Saturday, April 30, 2011

Fun Day in McKinney


Hey friends!

Just a quick update.  Today, Erin and I got to spend the afternoon getting to know the McKinney area a little better.  Today we got to meet with our realtor, Christine, check out a couple of homes and spend some time looking and walking around the downtown McKinney area.  Here's a quick recap.

After meeting me at my place to pray before we headed out, Erin and I went to meet Christine at one of the rent homes she had previously shown us through email.  Although the location was great and it was a great remodel, it didn't quite have the space we are looking for to do the things we feel God wants us to be ready to do.  So it was on to the next place on our list.

This house was a little further away from the downtown area, but it had everything we were looking for!  Erin and I both really felt like we could call this place 'home' for a year or more and had a great peace about it after we looked around and asked questions.  Now it's up to God to show us if this is where He wants us to live and be a light to the neighborhood and we are seeking Him and continuing our pursuit of this place.  Once we land on the right home we will let you know so maybe some of y'all could come visit!! : )

After looking at rent homes we decided to cruise around the downtown area and just people watch and get something to drink.  We landed at a fun little restaurant called Spoon's Cafe and then walked around and snapped some photos.

It was a great afternoon in McKinney and I am grateful to Jesus for leading and calling me and Erin to this place.  His presence was felt today for sure and we ask that you continue to partner with us in prayer as we seek Him in this process.

I'll leave you with some pictures we took!!  Enjoy!














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Friday, April 29, 2011

House Hunting! (part 2)


Just a quick update and asking for prayers!

Erin and I will be meeting tomorrow with our friendly real estate agent, Christine, to look at some rental homes.  Although we might not find the exact one tomorrow, we would love for any of you to partner in praying for us that the Lord would show us exactly where He wants us to be strategic in reaching the community with the gospel of Christ!


Also, continue to be praying for my (Mike's) job hunt that the Lord will guide me to exactly the place He wants me to work hard and build relationships for the Kingdom!

Thank you all so much for you partnership with us in the gospel.  We will keep the updates coming!
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Monday, April 25, 2011

Future In-Laws and Multiple Defeats...

I understand that the title of this post may be the beginning lines to a counseling session on 'what's causing the most anxiety in your life', but it's actually all in good fun!

Erin's parents are in town from good 'ol San Antone for the week and it has been so much fun being with them.  I was thinking about it all and I became overwhelmed with God's unending grace in my life.  If He was just giving me Erin to spend the rest of my life with I would be the most blessed man on the planet, but on top of that He is giving me a great brother-in-law who has a desire to be used in this life for Jesus, and a future mother-in-law and father-in-law who have Christ as the center of their lives, marriage and family - and I am so blessed to have them in my life.

But here's the craziest thing...

... I actually like them.

In other words, I would hang out with them.  Even if the 'bonds of holy matrimony' didn't shackle me to them, I would actually want to spend time with them.  All of them.  Because they're just that great!

So my hope is that Erin and I will be able to build a family taking the best parts of both our families.  I hope and pray that Erin and I will take the incredible hospitality, provision and caring that my parents offer to friends and strangers alike and build a home that is a welcome place to all who need it.  And I hope that we take Erin's family's tight-knit relationship with each other to build a home where everyone in it is built up together in Christ.  It was great seeing Erin's future in-laws and my future in-laws together and enjoying the coming together of two families.  Both Erin and I are truly blessed by the families we come from and how God has orchestrated our lives (Acts 17:26).

So, here are the weekends 'defeats.'

Both the Mavs and the Spurs lost.  Mavs in a 'we've seen this before' sort of meltdown and the Spurs dropping another to the 8th seeded Grizzlies.  This makes for interesting dynamics when Spurs and Mavs fans are watching the playoffs under the same roof! : )  The only one happy about basketball on Saturday was Michael, Erin's brother, who is a Lakers fan.  His pain would come Sunday night!

And speaking of Sunday, it was a great Easter with Erin's family.  That afternoon, after introducing Erin's family to the McKinney area, we decided to have some family fun by going bowling.  I'll save you the story of how surprisingly good Erin's mother is at the game, but Michael and I had a friendly wager going: Lowest score between us has to by the other lunch wherever they want.

And the result? (I'll just say it came down to the last throw on the last frame)



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Friday, April 22, 2011

House Hunting!

God has already been so faithful and encouraging to us in so many ways in these beginning steps of the process of marriage, moving and ministry.

One of the ways has been in His provision of extremely kind strangers who are graciously welcoming us into McKinney and helping find a place to live.

One great example is a couple of women in McKinney, Stephanie and Christine.

Talking with my sister-in-law, Christa, a couple of months ago about Erin and my desire to find a rent house in McKinney, she told me of a friend she knew that lived in the area, loves it out there, and even has some rental property of her own out there.  A few phone calls and texts later, and Stephanie in McKinney was inviting Erin and I out to her neighborhood to get a personal drive-through of the town and to hear about what it is like living there.

Stephanie is in the Guinness book of World Records as the Nicest-Lady-West-of-the-Mississippi.  She dropped her Saturday plans, loaded us up in her mini-van and drove us around town pointing out properties and telling us all about the demographic and joys of living in the community.  Not only was it an encouragement to already get to know someone, but it helped Erin and I get a sense of the community in which we are hoping to reach out and be a part of.  I was getting excited because I felt like it was a great beginning the processes of learning and studying the community in order to best bring to them the gospel of Jesus.

After toting us around for a bit, Stephanie gladly offered to connect us with her real estate friend, Christine.  Little known fact: Christine is next to Stephanie in her picture in the Guinness Book, should Stephanie be forced to forfeit her title, Christine would take her place!  Such incredibly gracious and caring people.

(btw - as far as I know neither of them are actually in the GBoWR)

Christine has offered to give us her professional real estate services to help us find a place - and she is offering her services FOR FREE!!  God is already giving us so many blessings and helping assure Erin and I of His call to be out here.  So Christine is now helping us find a place and hopefully sometime in June we will lock a place down!

Please pray with us that the Lord will give us the home that is exactly where we wants, to reach out to the people around us and be a light for His gospel!

Thanks for all your support!  We love to get encouraging emails!! : )
Email Mike

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Trusting in His Promises

Here we go.

I know that I can speak for both Erin and I when I say that we both feel undeserving and blessed that God would not only choose us to reveal to us His love and grace, but that He would call us to be taking that message of life and hope to a lost world.  We know that the road ahead is full of joys and disappointments, trials and triumphs, hard work and sweet rewards.  And we also know that our confidence can't rest in anything but God and God alone.

So that's why a few months ago we started a Promises Journal.  This book is an ongoing compilation of Scripture passages that are promises of God to and for His people.  There are promises of protection, provision, endurance, strength and victory.  The ultimate promise being the reconciliation of all things in the coming Kingdom in the presence of our Beloved One.

So we have this for when times are good - to remember the root of and cause of it all and not become haughty and puffed up.

And we have this for when times are not so good - to remember His sustaining grace and words of victory to push us deeper and deeper into believing His gospel of hope.

So it is, and will be, our roadmap, life-raft and compass through this underserved gift to be called to proclaim Light in the darkness.

I'll leave you with the key promise that holds together all the promises of God to His people...

For all the promises of God find their 'Yes' in him.  That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.  
And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22
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