Possibly the last post for this blog

It is amazing to think over the last 12 months. We started searching for housing in Cleveland on-line as soon as we felt God wanted us to start a church plant there. We toured the new construction next to the Cleveland Clinic and wondered if that was what God had in mind for our family. As we continued traveling and the economy changed, options opened up that we could not have afforded in 2005 when we headed out on deputation. We also placed our children in the public school in 2005 which, since it was God's plan for us, worked well for our family. As we put on paper lists of amenities that we thought would make a house a home and a place that could be used for ministry we prayed, searched, talked to real estate agents, drove the neighborhoods, and asked advice from anyone we thought might know how to encourage us to do the right thing.

We have lived in our house for three months so far and we are so thankful for the path that we have journeyed. The children have adjusted amazingly well in their new schools, continue to receive good report cards, are beginning to develop friendships in their new community, and had a great Thanksgiving with grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin, in their new house. We have done some Christmas decorating but we haven't decided where to put the Christmas tree when it's time. Drew and Ken have birthdays coming up and they had fun shopping on Black Friday. There was a great sale on desktop computers and we were able to replace the one that had gotten a fatal virus back in August.

Ken went for training for his temporary holiday position with UPS today. He'll be a driver assistant for the month of December. It should be interesting. Renee starts helping Derek's teacher tomorrow as a once-a-week volunteer. Mrs. Baca is not a believer so please pray for her to come to Christ. We still meet as a team on Wednesdays and get together as often as our schedules will allow. Saturday night was a big celebration downtown with the 50 foot Christmas tree lighting ceremony, a carriage parade, and fireworks. We had fun meeting the Taylors and watching the festivities together. Sunday morning we attended a church in the Cleveland area that a friend of a friend pastors. He was very encouraging and excited about the church plant in Cleveland. His congregation has been praying for God to work in the city.

One interesting opportunity to meet people has been through finding furniture and supplies on craigslist. I have a 15 year old jacket that I wore to look at a desk that I had seen on craigslist. It has BJU embroidered on the front. As I stepped into the house the woman said, "BJU! We use their homeschool materials." We plan to get together after the holidays. A family from Pennsylvania was coming for care at the Cleveland Clinic so we ramped up the search for a sofa bed for the basement. I checked the craigslist postings in the morning and then checked again around lunchtime. There was a posting that read, "An apartment full of furniture." The photos looked promising and I emailed the seller. We made arrangements to look at the furniture the next day (the day that the folks were coming from PA). When we arrived a sweet young lady and a two year old answered the door. She showed us to the garage where the furniture was stored. As we talked she said that she had just moved to Cleveland from LA. I asked some questions about the furniture and she said, "let me wake up Louis, he'll know." I said, "Does he work nights?" She said that he plays football for the Browns and he got home late from the game. When he came down and I asked if he could help Ken load the furniture into the trailer the answer was a "duh, yeah." While they were making everything fit (a sofa bed, loveseat, lazyboy chair, a coffee table, two end tables, and two lamps) I continued to talk to Lacey. I felt at ease to share the gospel with her and gave her a Gideon New Testament (orange for the Browns :) ) a Bridge tract, and a tract with Ken's testimony. She received it happily and said that she was a believer and had not yet found a church here in Cleveland. When we got home and put the furniture in place I emailed her, thanked her, and told her about a MOPS group that meets close to her home. She was very positive in her reply. I hope to continue a relationship with her.

The Lepleys came out that night from Pennsylvania for a heart procedure. Five family members stayed in our home Tuesday night and Larry's procedure took place on Wednesday morning. Ken took the family to the Clinic, helped them park and stayed at the hospital with them all day. There were some complications but by 6 pm he was in his room. The family returned to our house for a quick supper and headed back to Pennsylvania to be home for work the next day. The next morning Ken and I prepared to visit Larry but before we could get out the door the daughter called from PA saying that the Clinic called and Larry was able to go home that morning. She was panicked because originally he was supposed to stay for two nights. Ken decided to rent a car and take Larry all the way back to PA so that Larry could be home and so that his family would not have to drive all the way back to Ohio again. As soon as Ken got home from PA we headed to Michigan for our weekend meeting. The back-to-back weekends in Michigan went well. Hopefully the poor economy will not prohibit them from taking us on.

Renee's dad came out for Thanksgiving and helped install a phone jack and a few switches. It was great to spend time with family for the holiday. We have much for which to thank God this Thanksgiving. Praise Him from whom all blessings flow!