a lot of work with them, and after hearing their name spoken so positively for over a year, we finally decided to check into it and find a child to sponsor. Her name is Leidy, and she is 3 years old. Jessica fell in love with her the moment she saw her picture. It didn't take much before I was in love too, and we are so excited about being a part of this little girl's life. It may not be more than giving a monthly monetary gift, or daily prayer on our part, but in the end it is so rewarding to know that this little girl can now live her life knowing there is someone out there in the world who thinks about her and prays for her every single day, even if they are halfway across the world.

New Beginnings!

Well, I know it has been a long time, but in all honesty until recently I have just not felt like blogging. Isn’t it weird how it is so easy to write deep poetic pieces when we are feeling down-and-out, but so difficult to put our emotions and thoughts into a blog unless we are doing really well? Maybe it’s because deep-down, we don’t others to read about the negativity we are feeling, instead trying to stay hidden behind the mask with which we so often cover ourselves when in the public eye.

Anyway, so here I am again. Much has happened since the last time I wrote, and I will make the best attempt possible to catch everyone up on what has been going on with us. Jessica finally received full-time status at Student Life, which means she is now a permanent fixture at the office instead of working a part-time shift of 40 hours a week. This is great for two reasons. First, she finally feels as if she belongs somewhere, and working for the future instead of just the here and now. Second, with both of us being full-time, our office now covers 100% of our monthly health insurance costs. This will saving us a lot of money every month, in addition to the slight raise in salary that she received after the promotion.

Financially this has been a great month. Real estate was very good these past few weeks, and I have had several closings back-to-back. For the first time in 4 years, I had a very successful month in real estate. We are going to pay off a lot of debt as well as put a little money into savings for the first time since we have been married. The Lord has truly been good to us, and we are seeing his grace and mercy more clearly now than ever before. Not just because of the financial blessings, but because we are finally able to see how our faith in Him always leads to greater things than we could have hoped for no matter how tough the road was along the way. It is obvious to us that His timing is always perfect, and we can see all the little pieces falling into place so as to make the next steps of life come just a little easier. To Him be the glory!