Home Owners, Week One

It has now been a full week of being home owners. I have been working hard to get the house ready to move in and I am enjoying having something to do (nothing new on the job front yet). I have almost finished taking off the popcorn ceiling on the first floor and have taken off the ugly wallpaper in the dinning room and most of the kitchen. Paul's sister Lauren and cousin TJ came over Saturday and ripped up all the carpet in the house (the lady smoked and had let her dogs and cats do their business in the house, so it all smelled and had to go). The house is starting to smell better. It's a long process but it is keeping me busy and I know the house will be great once we fix it up. I also applied to HGTV to have them come and give my masterbath a make-over, so I'll let you know if I get on TV. Here are some pictures of last week.

There Is A Reason

There is a reason why we call this blog "The Adventures of Paul & Sonja"... because our life doesn't always go as planned, it is hard at times, there are many challenges and it is never boring. But we believe that if we look at life like it's an adventure, we can laugh along the trials and unusual circumstances and think about all the great stories we can tell people (and they are all true!).

(We won't even tell you about seeing a black bear up close and personal Monday while hiking at Table Rock!)

Today Paul and I planned to buy our first house. It has been a solid two months of living in his parents house and we were looking forward to getting the keys of our fixer-upper so that we could start making it a home of our own. But that would not make a good story, nor would that be the pattern of our lives.

We got to the house at 10:30am to do our final walk-thru to make sure nothing had been damaged during the moving out process, only to find that the lady hadn't moved out of the house. The smell of smoke and urine took your breath away as you walked into the house to find stuff everywhere. Our Realtor was so upset, but at the same time, none of us were surprised.

We drove to the law office to sign papers. When we got there the lawyer asked if he could speak to Paul and I first. Once in a private room he advised us to not settle on the house until the people were completely out of the house. The lady who owned the house has some sort of mental disability, I don't really know what's wrong with her, but she is not all there and didn't understand that she had to be out of the house. Our Realtor found her a nice trailer where she will be living, but she had no help in moving out. So Paul and I offered to help her. Last week on vacation our speaker talked about loving our neighbor and this was a perfect opportunity to serve a person, who we really don't know, but who is in need.

We quickly ran home and changed into grubby clothes. The lady and her son were ecstatic and couldn't believe we would serve them in this way. Soon after, my pastor's wife, Kathy showed up and we worked together packing the kitchen (nothing had been done). Then more people came from our church. Paul, our pastor Bob and a college guy names John helped load things onto pickup trucks (one being Bob's) while Kathy, Pat (our Realtor) and myself worked on putting things in boxes and bringing them to the truck. Then our associate pastor (Chad) showed up with his son Jackson, and two more church guys (Kyle and Jason) came by to help. We eventually had to tell people to quit coming, because we had so many and we were almost done. We opened all the windows and doors to air the place out. Kathy even cleaned the kitchen sink and the stove which grossed me out so I was so thankful. We all wore plastic gloves because it was so gross! The guys then drove to where they were moving and helped them unload and get settled in their new place while we finished up vacuuming the house and throwing out things.

The lady was so appreciative. She asked what church we went to because she had never been served like this before. She said she and her grown son hadn't been to a church in years. They always thought of Christian's as hypocrites and so never had a desire to go to church. But she said that now she wants to go to church and to our church! I think that is so cool. There is a reason for everything. Paul and I believe that. God gave us an opportunity to serve a lady in need today. Please pray for Viki and her son that they will come to church. She is a cashier at the local grocery store so we will be seeing her around and we hope to continue reaching out to her.

Tomorrow we will go back to the law office to close on the house and we will be proud owners of our first house! Let the adventure (and the craziness that is our life) continue.

Vacation with the Family in NY

Last week Paul and I flew to upstate NY to spend a week at Camp of the Woods with my family. It was nice to get a break from the 100 degree weather (it never got over 65 degrees in the Adirondacks!). We enjoyed wearing jeans and sweatshirts and sleeping with cool nights. It rained a lot while we were there and we even liked that because we didn't feel bad just sitting and relaxing. We stayed in a cabin that overlooked the lake which made it so nice when it rained. We enjoyed sitting on our porch and watching the rain come over the lake and here the loud thunder bounce between the mountains.

We were assigned seats at the dinning hall and were paired up with two older ladies, a mother and daughter. The mom was 86 and the daughter had turned 60 while we were there. At first they were really negative and Paul and I were nervous about how the rest of the week was going to pan out, but we loved these ladies! Both of them were new believers and had a really rough past. Paul and I enjoyed the fellowship we had with these new believers. We talked to them about church, prayer and even how to read and study the Bible. Even while on vacation there are ministry opportunities! Paul and I truly enjoyed getting to know these women.

The speaker for the week spoke on loving our neighbor. It was good to be reminded that we don't have to go far to find 'our neighbor'. We need to love those in our church, in our families, in our work etc. who might be right in front of our faces even if it is hard. Jesus isn't asking us to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself. Being a people of love means you are a people of action because love is something you do.

Grace Baptist Church

Some of you have asked to see pictures of the church down here.
Enjoy!

Life in the SC

Its hard to believe that Sonja and I moved down here to SC over a month and a half ago. It has definitely been the busiest month and a half of my life, and while it has been pretty difficult at times, it has also brought its share of blessings, by the hand of our God, who loves us and has been faithful to us through all the strangeness and craziness involved in our transplant from PA. Sonja and I have struggled with some difficult things since we have been here. But we both realized Sunday that we need to be careful not to complain (or being a “malcontent”- See book of Jude), but to count our blessings.

So, by means of an update, I decided to list some of the blessings we enjoyed since our arrival in SC.

1) The Daily Grind?- I am really enjoying my job. I don’t know if the church here is enjoying me (I know for certain that they, especially the youth groupers, are enjoying Sonja), but I am enjoying the fact that I am not juggling both full-time school as well as church work. The last few weeks I have realized what a blessing it is to be here working with Pastor Bob Selph, Pastor Chad Clint, Chris Marley (Summer Intern), and Penelope Cansler & Lorna Riles (our church secretaries). I really have a ton of respect for these people. And, surprise, I didn’t expect working at Grace to be this busy, but also not this much fun. The RYM trip really was a blast, and its been a lot of fun to teach both HS Sunday School (racing through the book of Jude), as well as begin doing our Wednesday night youth group (talking about passages in which Jesus surprises us). The downside of enjoying this is that it makes me miss my friends at FRBC in Media all the more.

2) Rekindling a Romance- I have also gotten to spend quality time with my wife which has been wonderful. Our anniversary getaway, which though it only lasted 2 days and 2 nights, was such a wonderful vacation for just the two of us. The last couple weeks, as we have shopped for houses together, enjoyed escaping together, sat on the front porch together, gotten threatened with a lawsuit together, and done youth group together, I think we have both realized that while we at times get annoyed with each other, we really do enjoy each other and we really are in this for the long haul. To have a wife, who is as faithful and loyal (and beautiful) as my wife, is a huge blessing. It is when that faithfulness and loyalty is tested by difficult circumstances (inability to find a house, leaving family, friends, and job behind, etc), that it’s true worth is proven. I love my wife. And even better: my wife loves me and has followed me to the ends of the earth (ok, SC as a state isn’t that bad, but its been pretty hot and humid here lately).

3) God’s Gracious Timing- I am so thankful that I got to spend a few weeks with my granddad before he passed away last Tuesday. Right up until the end, Grandpa was himself- a funny, happy man who stubbornly trusted his God, loved his Savior, and longed to depart this world for the next. I loved when I got to read the Psalms to him in his last days. I loved that he prayed for me aloud three weeks ago that I would be a faithful preacher and teacher of God’s word. I loved when a few weeks ago, I walked into his room, thinking he was asleep (his eyes were closed), took him by the hand, and he jumped, opened his eyes, squeezed my hand, and with comic disappointment said, “Aw, I was hoping you were Jesus.” J I loved how my grandma refused to let anyone else take care of grandpa even in the last, most difficult hours, and said, “I’ve taken care of him for over 50 years. Why would anyone think I’d want to quit doing it now?” That is a Christ-like covenant faithfulness we rarely see in our society.

4) Common Taste- One thing Sonja and I have been amazed at as we have house hunted and perused possible places of abode, is that we have such similar tastes. We really do like all the same stuff (with regard to houses, room décor, and fabric for re-upholstering our “Craig’s-list” dining room set). I think that has surprised us both, but it has been very encouraging as I don’t think we’ve had one argument about any of this stuff. (though we have argued about a lot of other stuff J).

5) Zaxby’s Chicken- Yeah, this one seems a little bit trite, but Wow, this chicken is better than Chick-fil-a. Sorry Christy Thawley, you know I love CFA, but I forgot how good Zaxby’s Chicken is. Especially with their Zax’ sauce. Unbeatable.

6) Good Help- Our real estate agent (Pat Smith) has been incredible. Despite the fact that we dragged her through 50 some odd houses, and now both she and us are threatened by lawsuits because of some jerks at Keystone Homes, Pat has been the most faithful, gracious, humorous, and tasteful agent I could possibly imagine. I firmly believe she would go to hell and back for us if she thought it would benefit us. Sonja and I have thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from her knowledge, insight, patience, and simple good taste.

7) God’s Patience- One other huge blessing that Sonja and I have enjoyed is God’s patience in teaching us and patiently enduring our slowness to learn and trust. Both Sonja and I have really been forced to call out to God in a lot of ways for a lot of things since moving down here. And in some big ways, like our housing situation for example, he has yet to answer like we asked.

Surprisingly though, it has been such a blessing for us to struggle with some of these hard things. It has caused both of us to question our own hearts and ask, “why do we love and follow Jesus Christ?” Simply put, “do I love him just because of the nice things he gives me, or do I love him for who he is?” Do I just love the gifts, or do I actually delight even more in the Giver, when the gifts don’t always come out like I want? I know we haven’t been through anything that would qualify as an “excruciating trial.” But it has caused both of us to remember that we love him because he first loved us. Even when he doesn’t give me what I want, will I remain faithful, or will I get bitter and turn away?

I think I am learning about what it means to both trust Jesus for who he says he is, and also to just delight in him. Is my God, Jesus Christ, truly the delight of my heart, or am I just using him to get what I really want? Hopefully, I am being tested and proven faithful. Anyway, its been a good time of re-centering, though not easy.

So, even though we have felt truly stressed and weighed down with quite a few heavy burdens, we are finding some blessings in the midst of the craziness of it all. God will be faithful to us in his timing, which is better than ours.

Going Home Party

This past Thursday night we had the viewing for Paul's Grandpa. I was a bit nervous because I think the last time I went to a viewing was for my great grandma when I was in middle school. But it was a lot of fun. Lots of people came from the church and the family was all there. Even some of the doctors came. Everyone hung out and talked and had a great time. We were all at peace with Grandpa's homecoming. It makes such a difference when a person knows Jesus. It wasn't a sad occasion. It was a celebration. I think Grandpa Ackroyd would have been proud.

The next day we had a service at church. Paul's sister Megan sang the Lord's prayer and her husband Mark played a couple of Grandpa's favorite hymns on the trumpet. We then headed to the grave site where the Navy took over. Paul's Grandpa was in the Navy for over 20 years and it was really neat to see how they honored him and his wife.

We then headed back home where some of the lady's from the church had prepared a huge spread of food. We spent the day hanging out together as a family.

Going to be with our Lord

At 2pm this afternoon Paul's Grandpa, George Ackroyd, went to be with his Lord. George's love for and confidence in his savior Jesus Christ has been an amazing testimony during his last days. We rejoice for him as he is now with Jesus.

Please pray for Jean, Paul's Grandma, and all the rest of the family as they grieve the loss of a very special man of God.