Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Sound of Silence

I KNOW - I've been silent for way too long.

I didn't intend for it to be this way.
I just lost interest.

Not in you, my faithful readers but rather in trying to answer questions
that I really haven't had an answer to.

I still don't know all of the answer to all of the questions
but I will tell you what I know (however uncertain it may be!)

We are in Tennessee right now,
about one and a half miles from Kellie and Jasons' house,
in our very own house.
That's right - we bought a house.

NO, we weren't looking to buy one.
It hadn't even crossed our minds.
We were walking one morning when we came across this house
with a small for sale by owner sign.
It was a sad, empty, worst house in the neighborhood kind of house.

I LOVE THAT KIND OF HOUSE!

After about two weeks of talking and praying
we decided to go and look at it.
We saw possibilities.
We waited. And prayed.

Two weeks later we went to see it again
and took along a friend that is familiar with the housing market here.

We made an offer - it was accepted.

A week later we owned a house.

We left for Oregon (for a month) 3 days later still in shock!
Had we really bought a house? And what was God doing?
Where were our plans for Brazil in all of this?

We have had much confirmation that we have heard God in this and yet,
once again,
we are waiting to see all that He has in His heart for this house.

Will we live in it part time or rent it out? We don't know.

It needs cleaning up, painting, updating, etc. but it is livable.
(We are living here and so enjoying it for the time being!)

At this point we are planning on going back to Brazil next month sometime.
We are still on our tourist visa (the last year until it expires) and will use that once again.
We can be there for 6 months during the year.
We then plan to come back here and apply for a new visa -
which one we do not know yet.
We do not feel that God has given us any direction regarding that.

We do know that having moved to Tennessee we are now 2 hours
from the Brazilian Consulate in Atlanta (which was just opened within the last year!)
and we have cut out 1 day of travel between here and Brazil (counting airports and layovers).

We are so enjoying our fellowship here with Calvary Cleveland and, of course,
we love living close to Jason and Kellie.

We do miss the rest of our family in Oregon,
our good friends and our church body there.
We plan to still call Calvary Corvallis our home church.
They are, after all, our sending church.

We find in scripture that God's ways are not our ways.

We do not always understand what we feel He is directing us to do
but we know that we have always found Him faithfully looking out for our spiritual best.

So, once again, you find us waiting.
And, though it is unsettling at times, it is a very good place to be.

And YES, we still feel called to Brazil.

5 comments:

David Jensen said...

Always great to have your updates Sheri! It has been so neat to see how God has affirmed you and Warren on this road with so many blessings in all these different places. Regarding having the answers; from my experience taking a whole lot of math courses.. it is not really the answer that is important but how you go about solving the problem. It sure can be difficult when it becomes apparent that Jesus sent to us the Holy Spirit as a comforter and not an answerer. :)

Kellie said...

I'm glad you are here and am enjoying every minute! Love you!

JuRita said...

What a blessing to read your update. I LOVE how God surprises us and changes "our" plans so quickly. Blessing and love from our family! :)

Sarah Frills4Thrills said...

sounds like you're right where God has you for now and if there is one thing i have learned in my short life, it is that timing is everything and yes, God's ways are not our ways. That is encouraging to me because since i have experienced waiting and praying for something and God blessing me so much more than i could have planned for myself, i am able to wait in other situations now too! we'll continue praying for you guys to have direction : )

Kristen Wilson said...

Wow, what a blessing! We love you guys and are encouraged to treasure each and every season, even in times of waiting. Love you!