Journey to Texas (*warning* long and icky)

I really want to write about our trip to the great state of Texas. I don't want to forget God's faithfulness during that long 23 hr drive.  We started a little later than we first wanted because we were invited to lunch by our realtor after our closing.  After a yummy lunch at Jason's deli, we started on our trip.  Dave and Andrew in the penske and Kira and I in the Yukon.  We got on I-26, the major highway that we used all the time in South Carolina, and that's when the excitement started.  One thing I was not prepared for is how the penske truck in front of me drove.  I guess when a truck is carrying the home of a family of 4 it can sway and  swerve.  Yikes!  Praise God for my amazing hubby who truly is one of the very best drivers I have ever known and has saved us from a number of accidents due to his quick thinking and reflexes.
We stopped for our first gas fill-up and as I was trying to get something out of the Penske truck cab, I missed the steps and fell down to the ground.  Ouch!!  I had some very significant bruises as we drove into Texas the next day.
Things were going well until we once again (seems to be a thing for us as it happened when we moved to SC) hit a very significant thunderstorm and downpour.  God definitely answered our prayers through that because he kept both our trucks safe during that even though our visibility was next to nothing at times.
At about this point, Samson (who had done so well on the first trip to Texas in February) decided he was not going to feel well and proceeded to vomit into poor Kira's hands and continued to vomit another 3 times.  All I can say is wow, my daughter is truly going to be a great mom one day ;).  We cleaned up as much as we could until we were able to stop again and let Kira make a b-line to the bathroom to wash.  Ewwww!
Dave and I were planning to stop at a hotel for the night but it just seemed like a waste of time as we would get to lay down for maybe 6 hrs and be out the door in the morning once again.  We crossed over into Texas and found a welcome/rest center and slept in the trucks.  Well, I truly think Dave got more sleep than me as I had both kids and the dog in my vehicle for the sleep time :P.
After about 4 hours of sleep (mine being quite interrupted), we continued on and arrived in Texas in the evening of May 3rd.
We were so excited to get into our rental home and just crash for the night, so excited that in fact our family at GFA who were planning to help us move in the next day were going to come and move us in that night.  That is until we walked into the rental and realized it had not been cleaned.  To be honest, after driving and being in a car for 23hrs, my desire was not to have to clean my new home.  Also, we realized that we did not have hot water even though the water was turned on.  A quick call to our new landlord (who truly has been wonderful) and realizing some people had "dropped the ball" on him for the cleaning, a new hot water heater, a large bag of cleaning supplies paid for by our landlord, a landlord's offer to put us up in a hotel for the night, and a quick call to cancel the moving party for the night, we were finally home in Texas.
I must say God was with us even through these little "bumps in the road".  Our landlord asked Dave why he wasn't cursing at him because of how we found the home and the hot water heater dying the first day?  Dave said he understood that it wasn't his fault and that was not how we were.  Our only desire is to be a light in this world that others may come to know the God we love!!

Our Goodbye to South Carolina

Our last couple of weeks in South Carolina were filled with excitement, sadness, and wonder to see God's working in our lives.  We said goodbyes to some dear friends and neighbors and especially our church family.  It was hard but I will never forget one of the last Sunday's we were at our home church - Calvary Chapel of Charleston.  We were able to meet up with the beautiful family (the Haverkorns) who were the ones that stayed at our home in SC while we were in Texas, meet another beautiful missionary family, The Pedosiuks, who are doing an amazing work in China, and spend some amazing time with our church family.  The most beautiful time was when our Pastor invited us up to announce they were now supporting us as a church family and had people gather around all of us to pray.  I was in tears and will never forget that special moment of how God blessed in ways we were not expecting.  HE IS AWESOME!!
I also need to give another shout out to our amazing youth pastor at CC-Charleston, Aubrey Perea and our youth group.  Between them and some friends we were able to load the huge 22ft Penske truck in under 2 hours.  They were amazing and we love them all so much.  Truly it is a blessing to know them and see God working in the lives of these young people and using Aubrey to lead them.  We miss our church family dearly but continue to love them from afar and know we will see them again - preferably one day soon ;)

On May 2nd, we said goodbye to 164 Southport Drive  - it's been fun but we are so excited to see God's plan as He moves us forward to do the work He's called us to do.

Our journey to Texas and GFA

I was thinking about writing a whole new post about how God brought us to Texas permanently but I think the best thing to do is just share our newsletter with you and let you read it.  It still amazes me how God orchestrated, not only our lives but lives of others, so that He would receive the most glory. It reminds me it's not all about us but about us as one body in Christ.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we,though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another - Romans 12:4

Hopefully back on track...

What an amazing few months it has been since I last posted.  God is so faithful and even though I have not been great at updating the blog, there are so many ways that He shows His love to us over and over.
It has always been my desire to utilize this blog to see God's work in our little family's life and to document things so I would not forget.  The next few posts will be a catch up and even though I don't think there are any that even view this blog anymore, I do it for me and the memories of my children and to leave a legacy for them of the faithfulness of God!

Hopefully we will be back on track with the updates from now on ;)

So important to just stop and Praise!!

http://gfabernetich.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/so-much-to-share-but-have-to-stop-and-praise/

Exciting Times in Texas

From the moment we got here (and even way before then), our family at GFA has been so wonderful. We have enjoyed Tuesday night prayer and all-night Friday night prayer with our family here. We have had so many yummy dinners prepared by some wonderful "chefs" that I am sure I have probably gained 10 lbs. We have had fun at the jump castle place here in Carrollton with our new family and we have all enjoyed going into the office at GFA and volunteering in the missions department. The kids have been able to stuff envelopes, shred old papers, and just be used in anyway they can. It has been so wonderful for them to see the workings of the ministry God has called us to and be a part of it themselves. Another exciting part is to be able to meet all the students from the School of Discipleship program. Dave and I love seeing the young people grow in their knowledge of the Bible, their walk with God, and to love Him in such an awesome way. They are so much fun to be around and last Tuesday night before prayer, we had such a wonderful dinner time sharing and getting to know them. I don't think I have laughed like that in such a long time!!

ALL glory and praise to God who has brought us here in His perfect timing!!

Where to begin????

Yes, I have been awful at posting lately (well, a little more than just lately :P). Things have happened in a whirlwind the past 2 months as only God can do things!!

I received a call from Dave the beginning of February and he said there may be a way for the kids and I to come be with him in Texas for 1-1/2 months. After that time, if the house did not sell, we would just come back to SC and wait. I was in shock and sooo super excited.

There was a family in Texas at the ministry who had been renting an apartment with their 2 children and had the opportunity to now move into a rental house. They did not want to break their lease so they asked if Dave would want to stay there - not subletting, just letting a friend stay there. After talking to them and leadership here at GFA, they all thought it would be wonderful to reunite our family together again and bring us to Texas to all stay at the apartment. We were sooo super excited and in about 5 days, got everything together and headed off on the 19hr journey to Texas.

The drive was wonderful. I had gotten Samson some sleepy pills and between that, music, and DVD's in the SUV, the ride was truly enjoyable. So much so that I had almost made it the entire 19hrs in one day but my sweet, smart, and loving husband encouraged us to stop for the night and drive the last 4 hrs in the morning.

We arrived in Texas - exactly 3 months after Dave had left!!

WOW, What a blessing God had given us in the waiting!! He is so good and I continue to praise Him and am in awe of how he does things -- more on that in the next few posts....

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

37 years - WOW! I remember thinking when I was in my teens, how far away the late 30's were. Now, I am here in the midst of it.

I have to admit I was kinda bummed about my birthday this year which I never am -- I love birthdays!! I think they are so special and worth being celebrated. This year was different because I would be missing a very special person here with me on that day. *Dave*

But....

God has blessed me with the 2 most amazing children anyone could ask for (yes, I know all mom's believe that about their children and rightfully so!!) - Andrew and Kira -

They had asked to take off school (for those of you that may not know, they homeschool). I told them "no" because we had something planned the next day that they needed to take off for. They were disappointed but said "ok". Well, unbeknownst to me, they set it upon themselves and woke up at 3am without me knowing about it, did school, decorated the house, and planned some wonderful surprises for me (I'll get to them in a minute). Yes, I was in shock and completely cried!

At 8:00am, I was awakened by 2 very happy and excited children exclaiming "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and told me they had been up, finished school, and made some special things for my birthday. I was told to close my eyes and they led me down the hall to the playroom and I found this (there is a black "M" in the connect 4 game for mom - lol :))....

After that, they took me downstairs and I found this :)

I was then given some beautiful homemade cards with some very special things written in them :). After reading (and crying) the beautiful cards, I was told to go upstairs and take a nice hot bath and come down in my robe (they did tell me to make sure I had clothes underneath it - LOL). I came downstairs and was told once again to close my eyes. I was led into the living room where a "SPA" was all set up for me. They sat me down in a chair and Kira had a large bowl set up where she washed my feet, put lotion on them, and then painted my toenails (the most beautiful electric blue color that they both chose together). -- Ummm, wow!! As I sat in the chair, I was brought a glass of mango green tea by Andrew and given a shoulder rub as well by him. Kira then led me upstairs where she proceeded to have me kneel by the tub and wash my hair for me. I could not believe all of this. It was so incredibly sweet.

I came downstairs to a very yummy breakfast of eggs, sausage, and apples made wonderfully by Chef Andrew :).

After finishing the yummy breakfast, we sat down to watch a movie. As we were watching the movie, the doorbell rang and I opened to find a box from a flower company. It was filled with 2 dozen of the most gorgeous red roses ever and had the sweetest note from the most amazing husband anyone could ask for! WOW, all this and it was only 10:30am.

We went to sit back down and relax but got a call that someone wanted to see our house today. About 5 minutes later, we got another call that someone else wanted to see the house the next day. So needless to say, we did not relax and kicked into high gear to make this house perfect to show a few hours later.

After the showing, we came back to the house and got ready for a wonderful dinner at Wasabi. It was the kids first time at a hibachi restaurant and they loved it. We had such a great time!

After dinner, we were all so stuffed that we did not even do cake - we just had a true relaxing time together enjoying the last part of one of the best birthday's I had ever had.

The only way for it to have been truly the BEST birthday ever was to have Dave here. We finished the night by skyping together and praying together. Yes, just about the most perfect birthday!

Disappointment and Encouragement

I have really been struggling this week in a lot of things. I am really missing Dave and feeling as if I am just not functioning right without him here. I have felt as if I am failing as the only parent. The kids seem to be arguing all the time and I just get so frustrated. I certainly have not shown the fruits of the spirit at all. I am bummed that our house has not sold yet and that we still have to live separately from Dave.

In our family, Dave is the head and I believe God has designed it that way (1 Corinthians 11:3 - But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God and Ephesians 5:25 - Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.) When we follow God's design for marriage, it results in a beautiful relationship but I digress...

Anyway, this week has been tough and I just was feeling really bummed. I received a call yesterday from our realtor that she was bringing a caravan of realtors to our home. A caravan of realtors means that a large group of realtors come to your home and give you tips that you can use to help sell your home. They also let you know what you can do to sell it easier. Of course after feeling bummed all week, this was not what I wanted to do - prepare the house for all these people so they could tell me all the bad things about our home. Even my sweet husband was praying for me that I would not be discouraged at all that they said about our home.

Well it seems that God knows what we need when we need it (funny how I know that but always seem to forget :P). Well, within a matter of about 30 minutes, there was about 20 realtors that came through our home and you know what...

We got rave reviews!! They loved our home, said it was very neat and clean, and that they couldn't believe the price we have it listed for. But that was not the most amazing part...

One of the gentleman saw Andrew's Bible Scholar award that we have hanging on his wall and encouraged Andrew to continue reading it for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). Another gentleman saw Kira's list of things to do which right after brushing her teeth and getting dressed was reading her Bible - he actually took a picture of it to show to his kids because he was just sharing with them the importance of time with God and making lists for remembering things you need to do. This was such an encouragement to the kids and I but what even blessed me more is that another gentleman as we were all standing around the table heard about what God had called us to and we all held hands and he prayed for our family and that this home would sell quickly. WOW - I was blessed beyond words and was so grateful for these gentleman who took a stand and shared Christ with us!!

Yes, God knew that I needed to be encouraged today and He did it in the most wonderful way!

2012!!

I love the start of a new year. It is exciting to think that each new year can bring a fresh start, a new focus, and an exciting anticipation of what lies ahead. I don't make New Year's resolutions. Probably the most significant reason is that I never can keep them. I may have wonderful intentions of keeping them but don't.

My only desire for this year is to grow closer to my Savior --

• To know Him and love Him more deeply (You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might - Deuteronomy 6:5)
• To memorize scripture more (For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12)
• To have a character that displays the fruits of the spirit ( But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23),
• To strive to be more of a Proverbs 31 woman (Proverbs 31:10-31), and
• To remember my body is a temple of God (Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

This is my desire for this year - for I know that without the grace and love of Jesus Christ, I am nothing!!