Aaron and I had bought an old two-story, 2600 square foot house that had been vacant for a couple of years and started renovating it. It was in sorry condition. In many years of neglect, the yard had become a mess. We hired someone to help us design what would look nice, then we started in. We landscaped. Expensive!
Then we started inside. The kitchen was original, I think. We gutted it and got a new kitchen. Then we pulled up the carpets and refinished the oak floors and just went room by room and redid the whole house, plumbing, electrical, everything.
Through the course of this Dane was born. We had been there almost five years, had almost finished the whole house, when God woke me up one morning and told me to sell the house. Wow, no God, please, it has taken us almost five years to get the house the way we want it. But, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was He speaking to me. I woke up Aaron and told him. He said the same thing about taking five years and all most done, etc. Then he said, "We only have two or three small things to do, let's finish and put it on the market." We did.
We started praying about where God would have us move. I was in real-estate at the time and immediately started looking. We looked in Independence, Lees Summit, Blue Springs, really everywhere. We started making offers.
The second family through our home bought it. We negotiated that we would be able to stay in the house for a month after it closed. We were feverishly looking. And making offers, good offers, not low-dollar. But each one, for one reason or another, never came close to being signed.
My dad wanted us to move to the lake by them, but Aaron and I were city people and didn't want to live that far out of town. But, dad kept insisting that we come look at a lot down the street from him. So one Sunday we drove out and after lunch went to look at the lot. It was not at all what we wanted. Then he insisted that we go talk with Mrs. Wren (her family owned the lake). We called her, she was so sweet and asked us to come over.
Oh my! We drove up into her drive. She had a three-story New England Colonial. We had just sold our two-story New England Colonial. We talked about her house and the house we had just sold. Hers had the same floor plan, just bigger. We really hit it off well. She brought out huge maps of the lake and put them out on her twelve-foot dinning room table. She showed us a couple of lots that she would sell us. Aaron and I knew nothing of the lake except right where Mom and Dad lived. Mrs. Wren had one lot just four doors down from them. I knew right where it was. It was solid forest, you could not even step off the road. She said that at our expense we would have to make sure there was enough square footage to meet city codes and that there was enough fall to attach on to the sewer. But, she would sell it to us for $3,000. What a deal. I knew a surveyor and a plumber. And it had plenty of square footage and just enough fall.
We began frantically looking for a floor plan. I worked with several builders and had huge piles of house plan books. We looked through them many times trying to find one that we liked. None of them seemed right. Then one morning, I had awakened and was sitting in bed praying. As I finished, I reached down to the floor and picked up one of the books that we had been through many times. I flopped it open, there was the perfect floor plan! I called Aaron and told him that I had found a floor plan. He didn't ask anything about it, just said, "Call and order the plans."
We moved just the necessities into a very small two-bedroom apartment and everything else into storage. We started building almost immediately. I had never contracted a house before, but God knew how. He went before us each step of the way.
Val brought out his big 944 and a skid loader. He taught me how to run both of them and the two of us cleared the lot and dug the basement.
The framers said they would knock off money if we would keep the house cleaned out, so each evening Dane (just turned two) and I would go clean and sweep out the mess the builders had made that day. Dane would pick up all the nails and I would pick up the wood scraps. Then we would sweep. We had a good time doing it. We got him a little hammer and taught him to hammer the nails into Styrofoam.
When the finish carpenter said that he needed the fireplace insert, I got in the car and headed to the fireplace store in Lee's Summit. I pulled into the parking lot, sat there and prayed, "Please show me, Lord. I don't know anything about fireplaces." I walked through the store and came around to the door. I had not heard God speak, so I asked him again. Then I started walking again. As I walked, one seemed to stand out. I asked the price. It was just what we had specked for it. I paid for it had it delivered.
A year after we moved in, my dad came running down the street. He asked what kind of fireplace we had, I told him. "Wow," he said, "How did you know what kind to get? I have just been reading and that was the most perfect fireplace you could have gotten for your home." Hey! God is so good.
On a Friday, the framers said that they only had a half day left, so they would finish up on Monday. That Friday Aaron came home to say that Jeff had just quit at the office. That sent Aaron into a spin. Jeff was his partner and they had three hired. We talked and prayed all weekend. Sunday evening we decided that Monday morning he would give everyone there two months notice, at the end of two months we would move the office to our basement, cutting all overhead and just work from there. So, Monday morning when the framers came to finished, I told them that now we were going to frame out the basement. It would have costs considerable more to have called them back after they had packed up all their tools, not to mention the sheetrockers and everyone else. Perfect timing, God.
I had wanted wood floors, but after pricing them (way out of our budget), had budgeted for carpet and linoleum. As we were nearing that part of the building phase, an old friend called and said that he had started installing wood floors and would like to give me a bid on our home. I laughed and told him that it was way too much. He insisted on coming over and did give us a bid. It was for what I had budgeted for carpet for both floors. Wow again. So we decided we could put in wood floors on the main floor, and live on plywood upstairs for a couple of years until we could save enough to put carpet upstairs. It took more like five years before we could afford flooring upstairs, but, by then I had figured out that I was allergic to duct mites and the worst thing for that is carpeting. What a blessing that we didn't have carpet throughout the house. Our only carpeting is in Dane's room and the guest room. Again, God is so good.
It took me a few months to figure out why God had had us sell the house in town and move. God knew that our house payment in town was $768 a month, our taxes and insurance were high. God knew that Jeff would quit, leaving Aaron holding the lease on the building, all the debt they had incurred setting up business and the continual overhead with the rent and salaries. When we moved the office to the basement of our new home, our house payment was $350 a month with much less in insurance and taxes, no office rent, salaries or overhead. We did have $10,000 in debt to pay, but that was do-able living with such low overhead. Way to go God!
I know there were soooo many more testimonies about the move, but I don't recall them at this moment. I should have written them down at that time.
God is so good. He was there each step of the way. And he will be there for you.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
A Brief Meeting - Adriane Howe
This is from a dream I had in July of 2010. I believe with all my heart that God allowed this vision to occur. There is no doubt in this testimony, God is so good, and he blesses us in so many ways. This is just one of my blessings God has granted me; I hope that it will be a blessing for those who read it as well.
As I went to sleep that night my heart was so troubled, in fact my heart and soul had been troubled since a conversation had occurred between Shane’s sister Abbey and I back in May. Feelings were, and still are, very raw after Shane’s death. Many unanswered questions and speculations, accusations and anger lingered. I had always been close to Abbey and was very distraught over the conversation we had. I stated my side and left it at that because I loved her and didn’t want to cause her any more pain. But I was troubled over the whole thing.
On this night in July I went to bed very troubled and fell asleep quickly, which rarely happens for me. In my dream a man, a large man with dark features came to me and said that Shane was waiting for me, that he had something very important to tell me but we had to go quickly. The next thing I know we are standing in a trolley car style diner. Of course I thought to myself, "HELLO Shane is dead why would he be meeting me in this diner?" The large man told me not to ask questions because they didn’t matter, what matters was that Shane would be there waiting for me. I sat at a table near the kitchen while the man disappeared into the kitchen.
I looked around to observe where I was, a normal enough diner for being late at night, people eating, laughing and joking. Seemed to be a place many came after a night out on the town and a few too many drinks. I felt a little out of place. I wouldn’t say scared, but on guard.
Then when I looked back to my table he was there. Shane was sitting right in front of me with a smile so big, so loving, almost as if he was shining with happiness. He was wearing an army green t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. He looked amazing, like every sorrow I had once seen in his eyes was gone. I was immediately moved to tears. I asked Shane if it was ok if I hugged him, Shane looked over and the man that brought me nodded. I wrapped my arms around him so hard I felt I’d break my own arms off. I cried, Shane just laughed and told me it was ok, he was ok.
I told him how sorry I was how everything ended and that I never thought it would end like that. He said he knew and he said he was sorry for putting me through all of that. He said he had learned so much since making it to heaven. That heaven wasn’t all white robes and golden gates that in fact it was pretty normal, just pure and beautiful and nothing but love. A place where souls could learn the truth and be forgiven for the mistakes they made in life. He said the colors were so amazing and beautiful, not like the colors we are use to.
I asked him if he could forgive me for marrying so soon after he died, he laughed and said, “Well, he’s a good man, but did that really work out how you had planned?” I laughed too because nothing seems to ever work out exactly how you think. He also said something to me concerning a part of my future. (I feel lead not discuss this part so I won’t be sharing that portion of my testimony at this time.)
He told me how proud he was that I was raising Braden with the truth. and he told me Braden would be ok. He said that he sees Braden all the time and he watches us when he has the time, because he works in heaven. Everyone has a job to do. I told him that I was really upset about his sister that I feared she was drifting into the black that had once taken him away from me and there was nothing I could do to bring her back. He looked at me with such peace and reassurance and told me not to let that trouble me any longer, that Abbey would be fine, it would take awhile, but in the end she would be fine. She would see the truth.
Then, in true Shane fashion, he asked me if I wanted to see him do a trick. Of course I laughed and said yes. He picked up a mountain dew pop bottle and balanced it on the tip of his finger and then walked it two tables down and back. To me this seemed like nothing and I just laughed at him for being silly. That’s when I realized that nobody else in the diner could actually see Shane except me so the bottle had “floated” back and forth. All the drunken party goers thought that was a cool trick and kept asking the waitress how she did it. She just smiled and said that strange stuff like that happened all the time at the diner.
Shane hugged me again and said it was time for him to go. He told me that all things happen for a reason and we never really know until we get to heaven why they happen the way they do, he had no regrets. He kissed the top of my head told me he loved me and was gone.
I immediately woke covered in sweat with tears streaming down my face and my troubled heart felt more at peace than it ever had. I thank God for allowing me to speak with Shane for that brief moment; it has made such a difference in my life.
*A few weeks after this dream my mom had mentioned to Susan (Mauck) my dream, Susan called me and asked me to tell her my experience. When I was done relaying the dream Susan took a deep breath and through tears she told me that the Holy Spirit had confirmed my testimony was a vision and that she felt that the large man in my dream was one of the Three Nephites guiding and protecting me. I was overwhelmed to hear her say this, and quickly in my head questioned why I of all people would be so fortunate to be blessed with the honor of being in the presence of one of the Three Nephites. I have found a simple answer, it was God’s will and even though I do not always understand or feel worthy of such blessings, I am grateful that God granted me such an amazing blessing.
**Shane was right about Abbey as well. In November 2010 Abbey emailed me a short and to the point email. She said she was going to a group counseling session for survivors of suicide and felt like she needed to tell me. She came and spent Christmas at my house with my family and sat down with me that night and we shared many things. I was able to comfort her at that moment in a way that only God could have managed to arrange. She is in contact with me all the time now. Her spirit has changed and I no longer see or sense the darkness that once threatened to pull her away. God is so gracious and he truly does have a hand in every part of our lives, both the darkest times and the most joyous times.
As I went to sleep that night my heart was so troubled, in fact my heart and soul had been troubled since a conversation had occurred between Shane’s sister Abbey and I back in May. Feelings were, and still are, very raw after Shane’s death. Many unanswered questions and speculations, accusations and anger lingered. I had always been close to Abbey and was very distraught over the conversation we had. I stated my side and left it at that because I loved her and didn’t want to cause her any more pain. But I was troubled over the whole thing.
On this night in July I went to bed very troubled and fell asleep quickly, which rarely happens for me. In my dream a man, a large man with dark features came to me and said that Shane was waiting for me, that he had something very important to tell me but we had to go quickly. The next thing I know we are standing in a trolley car style diner. Of course I thought to myself, "HELLO Shane is dead why would he be meeting me in this diner?" The large man told me not to ask questions because they didn’t matter, what matters was that Shane would be there waiting for me. I sat at a table near the kitchen while the man disappeared into the kitchen.
I looked around to observe where I was, a normal enough diner for being late at night, people eating, laughing and joking. Seemed to be a place many came after a night out on the town and a few too many drinks. I felt a little out of place. I wouldn’t say scared, but on guard.
Then when I looked back to my table he was there. Shane was sitting right in front of me with a smile so big, so loving, almost as if he was shining with happiness. He was wearing an army green t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. He looked amazing, like every sorrow I had once seen in his eyes was gone. I was immediately moved to tears. I asked Shane if it was ok if I hugged him, Shane looked over and the man that brought me nodded. I wrapped my arms around him so hard I felt I’d break my own arms off. I cried, Shane just laughed and told me it was ok, he was ok.
I told him how sorry I was how everything ended and that I never thought it would end like that. He said he knew and he said he was sorry for putting me through all of that. He said he had learned so much since making it to heaven. That heaven wasn’t all white robes and golden gates that in fact it was pretty normal, just pure and beautiful and nothing but love. A place where souls could learn the truth and be forgiven for the mistakes they made in life. He said the colors were so amazing and beautiful, not like the colors we are use to.
I asked him if he could forgive me for marrying so soon after he died, he laughed and said, “Well, he’s a good man, but did that really work out how you had planned?” I laughed too because nothing seems to ever work out exactly how you think. He also said something to me concerning a part of my future. (I feel lead not discuss this part so I won’t be sharing that portion of my testimony at this time.)
He told me how proud he was that I was raising Braden with the truth. and he told me Braden would be ok. He said that he sees Braden all the time and he watches us when he has the time, because he works in heaven. Everyone has a job to do. I told him that I was really upset about his sister that I feared she was drifting into the black that had once taken him away from me and there was nothing I could do to bring her back. He looked at me with such peace and reassurance and told me not to let that trouble me any longer, that Abbey would be fine, it would take awhile, but in the end she would be fine. She would see the truth.
Then, in true Shane fashion, he asked me if I wanted to see him do a trick. Of course I laughed and said yes. He picked up a mountain dew pop bottle and balanced it on the tip of his finger and then walked it two tables down and back. To me this seemed like nothing and I just laughed at him for being silly. That’s when I realized that nobody else in the diner could actually see Shane except me so the bottle had “floated” back and forth. All the drunken party goers thought that was a cool trick and kept asking the waitress how she did it. She just smiled and said that strange stuff like that happened all the time at the diner.
Shane hugged me again and said it was time for him to go. He told me that all things happen for a reason and we never really know until we get to heaven why they happen the way they do, he had no regrets. He kissed the top of my head told me he loved me and was gone.
I immediately woke covered in sweat with tears streaming down my face and my troubled heart felt more at peace than it ever had. I thank God for allowing me to speak with Shane for that brief moment; it has made such a difference in my life.
*A few weeks after this dream my mom had mentioned to Susan (Mauck) my dream, Susan called me and asked me to tell her my experience. When I was done relaying the dream Susan took a deep breath and through tears she told me that the Holy Spirit had confirmed my testimony was a vision and that she felt that the large man in my dream was one of the Three Nephites guiding and protecting me. I was overwhelmed to hear her say this, and quickly in my head questioned why I of all people would be so fortunate to be blessed with the honor of being in the presence of one of the Three Nephites. I have found a simple answer, it was God’s will and even though I do not always understand or feel worthy of such blessings, I am grateful that God granted me such an amazing blessing.
**Shane was right about Abbey as well. In November 2010 Abbey emailed me a short and to the point email. She said she was going to a group counseling session for survivors of suicide and felt like she needed to tell me. She came and spent Christmas at my house with my family and sat down with me that night and we shared many things. I was able to comfort her at that moment in a way that only God could have managed to arrange. She is in contact with me all the time now. Her spirit has changed and I no longer see or sense the darkness that once threatened to pull her away. God is so gracious and he truly does have a hand in every part of our lives, both the darkest times and the most joyous times.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
I'm Coming to Take You Home - by Beulah Marshall
Many years ago, I was pregnant and insisting the baby was dead. The droctors did nothing about it. After months of this I told Joe that I was naming our baby 'Jody'.
"That's good." he said. "Jody works for either boy or girl."
"This is a girl," I said. And the tests came back and I was right.
Years later, I still grieved for her loss and now Joe was dying of cancer. When I came into the room, tears were streaming down his face.
"Are you in pain?" I asked.
"I heard her voice," he said. "She said, 'Hi Daddy, I'm Jody and I'm coming to take you home.'"
From that time til death, he waited for her coming and told everyone about his experience.
"That's good." he said. "Jody works for either boy or girl."
"This is a girl," I said. And the tests came back and I was right.
Years later, I still grieved for her loss and now Joe was dying of cancer. When I came into the room, tears were streaming down his face.
"Are you in pain?" I asked.
"I heard her voice," he said. "She said, 'Hi Daddy, I'm Jody and I'm coming to take you home.'"
From that time til death, he waited for her coming and told everyone about his experience.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
God's Protection - by David Argotsinger
“I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved; Therefore, did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope; Because thou wilt not leave my soul in prison, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.”
These words were attributed to King David by Peter in Acts, chapter 2 verses 25-28. He said these words concerning Christ. My life hasn’t even approached the magnitude of King David’s life. I’m not even king in my own home. Not that I should be. But when David says, “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life”, I marvel at how similar his life is to any one of us with respect to our relationship to God.
My God is a God of miracles. Daily examples occur if we would only open our eyes to them. My life has been full. The miracles have been a constant thread throughout my life, most of which have gone unnoticed or unappreciated. One event that did get noticed and appreciated occurred a few years ago while I was still working for Unilever in the Wishbone Salad Dressing Department.
It was a pleasant day in April 2000. School was winding down for the year and my wife had just graduated from University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg and was doing some substitute teaching at Blue Springs South High School. I had taken it upon myself to do an audit of the mixing of a certain variety of salad dressing. (We would conduct periodic audits in the mixroom looking for ways to improve the process.) Unfortunately, on this occasion, all the mixing was taking place in the middle of the night, to be packaged the following morning.
I was in the plant by midnight and the audit was completed by the beginning of the first shift. Since I was on an improvement committee scheduled to meet that morning, I stayed around for it. It was one of the few meetings I actually stayed awake for before or since.
Following the meeting, I headed for home. I had no indications that I was going to have any trouble. I felt alert, but was anxious to get home. I remember approaching Robert’s Nursery on 40 Highway, but the next thing I remember I was bouncing around in my Red Dodge Dakota. Apparently, I had fallen asleep. The truck had gone straight ahead while the highway had curved sharply to the left.
I woke up just in time to try to regain control of my truck, but there was absolutely no controlling it. I tried pulling it back to the road to no avail. I hit a concrete culvert ripping off the left rear wheel and at the same time narrowly missing a grove of trees. Another 20 yards, the truck left rear hit a tree turning the truck sideways. Its momentum caused it to rip through a wooden fence, rolling over and landing gracefully on its wheels (or what was left of them) a few feet from a young family’s swing set.
About 20 minutes later, my wife received a call from the Blue Springs Police Department telling her that her husband was in an accident and that he was alright. She went to the high school office and someone said, ”It must be a day for accidents, because the PE teacher’s neighbor called and said there was a pickup in their back yard and their fence was down.
Throughout all this the airbags did not deploy, but my rescuers were unable to get me out without using the Jaws of Life to rip off the driver’s side door. By the time all that was over, there wasn’t a square inch of that truck that didn’t have some sort of damage to it. I had a little pain in my side that made it difficult to move and a small cut on my hand from all the broken glass, but I was otherwise unhurt. The most discomfort was being strapped to a hard, straight board and being bounced around all the way to the hospital in Independence.
Shortly afterward, I discovered I had a mild condition of hypothyroidism which I believe contributed to my dropping off to sleep without any warning. God has intervened in my life more times than I can count and more times than I have realized at the time. While the truck was leaving the road and bumping into things and rolling over, I felt assured that I was going to be alright and that God would take care of me this time.
Throughout scripture, miracles were associated with preaching the Kingdom of God to those who would listen. Each one of us can learn from our daily experiences and can learn more of what God has in store for us when Zion becomes a reality. In the beginning paragraph, I quoted from Acts which, in turn, was a quote from Psalm 16. David begins this psalm by saying, “Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust.” He concludes this Psalm by saying, “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” To all those who read this, may you trust in the Lord and experience firsthand the joys and pleasures that God has in store for you both in this life and the next.
These words were attributed to King David by Peter in Acts, chapter 2 verses 25-28. He said these words concerning Christ. My life hasn’t even approached the magnitude of King David’s life. I’m not even king in my own home. Not that I should be. But when David says, “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life”, I marvel at how similar his life is to any one of us with respect to our relationship to God.
My God is a God of miracles. Daily examples occur if we would only open our eyes to them. My life has been full. The miracles have been a constant thread throughout my life, most of which have gone unnoticed or unappreciated. One event that did get noticed and appreciated occurred a few years ago while I was still working for Unilever in the Wishbone Salad Dressing Department.
It was a pleasant day in April 2000. School was winding down for the year and my wife had just graduated from University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg and was doing some substitute teaching at Blue Springs South High School. I had taken it upon myself to do an audit of the mixing of a certain variety of salad dressing. (We would conduct periodic audits in the mixroom looking for ways to improve the process.) Unfortunately, on this occasion, all the mixing was taking place in the middle of the night, to be packaged the following morning.
I was in the plant by midnight and the audit was completed by the beginning of the first shift. Since I was on an improvement committee scheduled to meet that morning, I stayed around for it. It was one of the few meetings I actually stayed awake for before or since.
Following the meeting, I headed for home. I had no indications that I was going to have any trouble. I felt alert, but was anxious to get home. I remember approaching Robert’s Nursery on 40 Highway, but the next thing I remember I was bouncing around in my Red Dodge Dakota. Apparently, I had fallen asleep. The truck had gone straight ahead while the highway had curved sharply to the left.
I woke up just in time to try to regain control of my truck, but there was absolutely no controlling it. I tried pulling it back to the road to no avail. I hit a concrete culvert ripping off the left rear wheel and at the same time narrowly missing a grove of trees. Another 20 yards, the truck left rear hit a tree turning the truck sideways. Its momentum caused it to rip through a wooden fence, rolling over and landing gracefully on its wheels (or what was left of them) a few feet from a young family’s swing set.
About 20 minutes later, my wife received a call from the Blue Springs Police Department telling her that her husband was in an accident and that he was alright. She went to the high school office and someone said, ”It must be a day for accidents, because the PE teacher’s neighbor called and said there was a pickup in their back yard and their fence was down.
Throughout all this the airbags did not deploy, but my rescuers were unable to get me out without using the Jaws of Life to rip off the driver’s side door. By the time all that was over, there wasn’t a square inch of that truck that didn’t have some sort of damage to it. I had a little pain in my side that made it difficult to move and a small cut on my hand from all the broken glass, but I was otherwise unhurt. The most discomfort was being strapped to a hard, straight board and being bounced around all the way to the hospital in Independence.
Shortly afterward, I discovered I had a mild condition of hypothyroidism which I believe contributed to my dropping off to sleep without any warning. God has intervened in my life more times than I can count and more times than I have realized at the time. While the truck was leaving the road and bumping into things and rolling over, I felt assured that I was going to be alright and that God would take care of me this time.
Throughout scripture, miracles were associated with preaching the Kingdom of God to those who would listen. Each one of us can learn from our daily experiences and can learn more of what God has in store for us when Zion becomes a reality. In the beginning paragraph, I quoted from Acts which, in turn, was a quote from Psalm 16. David begins this psalm by saying, “Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust.” He concludes this Psalm by saying, “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” To all those who read this, may you trust in the Lord and experience firsthand the joys and pleasures that God has in store for you both in this life and the next.
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