wednesday thoughts

The summer has brought an unexpected busyness into our lives. Here, I thought with our last final would bring and endless supply of lazy hot afternoons and evenings that are only accompanied by lemonade, swimming pools, and breezes. We've surely had our share of swimming pools, since our church just bought a swim club adjacent to our current property, and Philip is part-managing it. But it seems like once you have a child (and I'm sure it only grows with each additional child), summers don't slow down as they once did when YOU were a child. I remember longing to go back to school come mid-July. After my birthday hit, Beaver Lake was swam in, and I had watched Gomer Pile and The Beverly Hilbillies more than 35 times (once each afternoon right at lunchtime), there practically was no reason for summer anymore. I am enjoying not getting up at 6am every morning to take Philip to school, and not driving close to 500 miles every week back and forth in our smallish town. Sure saves on gas money, too. I guess I'm just ready for a little getaway, a little vacation to really start this summer off.

My father-in-law is about to leave again overseas this weekend. For those of you who don't know, this would be numero tres in about 3 years. He's built for it, that's for sure. It's exciting seeing my family, my extended family that is, at our church week after week. I'm abounding with exuberance knowing that the plans that God has in store for them are coming closer and closer. Isn't it wonderful knowing that God's will for His children are for good things and that putting His kingdom at a priority position in your life will actually change circumstances and fulfill a part of your life that is vacant. And I'm not just talking salvation here. Salvation is the foundation, but God wants us to live an abundant life... with meaning and direction and joy. I hope these words don't just look like "christianese" to people. There really is such depth to the heart of God. Oh, how I long for people to walk in their destiny in Christ.

We've been playing MarioKart and Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii lately. It's so fun, and Deron loves watching it about as much... no, more than pretty much everything. We have to limit his watching time... hehe.

I bought a bottle of cleaner today from a door-to-door salesman. I can't believe it. I never would have thought I would. I don't regret the purchase, it just surprised me that I did. Supposedly it will clean anything (glass, your car, calcium buildup, paint, permanent marker, etc, etc, etc.). It's organic and non-toxic, and one bottle will last you for a whole year. I am officially intrigued and pumped about cleaning now. I plan to start with the bathroom tomorrow, maybe then I'll wash the windows and the oven... ooh, then maybe wash the car. I certainly will let you know if my purchase was for naught or the next item on my "gotta tell my friends" list.

Philip's birthday was Sunday. He got a nice new grill among other things (including a "1-up" shirt with a tasteful green 1-up mushroom from the legendary Mario games. Our nephew Noah got that for him. :) Since I caught a stomach bug last Saturday, our planned fun-day was postponed until later. Hopefully this Saturday will be the day...

new stuff

With the financial summer that has been happening in the Crumpton household , we've been able to make some purchases that I've anticipated making for, oh, 4 years or so. It's been so exciting to invest in building our home, and my sweet husband has been really understanding in all things "woman". There are still a few things that we are thinking about buying, but there is definitely time to think and process.

We've never bought furniture (with the exception of our dining room table after our wedding), so this is especially exciting. One couch and chair were given to me in college by Erin and Clark (remember those?), the other couch was given to us only a few years ago, but it was HUGE and wasn't much to look at.

Our new bedding...

Our couch, loveseat and rug!

We're still searching for the right coffeetable and other pieces for the room, but this rug, being smaller, shows off the gorgeous hardwood. This is the chair I'm wanting, but we're still thinking about the price... I want a chair that's comfortable and unique. It's hard living in Abilene though, where there's not a lot of selection. This was found online. I'm debating whether to wait until my next trip to Dallas, or just buy it online and hope for the best...


Thank you, God for your abundant blessings...

summer has sprung

with 90+ degree weather! whew! I'm glad our car air conditioner is fixed... we are in west texas, by the way. here are some cute pics of deron and his friend aaron in the gator pool.





there's more to write about, but it'll have to come later.
peace.

our financial testimony

Has it really been a whole week since I last posted? Wow. I wish I was like Monica, my sister-in-law. She posts a minimum of 2 times a day. She is truly a pro-blogger. :)

I've been wanting to share our financial testimony with the blogosphere for a few weeks now, but haven't gotten it posted. Here it is, and it's only getting longer!
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Katy and I first entered into financial covenant with God as a family a few years ago after we had both read The Blessed Life. We committed ourselves to honor God with the first 10% of all of our income and to seek aggressive ways to give beyond the tithe as well. When we first committed to this, both of us were unemployed and had little direction to our lives. Here’s a short description of the major areas that God has touched with His provision.

Education:

I worked for UPS as a seasonal assistant in late 2006 and was lead by the Holy Spirit to finish my degree. This was a daunting task since I had almost no money and was married with a young child. When talking to the business office at Hardin-Simmons, they convinced us that Katy should finish her degree as well. So the plan was to start again in the Spring of 2007, attending full time and Katy attending half time. We knew this is what the Lord wanted for us, so we took the step of faith to make it happen, taking out a small, subsidized student loan to cover what our grants and scholarships wouldn’t cover. This was exciting because the amount we had to borrow was very manageable... but little did we know that it would get much more exciting.

Our first semester back, we both did very well and were still very excited about our education. In that semester, I found out that we were eligible for even more grant money in the Fall and that I would receive quite a bit more in scholarships. It turns out that the extra money was enough to cover all of my expenses (books and all) and I now have the rest of my education completely covered by grants and scholarships! We were ecstatic about the Lord’s provision, but then He did something even greater. Katy wasn’t eligible for much of the financial aid the school offers because she is not attending full time, but we were prepared to make the sacrifice for her. Then, over the summer, a very generous family offered to pay for the rest of Katy’s education, books and all! We took them up on the offer. =)

Career:

During our transition back into school, God prepared a position for me on staff at Champions Church. This began as working 10 hours a week cleaning the building and setting up tables and chairs, but quickly grew into more responsibility as the church’s Technical Director, developing the career abilities that God has placed in me. This offered the flexible hours I needed to be a full-time student, father and husband. It had always been a dream of mine to work for a church as support staff, something not many people even know today.

Home:

We were renting a house from my parents at a very generous price, but decided it was time to declare into our family our own house and property, although it seemed completely impossible. Long story short, we have purchased a house in the area of town we wanted to live in for an unbelievable price and with 0% financing.

Abundance, Provision and Favor:

God’s blessing and His covenant never reaches an end. I was recently registering for the Fall and found out that the State of Texas decided to give me an additional $1,600 (just in time to fix our car). At an awards ceremony on April 22^nd, I was named the Hardin-Simmons University 2008 Presser Scholar, an honor which is given to one student majoring in music each year and is accompanied by a $4,800 cash prize. There was a completely random envelope for me and Katy with $100 in it last week at a time when we would have over-drafted without it. I didn’t even realize it was that close until after I received the money, only to be amazed by God’s sovereign provision. In a period of less than 30 days, we will have received more than $7,500 in additional income.

Giving:

All of this is only what we have received, but so much of God’s blessing has been what we have been able to give. We have been able to generously sew into the ministry of Champions Church and into the lives of others with what God has entrusted to us, seeing the Lord minister to them through our giving.

We truly have entered in to the blessed life, giving and receiving, and are excited to see where God takes us next!

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Since this was written (only a couple of weeks ago), Philip has begun training for his promotion at work, handling all of the finances that come through the church. Also, he's co-heading up the new swim club acquisition that the church has bought. On top of that, last Thursday we sold our baby-grand piano after only having it posted for a short time and for the amount we desired! Praise God for His abundant blessings!

I hope this encourages you to sow into the Kingdom of God, and see Him richly bless you in return. God's laws are of sowing and reaping a harvest, and although there are most definitely seasons (of little and of much), there is such a reward for those who seek to honor Him with everything they have, including resources and money.