Praise God!

It's been a crazy few days. A few days ago I was presented with the opportunity to serve on a pastor search committee for our church. That means our pastor of the last 6+ years, Levi Skipper, is stepping down. Hearing those words caused a multitude of emotions. Thankfully after hearing why he is leaving and what he is planning on doing I am greatful that he has made the decision that he did.

Levi has decided to follow God's will in his life and enter into full time evangelism with First Day Ministry. I thank God that He has made it clear not only to Levi, but to his entire family that this is God's will in his life.

Since I knew about this a few days before the rest of the church I was forced to deal with this news without a congregation to share this with. I began to fear how the church would react. Would we be supportive? Angry? Who is going to stay? Who is going to leave? Is there going to be rumors and gossiping about this? This was a big burden on my heart and I spent a lot of time of prayer about this.

I was so relieved after the announcement was made today. The church seems to be incredibly supportive of Levi's decision. I praise God for this. It really shows our true colors. People automatically thought of God's plan and not their selfish desires.

I know some people will leave the church and I won't blame them if their motives are right. I can understand if they want to seek out a new pastor as the church looks for one too. I just don't want them to count out Ewing Road in their search.

We have a great church and I praise God for it. God is going to grow us through this trial we have ahead of us.

New Camera Lens

I used some of my Christmas money to buy myself a new lens. The fixed focal length is hard to get used to but I look the small aperture this lens has. It goes down to f/1.8.

Here is a sample picture I took last night. I can't wait to take more.

From New Lens

Granite!!

The counter tops are in! It came as a surprise since neither our cabinet guy nor the granite people called us to let us know they were coming. Luckily Jess didn't have to go into work until later in the morning and I had time to come home from work.

Jack and I also got the new (used) microwave installed. So now all of our appliances are in. We just need to tile the backsplash and install a new light over the sink. Speaking of the sink, we still have to do the plumbing stuff.

Anyway, it's all coming along nicely and I have some pictures for you to see. Hopefully it will all be done this weekend.

From Kitchen Remodel

From Kitchen Remodel

From Kitchen Remodel

From Kitchen Remodel

From Kitchen Remodel

From Kitchen Remodel

From Kitchen Remodel

Kitchen update

The kitchen is coming along nicely. Unfortunately the granite people don't plan on installing until late next week. So we have yet another week without work space. But, I have been able to get the stove, fridge, and dishwasher in place. I also changed out the fluorescent light in the kitchen and added under counter lights. I was also able to find a convection microwave on craigslist for a big discount. Now that I think about it, all of our appliances were found on craigslist. I love that place.
The pictures below don't show all of the updates but you can really appreciate the cabinets and all of their glory.

From Kitchen Remodel

From Kitchen Remodel

Financial Peace, Millionaire, Kitchen

I am about to begin leading my second FPU course. Right now we have 9 families signed up. I really hope everyone will stick it out through the whole thing this time. This stuff really works if you will just do it. Not only does it significantly improve your finances but it also enhances your relationship with your spouse because you start expressing your desires and goals and really forces you to communicate with your spouse. With the leading cause of divorce being money problems and money fights, why wouldn't anyone want solidify that part of their marriage?

I also starting reading 'The millionaire next door'. It has been a really good book that was really just written to summarize a study to find what a true millionaire looks like. I think most people would be very surprise to see the results, especially when they see they are likely spending more on their cars than the average millionaire. I highly recommend this book to everyone. It is a very easy, quick read.

Sorry, no pictures of the kitchen. I put them on my PC but forgot to upload them to the web. Maybe tonight.