Adventures With God -- Journey Through the Fire

A few days ago marked the 1 month anniversary of our house fire. If you haven't seen the original story, photos, and video, you can see it here. 

We are so deeply grateful for each one who has stood with us, helped us sort and haul items, dropped off meals, given financially, and prayed for our family. It truly has been such an encouragement and has uplifted our spirits. Thank you!!

Over the past couple of weeks life has been very full. I (Chad) needed to jump back into leading In The Gap. We had a couple of year-end projects that needed my attention. Our amazing staff team kept the plates spinning and did an amazing job in my absence. Alissa and the girls continued working on sorting and washing laundry and finishing off their Friday co-op classes before going on holiday break, and they also began squeezing in some school lessons too. 

Alissa's Aunt Linda came up last week for five days and did marathon loads of laundry for us, which saved us weeks of time!! And she finished the last load before returning to Dallas!

Last week Phoenix Restoration Company finished hauling the last of our "potentially salvageable" items to their warehouse were they will begin their special treatments to see if they can get the soot and smoke damage out of our belongings.

On November 21st, we moved into a temporary house that a near by church had as a guest house. We've been able to adapt and have made the house comfortable even though it is one large open space for the living, kitchen, and dinning room with two bedrooms on the far end and two bathrooms on the opposite side of the building. But it came furnished, which was a huge blessing. We brought in a few storage shelves, two storage cubies, and two computer desks. It is just five minutes away from our house and In The Gap, which works out very well!

We would be grateful for your prayers for guidance for long-term temporary housing as we work to rebuild our house. The place we are staying in is working out really well and they've given us a great rate for renting. However, the property is up for sale. So our time here is probably short lived. They will be giving us a 30 day notice once the property goes into contract, so a least we're past the new year so far before having to move. Short-term rentals in OKC are on the high side for our budget, but we know the Lord will show us the right place when the time comes.

Enjoying Christmas Festivities

Julie (Alissa's sister) was so kind and invited our family over to decorate her house for Christmas. The kids enjoyed setting up her tree, nativity sets, and hanging decorations around her house. We topped off the evening with our tradition of sitting by the Christmas tree and enjoying Braum's Eggnog (which, if you've never tried it, then you haven't lived! It is AMAZING!! :-)

A few nights later, we were able to do our own decorating. In The Gap had an extra Christmas tree, lights, and tree decorations that we were able to borrow, and with a few manger sets that we found on Black Friday sales, we were able to decorate and have a nice taste of Christmas at our temporary home.

The girls were able to participate as angles in our church's living nativity, which was a lot of fun for them. They also participated in our church children's Christmas play. There were several practices and they worked hard on their lines. Today was the big day and they did such an amazing job!! 

We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with our family, and both of our parents will be joining us as well! My parents and brother are arriving on the 19th and Alissa's parents will be coming in on the 20th. We're so thankful that we can be together this year. We have much to be grateful for this Christmas season.

Although being "displaced" this Christmas, it really does bring about a whole new appreciate for what Mary and Joseph went through so many years ago. Obviously our hardships pale in comparison to what they had to go through... Mary wins for all generations, hands down, for traveling to Bethlehem walking and/or riding a donkey and being nine months pregnant! But those who have been through something like what we are going through can relate. There's something about being out of your normal living environment with the things you are used to, and living in a form of limbo. It can be emotionally draining and a challenge to not live continually in survival mode. Yet the hardships they went through over two thousand years ago were very real and incredibly difficult, and the pressure of carrying the Son of God in your womb and then realizing you have to give birth in a barn, must have been overwhelming and devastating. Yet through it all God lead, guided, gave peace and reassurance, and provided for their every need. Yes, it was different than what they had anticipated, but as the Bible says, "Mary treasured these things in her heart." She could see that God was up to something and was writing a story that would be told for generations to come.

Yes, our lives have been in a state of limbo and flex over the past four weeks, but as our seven year-old said last week, "Wow, dad, God is really taking care of us, isn't He?" This sums it up well. We are not alone in this journey. The Lord Himself walks with us through the various challenges of life, and this will be one we trust our children will share with their children someday. The Lord is faithful and doesn't leave us alone.

In the days to come we will be sharing some of the MANY ways the Lord has shown Himself strong on our behalf. We have SO much to be thankful for!! 

As we come into the week leading up to Christmas, I would encourage you to take some time to reflect on the how the Lord is working in and through your life. Make a list of the things you are grateful for. Then thank the Lord for those things and then share some of the ways you're thankful with others. What we focus on is what we will see more of... good or bad. Let's choose to look for the goodness of the Lord and praise Him for His wonderous works.

Thank you again for your care, concern, love, and prayers.

~Chad, Alissa, and Girls