SUNDAY SERVICES:

My husband and I built our dream home on 10.5 acres in Virginia. We contracted the whole thing ourselves, and Peter himself laid all our heart of pine floors.  I picked out all the colors of paint. The walls were mostly a creamy yellow, which I consider the happiest color.

We planned to raise our family there. We installed a full swing set in the backyard even though our oldest could only use the baby swing. We had plenty of space, extra bedrooms, and scenic views from every window. We joked that this would be the house we would die in. (That's pretty dark humor, I know.)

We lived there for 1.5 years.

Our entire lives turned upside down at that moment. The life we were building in Virginia? God decided to close that door abruptly and without much warning. 

We sold out dream home in a week and moved to Florida. We shoved our furniture in a storage unit and moved into 2 bedrooms in my inlaws' house. Our two kids in one room, Peter and I in another.

The whole thing was shocking, sad, and God-led.

In 2002 when we felt the Lord call us to move to the Orlando area to be closer to all of our children and grandchildren, we first had to sell our home in Pittsburgh to afford our new Florida home.

No offers came for several months, until a husband and wife came one evening, looked quickly at the home, spoke to me briefly, and left. I said to Ida that I strongly felt this was the couple who would be the buyers.

This Sunday, January 16 we will be celebrating three decades of ministry on staff by our Missions Pastor, Sheryl Curbow-Shaw, and commissioning her as a missionary sent from New Covenant!