getting closer!

Well in the last month we have managed to finish the floors (all new hardwood and tile), paint every room and closet (minus the laundry room), replace most of the light fixtures and switchplates... oh and go from all four of us living in one bedroom to each person having their own space! Here are a few updates... we are certainly considering it a work in progress so I'll eventually post before and afters of all of the rooms!

Stella's Fancy Light - Installed!

Snow White showing off our beautiful Maple floors (thank you Daddy! You are the next Bob Villa/Ty Pennington)
LOOK! LOOK! We have a couch to sit on!!! And you can't see it but there is even a TV to watch, not that we have time to do that! Shh... see that Blue room... you can't tell from the picture but it's jam packed full of Boxes all along one wall!
Replaced Vanity, Installed new fixture and painted it a really cool, calm blue but in this photo it looks green...weird.
So you see now why I have been so behind in my blogging duties... renovating a house, moving to a new city and making a go at being a "Stay at Home Mom" for the first time in my life has been a tad bit overwhelming.

Not going to promise any more updates soon... I still have a PURPLE door to paint, Windows to clean, and my walls are nearly in tears they are so bare... So I have GOT to hang some wall decor! Gotta love a house flip!

the light.

At the end of the tunnel! Guess who has the keys to a home now! Ahh...we are one step closer to actually being residents in the town we serve. I must admit since we haven't "officially" moved to Campbellsville we have felt very distant to the community. We are so excited about the move and making this home our own. We laugh and say that with each move our homes get older (04, 93, 78) maybe one day we will own that historic home we both crave. But with each move we also learn so much about home improvement and remodeling. With our first home we learned to lay hardwood, in Texas it was tile and interior trim and for this house it's going to be a little bit of both of those and maybe even more! As you can see the landscape needs a little TLC and the inside needs a bit as well. So here's our to do list that we hope to accomplish in the next few weeks! Ideally before we leave for Disney...we'll see!

-Repaint entire interior (including ceilings in some)

-Lay hardwood in 4 rooms and down the hallway

-Tile 2 bathrooms

and of course actually move all of our stuff into the home!

But next summer when we are splashing around in this it will all be worthwhile!

Over the last few nights we have been visiting the house to bring tools, flooring and paint in preparation for our work weekends to begin. The community is so nice and everyone has been so welcoming already! I think I already know more people in this neighborhood than I ever did in my subdivision in Dallas...of course privacy fences and re-entry garages will do that. We really are excited to make Kensington Way our new address!

I stole from the Preacher.

I did. I lifted these pictures from his website because I didn't have them and I wanted to share them with my little blogger friends. And I haven't had the time to slow down and take a few shots of our new home.

So please forgive me Phil, my sincerest apologies,

The Associate Pastor's stealing wife

With the confession off my back please enjoy pics of our new church home!

The building was formerly a Coca-Cola Bottling Plant!

Here's the Auditorium... ready for worship!

Lovely little picture introducing our family, pretty sure I am showing a little too much leg to be on the big screens at church.

And of course two of the coolest Pastors in Central Kentucky... well at least they think so :)

in need of Restoration

So today I totally tainted that "Perfect Preacher's Wife" image I was shooting for... let me share my Sunday morning with you...
5:30am - Baby cries, time to nurse, half awake I stumble into her room and collect her from her travel bed, smile at the fact that a gentleman from our church recently saw a picture of Viv in this bed and asked if we were keeping her in a suitcase. I finish nursing and decide to go back to sleep for just a few more minutes of shut eye.

Seconds pass and Jason is nudging me... "why don't you sleep a little longer and come later." We had discussed our strategy last night. He had to be at church by 9:30am for a meeting and with the hour commute that meant leaving no later than 8:30, last night I had calmly said no problem we can do that. Then it's morning and reality has arrived... I contemplate the offer to sleep in, but then realize that means using twice as much gas for the hour commute over to the church and not to mention climbing the 71 steps at the marina with both girls by myself. I roll myself out of bed and begin the madness...

I jump in the shower, "Hmm... I should really put the girls in those cotton dresses once more before Fall sets in (wow, Thank you God for seasons, I have missed those), Ugh, that means I need to iron."

Jump out of the shower, plug in the iron, ask J to wake Stella while I start ironing dresses. Quickly put on some makeup...search for lipstick, no luck, baby wakes, starts screaming...

I stop with the makeup application, think to myself... "that's enough, it will have to do" let baby cry a few seconds more while I rub on the new lotion I had bought the day before, run to screaming baby, time to nurse (again), nurse baby, notice that her eye is watering "Weird" but right it off to the very brief seconds I left her in the bed (insert Mother's guilt)

I sit down on the couch to nurse, I look over and realize Stella is dressed and eating breakfast (PRAISE GOD) but dressed means dressed in the recently pressed dress which is now wadded (that's a good Kentucky word) up around her waist...so much for the ironing I think.

Finish with Viv and notice the watery eye is now a tad red... hmmm odd. Throw on clothes, check the clock, remind J of the scheduled 8:30 departure. We must leave now, I throw on clothes and begin the shuffle out the door.

J-"Have you seen her eye?"
Em-"Yes, come'on Stella let's Go"
I turn off cartoons, insert MAJOR dramatic meltdown.
Scoop up melting Stella and force her limp arms into her lifejacket (because after all we are on a dock and we do have to climb steps), laugh to myself as we "wad" the dress even more, why did I bother?

We climb the steps, mid climb Jason gets a call... there's a run-through of the service that starts at 9. "Great" I say to myself, so much for aiding in his ministry, he's waiting on us and would have been there at 9 if he had gone on without us. I make a mental note to never try this again.Viv starts screaming, I look down, her eye is now really red with spots around it.

We pile into the car and begin the commute. Viv continues to cry, I kick off my shoes and climb into the back to calm her. Viv's eye is now red, spotty and swollen.

We make it to the church J jumps out and I explain that I'll run to Wal-mart to get some Visine for Viv. He looks at me and utters a weak "Good Luck" I am not sure if this is a wish or a question. I jump in the driver's seat and realize we are out of gas.

I drive to Wal-mart, jump out to get gas, look down and realize at some point I have managed to get a HUGE black mark down the front of my shirt. Add Tide To Go pen to my list. Run in Wal-mart with both girls, Viv has calmed down and Stella is moving like molasses. Tide to Go, check, Lipstick (I never found mine) check, Visine, check, decide to open it and put a few drops in Viv's eye...she screams, HARD. I pray no one is around watching this fiasco.

Load Girls back into car. Attack my shirt with the Tide to Go pen. Spin into church parking lot on two wheels, Viv hasn't really stopped screaming and as we enter the church it gets progressively louder. Lovely... here I am, "The New Lady" with a screaming baby and a Drama Queen 3 year old that has decided to stop in the lobby and dance, Really Stella now, right now you have to perform.

I find the Children's check in and start filling out the security paperwork so that I can claim my children after service...hmmm. J walks up, frazzled I look at him and simply hand Viv over and utter a small "Help" we get the names on the sheet, the stickers on the girls and Stella in her room. Viv, still crying, is now about to make her debut in the nursery. Great first impression... We hand this screaming baby over to an absolutely adorable nursery worker that assures us she'll be fine, I think to myself "Lady you don't know what you are promising."

Deep Breath, smile, walk into auditorium, make mental note to NEVER again shoot for that Perfect Preacher's wife image...stupid.

I remind myself that the Devil loves to attack us on Sundays... Hah! Take that Bad Boy...all that you threw at us this morning and we still made it.


After yesterday, here's the song I couldn't get off my mind today. Enjoy!



Oh and it was my Bath and Body Works lotion... her eye is fine now!

Back in the Bluegrass

After nearly 3 years in Dallas we have made our way back to the Bluegrass State. The drive from Texas was um... interesting? Let's just say, Moving Trucks, Dramatic 3 year old, a 3 month old and a speeding ticket before I even got out of Dallas County! Moving on...

We arrived Saturday afternoon and within two hours Jason, his brother Charlie and our Dads had unpacked all of our belongings into two storage units. I must admit there is something a little depressing about seeing all of your belongings condensed to boxes, stacked into a metal building and then driving away not knowing how long it will be until you have a place to put it all again.

So we have unloaded our things and have set up temporary residence at Jamestown Marina on Lake Cumberland aboard "Living Full" Jason's Parent's houseboat. We are so blessed to have a "Rent Free" place to hang until we find a home. Speaking of homes we spent all day Monday and Tuesday looking at so many homes our heads were spinning. We realized that we were trying to do it all on our own...so on Wednesday we started the day asking God to lead the way and show us the home he wants us to buy. That's when God yet again blew our minds...

We received a call from a lady who had a house for sale privately. The house is perfect for us with 4 bedrooms and a loft that would make one sweet playroom for the girls. Plus it's located in a great subdivision that would be nice for the walking, biking and playing with neighbors. So we think we may have found the house for us and just pray that if it's "The ONE" that everything falls into place.

So that's pretty much our life right now... just in limbo... we will attend our first Sunday at Living Grace with Jason as Associate Pastor this week so I'll keep you posted on the church, the house and the chaos that is our life right now!

Rest assured we are thrilled to be here, excited to make new friends at LGC and dearly miss our Dallas friends and Firewheel family!

Well Hi GOD... thanks for getting back to me.

Ok so I think it's so um... interesting, providential, amazing, humbling and oh I don't know, proof that God has a sense of humor, that the last post I made was on June 24 and I was pretty much YELLING at God.


(By the way God, Sorry about that whole yelling thing - truths?!?)


So want to hear a good...I mean GOD story? Pull up a chair my friend... not just because it's long but because you are gonna need to be sitting down.


Let me set up the story just a little... Last post, frustrated not knowing what to do. Studying, reading, lots of quite time... dinner with my husband one night results in this conversation.


E-"Jay, I really feel like God is telling us to take a step of faith, do something and show him we are all in and ready to go wherever.


J-"Me too Em..."


E-"I think we should..."


J-"Put our house on the market!?"


E-"Yes, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking."


7/14 -So we decide to list the house with our realtor we used when we came to Texas because we promised her we would. She arrives on Tuesday afternoon and we sign all the paperwork and when she leaves there is a For Sale sign in our yard.


That evening (seriously, that night) we get a call from a church in Campbellsville, KY. Jason had completed a phone interview with them while we were in the hospital with Vivian. He actually talked to the Senior Pastor sitting in the waiting room at Baylor Frisco. The church informs us that they are still praying about the position and hope to have a decision soon. So we say OK God thanks for the info. It's not a yes, not a no but we feel like it's confirmation that we are taking the right steps.


7/15-7/17 - Our house is posted on the MLS real estate listing for DFW. A young couple from Denton (North of DFW) has been searching months for a new home and she sees our house the first night it's online and her realtor calls for a showing on Thursday (two days after listing). Meanwhile I am dragging the kids out of the house every 2-3 hours for showings.


7/17 - The young couple makes an offer the next morning after their showing.


7/18 - We counter and then head to see DORA! at the Nokia and pack for vacation in Kentucky.


7/19 - We leave for Kentucky.


7/20 - We arrive in Kentucky and get a call from our Realtor the counter was accepted and we have to be out of our house on August 14th. DEAR GOD that's 3 weeks and we are on vacation this week!!!


7/21 -7/22 - God sends some of our amazing friends "The Spires Family" to the boat. We play and try to forget what has just happened... our friends laugh at us and call us their "Homeless" friends who bathe in the LAKE.


7/23 - Jason becomes overwhelmed by the reality of what has happened and strikes out on the waver runner to be alone, pulls into a cove and hashes it out with God. "OK GOD we've done this... you sent a buyer... now what!" He pauses, afraid that I may be worried about him because he's been gone so long, he pulls out his cell to call me. It shows a voicemail.


(Are you sitting down?)


It's the Church in Campbellsville!!! They want to schedule another interview, when they find out he is in Kentucky this week they invite us to dinner THAT NIGHT. So at 4:00pm Jason is on the water, by 6:30pm we are eating Tex-Mex with members of the search team! And they invite us to church on Sunday for another interview.


7/27 - We leave Kentucky after two amazing interviews and falling in love with Living Grace Church, an oasis in Central Kentucky of contemporary worship, a relaxed environment and a place that is reaching the Unchurched, Dechurched and Badly Churched (that's Fireweel speak for a church that's got it right). We are feeling strongly that this is where God wants us... after all he's done a 180 on my heart because 6 months ago the mere mention of moving back to KY had me in tears, kicking and screaming, and Sunday I am standing in this church tears STREAMING down my face longing to love on those people.


But... we don't know if the feeling is mutual. The leadership at LGC will continue with their process and we are told they hope to have a decision within the next few weeks.


We bring Jason's mom back with us to watch Vivian for a few weeks because I have to go back to work, my maternity leave is over.


7/28 - God tells us yet again, to take another step of faith... this one... quit your jobs. What?!? but we don't know what the future holds, we have two little ones who need insurance!


7/30 - We give our notices at work and start packing not sure where we are going. LGC calls Jason to ask for a teaching sample he offers to record this weekend and send it to them.

8/2 - Jason has an awesome lesson and great time with our Stage 3 class at FWBF and has 3 types of devices recording. But after the lesson realizes two failed midway through and the final recording was simply a just in case Digital Voice Recorder. Jason feels defeated and spends the entire day working with out much luck to clean the audio. He sends it to LGC with an older sample explaining that the Devil was Alive and working in Texas today.

8/3 - I listen to LGC's service from Sunday and the lesson is from Nehemiah and Pastor Phil explained that Nehemiah was literally building the wall with one hand and fighting the devil with the other... it hits me... that is what Jason was doing yesterday! When he went to bed Sunday night he looked mentally and physically exhausted... he had fought a battle that day.

8/6 - Many of our close friends know that LGC Search committee will be meeting tonight and they pray for us and ultimately God's will. Our prayer is that regardless of the outcome God will show us our next step because he has showed us that our time in Texas is finished.

8/7 - Less than one month from listing our house and one week from quitting our jobs... Living Grace Church calls to ask Jason to come to C-ville to serve as the new Associate Pastor for LGC. Needless to say, we, our families, our friends and random strangers that we stop to share the story with are blown away at God's providence!

8/9 - Our last Sunday at Firewheel, we share our story on stage which elicits an emotional response. One of tears, awe, excitement and joy. Although our Firewheel family is sad to see us go they send us out with joy. They have equipped us to share a Firewheel type of environment with Central Kentucky and we are so blessed.

Days 8/10-8/14 are sure to bring a mix of emotions and more of God's provisions... I'll keep you posted. Well I'll try it's gonna be a crazy few weeks!

Hello God... it's me Emily

No this isn't the beginnings of a new Judy Blume book but rather my outlet for recent "Instruction" from God. Uggh... I've just been so frustrated lately. Well, frustrated, sad, mad, angry, but then I'll regroup dive into God's word and get all happy, hopeful, joyful and peaceful. Then before you know it I have forgotten all the promises he has made me and I am down in the dumps AGAIN. For nearly the last year we have been asking God to show us where our next step in ministry is...

We have:
1) Asked God to be obvious (seriously we need a flashing directional sign!)
2) Prayed for patience during the waiting period
3) Asked God for a deep, burning passion for an area and a people (we don't care where, we just want to be passionate about it and go wholeheartedly)

In that year he has:
1) Not closed but SLAMMED doors to 3 different ministry opportunities that we thought might be "IT"
2) Suprised us with a new baby (even though we were terrified we couldn't afford/handle one) during the waiting period.
3) Begun to develop that passion but hasn't made the least indication that he's going to send us to those people.
4) Reminded me (through NUMEROUS outlets) to have FAITH!!!

So the other day I simply had to laugh at God's sense of humor when in my devotional time I read this...
"But you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in it's wings. And you will go out and leap like calves from the stall." Malachi 4:1-2

OK Lord, I am trusting you, I know your timing is perfect... I promise I'll work on my steps of faith and rest assured this Cow can't wait to go leaping from her stall to our next adventure!


***Sorry, I guess this wasn't really a blog posting but rather a conversation with God via Blogger, my bad. I needed a new outlet ok?!??!?