Update

Well I wanted to give everyone an update on what is going on. The house has not sold yet. We can't go to NC unless the house sales. We have a date in mind so that we can plan. If the house is not sold and closed by Aug 1 we will be staying. If we stay for another year Brent will go ahead and start some online classes. SEBTS accepted most of his APSU credits. He will be working towards a bachelors of arts and christian studies (BACS) and then a masters of divinity in pastoral ministries. We are ready and willing to do God's will. I know that if He wants us to go this August He is more than powerful to sale the house in that time but he may want us to stay another year or so and Brent work online toward his degree. If that is what God wants for us then that is what we want. We just want to do his will. We are ready to stay or we are ready to go. If the house sales after Aug 1 then we will move into an apartment here while he does online classes and then move to NC next summer. There are some good things to staying another year. Of course more time with our family and friends here. Faith and Will would go together into a new school and not 2 separate schools. We would also be a little better off financially. Please keep praying for us as we seek the will of our Lord and Saviour. Thanks for all the prayers and support.

We had to say our good byes to Rebekah

I'm sad to report that we did have to put our German Shepherd down. One of the hardest things to do. I wish that we didn't have to make the decision but after much thought we had to do it. Her hips were bad and she couldn't even sit. She would only stand or lay down. She was having a hard time just walking up the 2 steps to the front door. We had to stop taking her out the back door about 9 months ago because the deck steps were too much for her. She was getting hard of hearing and her eyes were real cloudy so not sure how well she could see. She also started having more accidents and chewing things up like the toilet paper! She was 12 1/2. I feel like she had lived a long great life. We got her while she was a puppy. I searched weeks for the right German Shepherd! We drove a couple of hours to go and pick her up in Missouri. We lived in AR at the time. She went to work with me some days (I worked at an animal clinic at the time). She was the best dog. She let the kids do anything to her. You could even play with her while she ate her food and she was still good. The kids would use her as a step to get up onto the couch when they were little. She was great company when Brent was deployed a couple of times. We all sobbed and I do mean sobbed when she was being taken to the vet. It's amazing how attached we become to our pets. They are part of the family!

On the Market

Well we put the house on the market almost a week ago. We have not had any lookers. A little disappointing but I know that God has a plan for the house. We have to sale and be out of here in less than 5 months. Please pray that the right family comes along and falls in love with the house just like we did. Sorry this is short but there is not really much else to report on. Well I am planning on having a yard sale this weekend if the weather is nice:)

Getting ready to put the house up for SALE!

Since we have been back we have been cleaning out like crazy. Today we took 5 truck loads to storage with the help of some friends. We have taken about 3 truck loads to the dump and about 2 truck loads to Goodwill! We also have a mountain of stuff for a yard sale. We hope to put the house on the market this week. It is taking longer than we would like to get it ready. Still have some painting to do and some more cleaning out believe it or not! Pray that this goes quickly! School starts back Monday and with the added 30 mins I come home so tired and not wanting to do much:( We pretty much only have 3 months to get the house sold. But I know that God has the right family for our house and it will sale when the time is right. I really feel like it will sale in time for the Fall semester. But if for some reason it doesn't then we will wait another semester before Brent starts his classes.

Visit to the Campus

This is just beautiful how they did the "S" with flowers
They have a LifeWay store right on campus:)

This is Binkley Chapel

Sunday we left after SS class and drove 10 hours to get to Wake Forest, NC. It wasn't a bad drive just long. The kids did well! We stayed at a Sleep Inn the first night. The kids went swimming the next morning. After the kids went swimming we checked out and drove around the Wake Forest area to check it out. It is a very nice area. Will really like the ice arena and saw some kids playing ice hockey. He is getting excited about the move. Lots of shopping close by:)

Monday afternoon we checked into the Manor house (this is on campus) it's a lot like a bed and breakfast. There were other families there to check out the campus as well. So at 9:30 on Tuesday morning our tour started. I first want to say that it is a beautiful campus! At 10am on Tuesdays and Thursdays they have chapel. This is required for the students! But I think that if I'm not working those hours I will be attending some of them. Here is some of the ones that have spoke last semester or will be speaking this semester, Johnny Hunt, Tony Evens, David Platt! While we were there Mark Dever was the speaker. He was very good. He is the pastor at Capitol Hill Bapt Church in Washington DC. After chapel we did get to meet the president, Daniel L Akin. He was very nice and down to earth. Got 2 of his books. Can't wait to start reading them! We walked around campus a little more then had lunch with the Associate Dean, Brent Aucoin. He had attended The University of Arkansas! I think that he said he got his doctorate there. Come to find out he also attended the same church that we did about the same time we were there at University Baptist Church, Fayetteville, AR. It is a small world! Then I had an appointment with the Women's Life person while Brent had an appointment with admissions. They have some courses that have 4 levels of certification with the Biblical Woman's Institute. I'm very excited about this and can't wait to start taking some of the courses. Lastly we went and checked out the housing. This was a little hard for me. The housing is nice and well kept up but very small compared to what we have been use too. Also, most do not have a dishwasher! It's a good thing that we have Faith and Will;) Back to the housing itself. Most of them are around 1000 sq feet. I have to say that after looking at them I did get a little teary about giving so much up. I kept thinking where will I put my craft stuff! I know that we will figure it out. We will have to get creative on storage! This is something that I have been praying about. What do I really need and what to give up. We are such a materialistic world. So God really spoke to me the next day on our way home. Brent and I had started reading the George Muller Autobiography. This is an excellent book. I think that every christian should read it. I was on chapter 14, Nov 2nd He has the verse in there Matt. 6:19-21 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." George Muller says, " Where should the heart of the disciple of the Lord Jesus be, but in heaven? Our calling is a heavenly calling, our inheritance is a heavenly inheritance, and our citizenship is in heaven. But if we believers in the Lord Jesus lay up treasures on earth, then our hearts will be on earth. Laying up treasures in heaven will draw the heart heavenward. It brings along with it, even in this life, precious spiritual blessings as a reward of obedience of the commandment of our Lord." There was also more of the chapter that I needed to hear. But can't type it all here! You need to get the book to read it. But isn't it awesome how God was speaking to me through this book. I want to lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth! Oh, I forgot to tell you another important thing. While we were there before we got to the campus, Brent was checking his email and received his acceptance letter from them!

The Ball is Rolling!

The other day when Brent talked to Southeastern they were missing 2 things to complete the application process. One was in the mail and the other was his High School trans scripts. They said that they could start looking it over without the high school stuff. Brent has called a second time and asked the high school to send them. Hopefully they have sent them and it will be there this week or next. So once we get the letter of acceptance we will put the house on the market and pray that it sells soon. I know that the market isn't booming but we know that we serve an Awesome God and that he will send the right family to buy the house at the right time. We have started packing some stuff up to put into storage and selling some stuff. We have also started doing some minor repairs to the house. The whole cleaning out process is going slower than I thought. The other night we pulled everything out of the attic except the Christmas stuff. There was stuff up there that we didn't even know that we had! It is amazing how much stuff we hang on too. I'm not even sure why I have hung onto so much stuff.
Two Sundays ago Brent preached his first sermon. He did a wonderful job. He didn't even look nervous. It seemed like that was the natural thing for him to do.
For a while I had been worrying about how we will do all this financially. Some times to the point that my stomach would hurt. Don't get me wrong. I know that this is what God wants us to do. But I'm human and like to be in control and like to know exactly what is going on. Well I had been praying about it for awhile now. There have been a couple of nights that God woke me up in the middle of the night (like 3am). I would pray for about an hour about this move. I could also never go back to sleep after this and was thinking both times that I would be so tired. Through out those days that it happened I did not feel the least bit tired. That is definitely a God thing because I like my sleep and I'm grumpy when I don't get it! But I have given it to Him totally. When I think about it my stomach doesn't hurt and I just have such a peace and know that He will provide! A dear friend shared with me a devotion about worry that really spoke to me. It is from "Our Daily Bread" Aug 24th. The verse that day was. "Do not worry about your life." Matthew 6:25 In the devotional it said, "Worry robs us of joy, drains us of energy, stunts our spiritual growth, and dishonors God." Well I have always known that it was a sin to worry and that is something that I have dealt with for years. But when she read the part that it dishonors God and stunts our spiritual growth it really got to me. This was something that I needed to hear. I'm thankful that God laid it on her heart to share this devotion that night. So whenever I start to worry about anything I just tell myself that it is dishonoring God. God knows what He is doing and I just have to let Him have control!
I also want to thank everyone for all the kind words and encouragement. It has really blessed Brent and I to hear them.

Update

We have started cleaning out some of the stuff in the house! WOW! It's so hard to believe how much stuff you accumulate in just 5 years. We have several piles. Stuff to sale, stuff to store, stuff to take, stuff to give to different families, stuff (heirlooms) for our families to store for us so we don't have to put into storage. Today we got a lot done. Got rid of some big stuff and Brent and I both feel like it was a productive day:) Several have asked when we will put to house on the market. We are waiting till we receive the acceptance letter from the college. Once we get that then we will put the house on the market and pray that it sells within a couple of months. We have most of the packet done. By the way just thought that you would like to know that I even had to write an essay about my salvation and my support for him. It had to be 250-500 words! Once I started it wasn't as hard as I thought that it would be. Brent and I are pretty much done with what we can do for the application process. He will be preaching tomorrow night at church at 6pm. Then the church and Bro Jeff have some papers to fill out and we have a couple of other people that have to fill out some papers and then once all the papers are in then it could take up to 30 days (hoping it's less) for them to go through his application. It is starting to be so real. Trying not to stress and worry. I know that God is in control and that I have to turn it all over to Him. In March we will go and tour the campus. Getting really excited about that. I have heard so many wonderful things about the area and college there.