We Bought A House!

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As many of you know, Brennan and I are now homeowners. After renting small apartments (less than 600 sq. ft) for the first two years of our marriage (in an effort to live frugally and eliminate our debt), we are now the owners of an 1,800 sq. ft house! It isn’t a perfect house — it does need some “love” in a few areas–but it is perfect for us and for our future family.

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During our home inspection, the inspector continually smiled at us as we expressed our gratitude for the things the house offers that we have missed and appreciate so much…things like:

  • a dishwasher
  • a laundry room (no more laundromats!)
  • central air conditioning/heat with a thermostat
  • the ability to buy a refrigerator with an ice maker
  • our own backyard and deck
  • ceiling fans in every room!
  • bigger closets than we’ve had thus far in our marriage

It’s truly the little things in life that are worth celebrating.

It doesn’t take much to make us happy because our contentment isn’t found in “stuff”–it is found in immaterial things. We don’t need a brand new house that is perfect from the beginning–all we need is a place to call our own and to make our own. God has blessed us with a house that was a tremendous deal (worth far more than what we paid for it), and it’s one that we can easily afford (only slightly more than our rent now) on just Brennan’s income. We are so blessed and so excited to transform this house into our home!

Thirty…

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It doesn’t feel possible that I’ve already lived for thirty years on this earth…but at 1:36pm PST today that will be true.

Thirty sounds “old” (and IS old to our MHS boys, haha), but I know that it really isn’t. For some reason, this feels like more of a milestone than 20 was, though…

Of course, there are advantages to turning thirty: I can now be a U.S. Senator. 🙂

It just doesn’t seem possible that it’s been 11.5 years since high school graduation, 7.5 years since college graduation, and 4.5 years since I moved to Pennsylvania.

Life truly is an adventure! I feel like I have experienced so much during these first thirty years, and I really don’t have any regrets. To name a few of my favorite parts…

  • I have a relationship with Jesus!
  • I have the world’s best family, I’m convinced 🙂 I love them dearly and am so blessed.
  • I am married to the most wonderful, loving, generous man.
  • We now own a home together where we will raise our family in the future.
  • Our only remaining debts are student loans and a mortgage. MAJOR accomplishment.
  • I have been blessed with rich, vibrant, authentic friendships.
  • I have had the privilege of traveling to six countries, three continents, and thirty-four states.
  • I am continually growing in my music and photography skills, and I LOVE to use both talents.
  • I have a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History. I may not use the degree, but I am thankful for it.

The only goals that I really have thus far for this decade are to see the remaining 16 states, be healthier than ever before, and to continue to grow in my marriage and in my relationship with Jesus.

I truly cannot wait to see what the next thirty years hold as I continue living the life with which God has blessed me.

Guest Post: “Fighting to Forgive and Forget the Former Things”

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Fighting to Forgive and Forget the Former Things
 By Sheri Rose Shepherd
Bestselling Author and Bible Life Coach
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How do we forget the former things? Is there some magic prayer that wipes out our memories so we won’t feel the pain of our past? I wish I could say that this is the way to find a new foundation for your life. Yet God teaches us through Isaiah 43 that our past does not determine our future. He wants us to embrace the new beginning He offers us and to stop living in yesterday. However, to let go of our past, we will have to leave it where it belongs . . . at the Cross.

I was powerfully reminded of this again through Alice, whom I met recently at a retreat. I had been talking about rebuilding relationships, and when I finished, I walked over to the door to say good-bye to each of the ladies. I loved hearing how God spoke to them throughout the weekend, and Alice gave me renewed hope. She was seventy years old and had been married over fifty years.

I was captivated by the joy that lit up her face. She radiated from the inside out, and her smile made me feel at home. I thought Alice must have lived a wonderful life to glow with God’s glory the way she did. I had to ask her what her secret was. Her response reflected a woman who was beautifully broken.

She said, “When I lost the husband I loved to my best friend, I lost everything that was dear to me, including my children. However, I discovered how much my Lord truly loves me because of that loss, and I have never been the same because of His love.”

My eyes welled with tears as she shared with me the story of how her husband had served her divorce papers on their fortieth wedding anniversary. Devastated and overwhelmed by grief, she set the papers aside without signing them. She fought to understand why God did not protect her marriage after all she had sacrificed to remain faithful, even in the hard and unhappy years.

Despite their challenges, she said she loved this man and never dreamed she would be alone in her older years. Though they lived apart for seven years, something inside her soul continued to keep her from signing those divorce papers. Late one night, though, she finally decided to move on and let go of the man she loved. With sad resolve, she signed the papers. Once she had done so, she felt free for the first time in many years.

Until the doorbell rang. It was 2 a.m., and she was a little fearful of who might be at her door in the middle of the night. When she opened the door, she was shocked to see her husband, Bill, on his knees with tears in his eyes and torn-up divorce papers in his hand.

He looked into her eyes and asked her for something he did not deserve: “a chance to finish my life with you.” Bill told her he had just awakened from a dream he believed God had given him, showing how his actions were crumbling the foundation of the faith of his children and grandchildren―all for the sake of his own pleasure. When he woke up, he could not wait until morning. He had to run to his wife.

He knew he owed her a sincere apology, but he wanted so much more. He wanted a second chance, and he was willing to do whatever it took to rebuild what he had broken in her heart. She stood there silently until she heard the Lord whisper to her, “Today, Alice, is the day I am giving you a choice between life and death for your family. I am asking you to trust Me with this broken man and choose life, so that your legacy of faith can live on in your children through your obedience to Me.”

She asked for a few days to pray; Bill told her to take whatever time she needed to decide.

Alice said she fought through the biggest internal battle she had ever experienced as she reflected on the past seven years away from this man. After all, she had finally healed from his betrayal and feared she might reopen the wound that had taken so long to heal. She wrestled through every emotion—from feeling ripped off, being rejected, and now receiving an offer to be rescued.

Alice knew her choice would write the rest of her life story and her husband’s story. After many tears and much prayer for the strength to forgive her husband, Alice surrendered to God’s will and gave up her rights to take revenge. God blessed the hard choice Alice had made to forget the former things and finish her life with her husband in spite of all he had done. And they finished strong!

Yes, Bill was wrong, and yes, he was unfaithful and caused much damage to many lives, including his own. There is no excuse for his actions, and Alice had every right to make him suffer for what he had done. However, her extremely hard decision to forget the former things will leave a legacy of love that will live on long after they are gone.

For more teaching videos from Sheri Rose, go to www.biblelifecoaching.com.

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Guest Post: “From Gangs to God”

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Featured authors

From Gangs to God
By Sheri Rose Shepherd
Bestselling Author and Bible Life Coach
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I once heard a pastor say, “If you are struggling to respect your husband, find the strength to respect him as your brother in the Lord.” That comment really woke me up as I realized that none of us really deserves honor or respect except the Lord. Honor and respect are powerful tools to rebuild a broken society, but how do we show respect and honor to those who act disrespectfully and do dishonorable things? What can we do to cultivate honor and respect between men and women again, and how can we influence our children to live in a way that is honorable to God and respectful of people?Yes, our men may have done many things that certainly do not deserve to be honored. But they are God’s children just like we are, and they are imperfect just like we are. We women are not responsible for their dishonorable actions, but one way we can each help rebuild our broken men is to treat them like the men they want to become.

Years ago my husband and I owned a Christian production company, which produced talent showcases for aspiring models, actors, and singers. But more important than exposing these potential stars to Hollywood was the ministry time that took place during the week of rehearsals and workshops, as we would share God’s love and plan of salvation for their lives.

During one particular showcase in Seattle, a group of gang members hung around outside the room where we were holding the auditions. They made fun of each of the participants as he or she walked out of the audition. It was obvious they were there to cause trouble. I struggled with fear and anger as I prayed for protection over the young adults walking out to their cars. Then something happened as I made eye contact with one of the boys through the glass doors I was standing behind. My heart began to break with compassion, and my faith overpowered my frustration. I thought, Maybe these boys have never seen men and women honor and respect one another. Maybe they just need someone to treat them like they were made for more.

God grabbed hold of my mother’s heart, and I began to look at these boys through different eyes. I realized I didn’t know their pasts, their parents, or their present circumstances, but I did know they were truly loved by God, no matter how disrespectfully they were behaving.

I took a step of faith and invited these boys to spend a week taking acting workshops at no charge. Their first response was, “Why would anyone do something for us?” However they couldn’t resist the offer.

Each day when they would walk into the room for their workshop, I would stand to my feet, walk over to greet them at the door, and treat them like guests of honor. The first day I took them around and introduced them to each of our staff members. The next day I decided to make lunch for them. Although I did not like the way they acted or the words that were coming out of their mouths, I decided I would make every effort to use whatever influence I had as a woman to inspire them to live honorable lives. To my surprise the power of prayer, honor, and respect paid off as I witnessed these boys begin to transform. Not only did they begin to act differently, but I learned a valuable lesson that week: honor is not something someone has to earn. It is an attitude I need to learn to give to all those God has created.

For more teaching videos from Sheri Rose, go to www.biblelifecoaching.com.

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Day Twenty-Two: I’m Thankful For…Food (and having plenty of it).

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Preface: I thought it was fitting to express my thanks during the month of November for something new each day, as so many others have done before me. I’ve never taken the time to do this, and it will be a challenge to blog each day, but it’s so important to recognize the blessings God has given us! 🙂 These are in NO particular order…

I don’t take for granted the fact that I have plenty of food to eat, each and every day. After spending time in countries where poverty is the norm, my perspective was forever changed about the wealth that we experience in the United States. It is truly heart-breaking that so many around the world will have nothing to eat tonight while we had more than enough…but I’m thankful that God has provided for Brennan and I, just the same.

Along those lines, I’m thankful for organizations such as World Vision that allow us the privilege of sponsoring children, which ensures that they do have food to eat (among other things).

I’m also thankful for the variety of food choices that God has given us…He could have simply created us to eat grass and we would have never known the difference. But He chose to bless us and allow us to experience vastly different flavors and textures. He created food to be so colorful! He gave us a piece of his creative ability so that we could be creative with food and develop new dishes. I love that He has so richly blessed us in even the smallest of ways.

Thank you, Lord, for food…

 

Day Twenty-One: I’m Thankful For…Traveling.

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Preface: I thought it was fitting to express my thanks during the month of November for something new each day, as so many others have done before me. I’ve never taken the time to do this, and it will be a challenge to blog each day, but it’s so important to recognize the blessings God has given us! 🙂 These are in NO particular order…

One of my greatest passions is traveling and exploring God’s beautiful and wondrous creation. God has blessed me with opportunities to travel to three continents, six countries, and thirty-four states in my first thirty years of life.

I love experiencing new cultures…learning from them…enjoying them…photographing them. There’s a whole lot of the world left to see, and I can’t wait to experience it with Brennan! So thankful that God has created such a diverse world for us to enjoy…

Day Twenty: I’m Thankful For…My Pennsylvania Family.

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Preface: I thought it was fitting to express my thanks during the month of November for something new each day, as so many others have done before me. I’ve never taken the time to do this, and it will be a challenge to blog each day, but it’s so important to recognize the blessings God has given us! 🙂 These are in NO particular order…

I came to Pennsylvania for the first time ten years ago. I came as a “summer missionary” to serve in Williamsport, PA for ten weeks. It was my first time traveling east of the Mississippi and I was excited, but a little nervous at the same time: I left Southern California having little idea of what to expect, but I was armed with plenty of stereotypes that had been fed to me by friends. Thankfully, most of those stereotypes were proven to be incorrect (i.e. “everyone’s Amish there!”) and I had a fabulous summer.

I remember the first night in Williamsport so well. I spent time with the pastor and his family while I waited for the couple with whom I would be living to arrive. A terrible storm had come through earlier and the power had been out for a while in much of Williamsport. When we got to the house that would be my home for the summer (and the next summer), it was dark, raining, and we had to use candles and flashlights (so I felt like we were Amish!). I got to spend a couple of hours talking with Toby and Susan, and I met Cheyenne briefly…little did I know that these wonderful people would become my “Pennsylvania Family” 🙂

I lived with them for two summers and have stayed in touch with them ever since. They flew to California to be there for our wedding, which meant so much to us. Toby and Susan love Jesus and they have been such an encouragement and support to me/us over the past decade. I cannot thank God enough for allowing me to live with them and to know them. They helped my two summers of ministry be successful in so many ways.

We had dinner with them tonight as they happened to be in the area, and I was reminded of how blessed I am by them.

God has always been faithful with placing people in my life who are great role models, who live out their faith genuinely, and who love others abundantly, and Toby and Susan are two of the greatest examples of those things in my life. 🙂

Day Nineteen: I’m Thankful For…Reliable Transportation.

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Preface: I thought it was fitting to express my thanks during the month of November for something new each day, as so many others have done before me. I’ve never taken the time to do this, and it will be a challenge to blog each day, but it’s so important to recognize the blessings God has given us! 🙂 These are in NO particular order…

I’m so very thankful that we have two reliable vehicles for which we have paid completely! Like Dave Ramsey says, you don’t “have” to have a car payment your entire life!

Our cars may not be new or pretty, but they function properly and that is all that matters. 🙂 So thankful that God has kept them running so well throughout our journey to become debt-free!

Day Eighteen: Brennan is Thankful For…Loyalty.

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Preface: I thought it was fitting to express my thanks during the month of November for something new each day, as so many others have done before me. I’ve never taken the time to do this, and it will be a challenge to blog each day, but it’s so important to recognize the blessings God has given us! 🙂 These are in NO particular order…

Since I (Lesa) wrote the first seventeen, I asked Brennan if he’d like to contribute anything…and he said yes!  So here’s a post from him…

As I think of some of the more significant times in my life, a lot of them revolve around the aspect of loyalty: people loyal to me and me loyal to them. It is often an overlooked character trait. I know for a fact that if it weren’t for some very loyal friends and family in my life, there is no way I would be as successful or even as happy as I am now.

To start, I would say that my best friend Jeremy has been by far the most loyal friend I’ve ever had. This is not to say that I haven’t had other very loyal friends, but Jeremy takes the cake. He has been as good a friend as he has been a mentor to me for over 17 years. There were a few occasions where I was in a tough spot, whether it would be spiritually, emotionally or whatever, that would send people running for the hills leaving me to figure it out and endure on my own or fall flat on my face. Jeremy was there to lend a hand, pick me up, listen or whatever I asked until I overcame. I, in turn, have done the same for him which I think has strengthened our friendship. Some may think this is a “duh” statement, but I mention it because I have seen too many people engaged in friendships where both parties think they have each other’s back only to find out this is not so. That has never been the case with Jeremy. No matter if we were 15 minutes or 6 hours apart (yes, these distances are accurate), we have always made ourselves available to talk or simply hang out. Aside from our wives, we are each other’s “go-to” people.

Speaking of wives, mine is simply the best. Yeah, I know, all husbands are somehow obligated to say this…except that I actually mean it and believe it. My wife, Lesa, has been by my side from Day–1 no matter how much of a bonehead I’ve been, no matter how grumpy I’ve been, and definitely no matter how crazy I’ve been (good crazy too 🙂 ) She always values my opinion and respects the decisions I make, even if it can possibly end in failure. She is the epitome of a Godly wife that I have always longed for and she daily shows me the loyalty that we both swore to each other on our wedding day. I in turn show the same type of loyalty, and one part of that is by resisting the temptations of this world that I’ve seen other men fall into. I simply won’t allow it because of the love and respect I’ve promised to show her all the days of our lives.

In a world where loyalty is a lost character trait, I value it at the top. This is because of the importance of it and the impact it can make in people’s lives. It’s made incredible differences in my life and will continue to do so, I’m sure. Like most other things in life, you get what you put into it. It’s a give and take trait. All give and no take, and visa a versa, leads to heartache and disappointment; and that’s something I do not wish to deal with or do unto anyone else.

 

Day Seventeen: I’m Thankful For…Mystery Shopping.

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Preface: I thought it was fitting to express my thanks during the month of November for something new each day, as so many others have done before me. I’ve never taken the time to do this, and it will be a challenge to blog each day, but it’s so important to recognize the blessings God has given us! 🙂 These are in NO particular order…

In early 2011 I began mystery shopping, and it has been such a blessing to us.

It all started when Brennan came home and mentioned that the Hotel Hershey had been evaluated by mystery shoppers from Forbes/AAA recently and they had just received their scores. I couldn’t believe that someone could get paid to get a massage! 🙂 I was familiar with the concept of mystery shopping because my mom and grandma had done it when I was younger; so, I decided to look into it for myself and have found it to be a really fun hobby!

Mystery shopping provides us with abundant “free” date nights. We can mystery shop movie theatres, tons of restaurants (ranging from fast food to fancy), hotels, sporting events, concerts, etc. This has been such a blessing to us because we strive to live as frugally as possible and this allows us to still “date” each other frequently (which is very important)!

On the practical side, we hardly ever pay for oil changes, brake inspections, shipping packages, etc. anymore. There are so many ways to get paid for things you need to do anyway! This has saved us so much money in the past two years!

Mystery shopping is challenging and requires a lot of detailed observations; but, once you get the hang of it you develop a system. Brennan is a great help on these shops because he can help me remember the details when it’s time to enter the shop into the system and he really enjoys it as well.

Finally, mystery shopping has been a way for me to bring extra income to the table which has allowed us to pay off our credit card debt so much faster. Since I only work part-time currently, it has made me feel like I am contributing to our family finances more, which I love.

I’m very thankful that God has provided this opportunity for us to date, live frugally, and have fun through mystery shopping!

(To read more about how to get into mystery shopping on your own, read this post.)