A new home!

Blessings to each of you!

As I write today, I have the pleasure of sitting in one of the bunk rooms at Refugio Solté as Eden naps. I look out one window and I can see the rain forest and I look out the other windows past the cross and see the Pacific Ocean. I am reminded of how great our Creator is and if this is more beautiful than I can really describe, how much better did God intend it to be and will it be when he establishes his kingdom here on earth again.

God has kept the story of the Garden of Eden before the fall on my mind the past several days. He has reminded me of the physical beauty of the place, but mostly of the intimate communion he had with Adam and Eve. He has reminded me that that is the reason he created us – to have a relationship with him and that all we go through here is to bring us into that relationship. One of the greatest displays of his glory is through the mercy he freely gives us to receive the mercy he poured out for us through his death on the cross and resurrection. I desire to experience that intimacy with him but I also know I fall way short on my end of things. I am thankful he is always right there beside me when I realize I have grown distant and turn back to him. He has stayed right behind me during the times I choose to lead and not follow. And he always welcomes me back with open arms when my heart comes home.

The last couple of weeks have brought some bumps. We are holding on to the fact that God has a plan and is working all of this toward our good. Please continue to pray for the sale of our house in Rosenberg. The contract we had on it fell through due to a really low appraisal. As that happened God gave us the word surrender. It’s one of those things that you think you are there but then you realize there is more you have to let go of. We thought we had a great plan worked out to sell the house and pay off our debt, but are now realizing that God has another plan. We don’t know how this one looks, but we are trusting Him to reveal it to us one step at a time just as he has with everything else!

Though there have been a couple of issues here with our current housing situation, God provided a home we will be renting long term. It is a great little house - 2 full bedrooms and bathrooms, a great size kitchen, a screened dining and living area, and a screen porch in the back. The porch in the back is large enough for half to serve as our utility room and storage area and the other half to work as a guest room. I can easily hang up curtains to make it a nice little room for guests. We will be moving into it on Tuesday and are really looking forward to being there. As excited as I am about the house the piece of property that it is on is just amazing – about 2 acres of land which has been cultivated and gardened by a sweet lady who is 82 years young. There is a coconut grove, 2 huge guanacasta trees, an herb garden, hibiscus, avocado trees, lemon trees, a bamboo planting, and so much more. Eden cannot wait to get to play in her new yard. I think she is actually more excited about moving than we are. And there is no reason why we should know about this house. God literally put me in the right place at the right time.

I will be traveling back to the states the end of this next week to finish packing up the house in Rosenberg and shipping our container. We are looking forward to having some ore of our things here, but especially our Bronco. The Jimmy is a great little car and it has been wonderful, but we look forward to having some more room and to not be paying rent on a vehicle anymore. The Bronco has been aptly named the “Jungle Buggy” and it will fit right in down here. I ask that you pray for Bart and Eden as they stay here. We are blessed to have Kloé, a young lady from our church here with them until August 7. I should be back not too many days after she leaves. I know Eden will be in expert hands with her and her daddy, it’s just hard knowing I will be so far away.

Pray for safe travel for my mom and I next week as we return. Pray the Lord will direct my steps in my time in the states and that I can accomplish all that needs to be done in my short time there. Pray for my mom as she returns life as normal – whatever that is, right? Pray that her time here will have been restful and that she can tackle what God has in the days ahead for her with gusto and assurance that her Heavenly Father has a plan for her too!

Bart is continuing to make visible and tangible progress at Refugio Solté. There is a new sidewalk to the 2nd pastor’s house, hot water in the 2nd pastor’s house, more progress on the landscaping, and the gate has walls and the arch on top is going up as I write. He is also making plans for stairs to the 4th floor in the main building, for the pool and several other things. Please pray with us that God will continue to provide for the growth of Refugio Solté and that all involved with the planning will be faithful to what God desires to happen here.

As we wrap up the summer we will begin planning for outreach in the community. I continue to pray that if this is where God would have me invest my time, that it would be clear and a desire that I cannot deny. We have mentioned the possibility of an afterschool program for the kids being a real possibility. I would love for you to join me in those prayers. Many details would need to be worked out, but I think it would be a great way to get this kind of thing off the ground. I am praying that if this is God’s desire that he would provide all we need to get it off the ground.

Thank you for letting me share some more of our life with you. Thank you for “standing in the gap” for us. Thank you for continually taking us before the Lord. We ask God to pour out special blessings on your life for all you have done for us. We love you each and look forward to each time we get to share with you. Take care and we will send more soon!

We love you each with the love of Christ!
Heather

PS: As always, I did not get this off as soon as I wrote it. We are now moved into our house which has been wonderful for the 2 days I got to enjoy it. We have a little more room than we had, Eden has her own space and a huge yard to run and play in. God also brought a cat to us on Wednesday night. She seems to be there for good. We have named her Luna and Eden (and Bart and I) has fallen in love with her. Luna has no aptitude for catching bugs, but she’s a cuddler!

I am on my way to Houston in about a 1 and a half. I am returning to go ahead and get out belongings and vehicle shipped and hopefully get something worked out with the house. I want to say a special thanks to our community group once again who has risen above and beyond to help us get things done around the house. They painted and have been keeping the yard up. We feel SO blessed to truly know what church family means! What an amazing thing to experience! We love you guys and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
~Heather