I am not dead... I am really alive. I am!

Okay I know.. it has been three months since my last post but so much has been going on. Forgive me! I am sure I have lots all of my readers even though I promise I have still been following you.

We began the process of house hunting which lead to applying for a loan and that whole process. For those of you who are home owners you KNOW how time consuming & complicated it can be. Complicated? Did I say that? HA! We had all of our papers filled out, approved in NO time and our close date set --- it was pushed back a week, had our final day set to close on a Wednesday and got a call about 10 am on a Monday morning and our loan officer says "I am sorry to tell you this but our company can not give out any more loans". At this point I was like "OK, so were we just not approved and your covering or what?". I had every possible thought go thru my head! I was so upset! Well.... he calls back... he tells us he has a buddy who will take over and we should be closed in three weeks. He did just that but three weeks turned into six! We were ONLY supposed to have to fill out a few papers and we ended up doing the entrie process from scratch!

The good news is that we finally close after three additional close dates and we are proud 1st time home buyers!! We took three weeks and worked on the house laying tile on the counter tops, retexturing walls, completely redoing the bathroom b/c MAN! It had brown all over and well..... it needed remodeling. We replaced all the light fixtures, all new ceiling fans, new front and back door, my daddy painted the outside taupe and we hung new black shutters.... tiled the utility room and had a painter come in and redo the entire inside. It was hard work but it is almost finished. We have a few things left ... we want to put in new windows in a month or two and then put up a privacy fence because the fence now is chain link. Even though it was alot of hard work it was fun actually AND we hope to make some money off of it so in a few years we can build or buy again before Piercen starts to school.

Piercen is growing fast. I am posting a new picture so you can see our handsome little boy. He never ceases to amaze me at all the things he comes up with. His latest thing is he has been carring his little red bible around for weeks. I have tried to get him to put it away and only carry it to church...hoping that by offering another book, ANY other book to him he'd do so but OH NO! He carries it EVERYwhere! I am talking to play outside, to the restuarant... you name it. The other day he looks down, opens it up and begans to jabber... I hear "Bible" . He then pauses and points and starts to babble! I asked Jeremy "Did you show him that" , "Have you been coax him"... NO he says.. NO way and actually I'd never seen or heard him say anything other than "Lets get your bible for church"...... it was priceless! I can honestly say it doesn't matter if he ever becomes a preacher as long as he knows what the word of God says and is as eager to KNOW HIM and have the desire to serve him just as he has the desire today not to let that little red bible put away for another book. Isn't that how it should be for us? We must read them as often as possible and use them like no other book... if they get messed up we can get another one. After all the ones that are worn are the ones who have had the greatest use!

fyi.. I am going to post some pics of our projects but I need to get an updated pic of the house on the outside ... will do that soon!

... what a week

WhEw! I have had one busy week. Sorry I am just now being able to post. I know some of you have asked what is going on and wondering where I've been ... we applied for a loan on Monday, got the news back on Tuesday we were approved (early that morning, less than 24 hrs to be exact!), found the house we wanted to make an offer on and did that on Wednesday - they counter offered and we signed papers on Thursday afternoon! We had been looking for about two weeks so we kinda knew what we wanted to do. Some might say that was *qUiCk* and yes it was!!!! I

This house is not the house I want to be in forever but it is a great start for us! I can't wait to get closed and get the things done to it that need to be done before moving in and making it our first home! I will take a picture of it and post it asap! I plan to post pics along the way because we are going to paint the outside, inside, hang new light fixtures, tile the counters in the kitchen and bathroom, put in a new dishwasher, tile the laundry room and redo the flower bed! This neighborhood is one that my best friend Michelle grew up in when we were kids. I remember spending the night there many times. We have driven by at many different times to see if it is still a nice area and it seems to be. It is quiet and Jeremy and I both have peace that this is what God has for us.

I do want to ask you to pray for us ... we are renting right now and it was supposed to be long term. The couple has asked us to move because they are wanting to be back here from LA. Well, we need to be out by the 15th of April and it just isn't going to happen... the end of the month yes and maybe even that next weekend but not by the 15th. You know how it goes, if you move in some place and it needs things done chances are they never get done! PLUS, these things are a must. Also, my son hasn't slept well since we moved here! Infact, he began sleeping **ALL** night long at 7 weeks. We moved here in late August when he wass eight months old and he hasn't slept all night ONE time since we moved. Jeremy & I know why and now it all makes since that we have put two and two together..... that would be a whole other blog post! Needless to say we have no idea who lived in our new house but we will be covering it in prayer and for those who believe as we do we will be annointing it with oil and covering it in the blood! Every evil spirit and things that aren't of God will be rebuked! So if you will pray with us on that...

Also, I wanted to share something ... God has really been showing me some things during this whole experience. Jeremy pastored for several years and we lived in a parsonage so there was no need to buy a house. During those years we traveled alot, bought expensive clothing, jewlrey, had many different hobbies and spent alot of money on even furniture. I was one who seldom cooked much because we always dined with friends or went on many *dates* together. Over the past several years while renting when Jeremy began evangelizing we have spent over $30,000 on rent... RENT ALONE! This made me sick. I couldn't see us continuing to do so. When we found out we needed to move again I began to pray for God to open doors for us. What I didn't realize was that when opening them I'd first have to repent. You see, I didn't want to live here or live there because it wasn't 'this' or it wasn't 'that'. But once I began to seek HIS will for us instead of what I wanted or where I wanted to be he began to open one door after another very quickly. I've looked back over the last several years and am amazed at what God has done in our lives but also what he has done in ME! HIS way is always best and HIS timing is always perfect.
After making the offer on this home we found out that the closest thing in the neighboorhood in sq ft and price is $22,000 more than what we were able to get our house for and it only needs about $2,000 put into it. Once again God has enabled us to not only be blessed by buying our first home but it is something we are going to be able to sell one day and make money in the process!

I know that I know that I know --- I'd rather be in His PERFECT will than His permissive will any day of my life!