Yesterday was such a special day. From 9am to 9pm we opened our doors and invited people to help us celebrate "the house that God bought." Our goal for the day was drawn from 2 Corinthians 9:
You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. (2 Cor. 9:11-12 ESV)
It's a giant circle: God gives to his people; his people share with each other; and then his people give thanks back to God. Yesterday was all about "completing the circle," and we were so thankful for everyone who helped us do this!
During the morning and early afternoon about a dozen people stopped by, including good friends from church and a piano student and his family. This 11-year-old student had fun going behind the curtain (literally) in my studio to explore parts of the property he hadn't seen before.
Bob Seymour, the real estate agent who helped us buy the house, also came. He told us that to this day our house transaction of $65,000 is the smallest deal their firm has handled. Yay! At the time Zonya's cousin Karl Miller directed us to Bob, Bob's daughter was in missions in Nicaragua, so he felt a kinship with us and became personally invested in helping us find a house, even though he didn't make much on the deal. He remembered our house and enjoyed seeing everything that has changed.
Another highlight was to meet for the first time a couple who was one of our lenders, who traveled from South Carolina for a good morning visit. Thanks, Alvin and Doretta!
A second wave of guests started arriving late in the afternoon. About two dozen people were here over supper, including more dear friends from church, one of Zonya's best childhood friends (thanks, Elaine!), another house lender we'd never met (thanks, Leon!), an electrician who worked on our house (thanks Leif!) and his family, friends from rural Georgia who have blessed us many times (thanks, Burton and Deborah!), and several long-term, trusted neighbors who had not been in our house before.
Zonya reached into her Iowa roots to prepare pulled pork sandwiches, baked goods, and much more. Yum!
After we feasted, I showed a 10-minute slide show summarizing our whole house funding adventure. (I also showed it to morning guests.) Here are some of the slides I shared, minus a lot of details and photos.
Now imagine slides showing how a bunch of friends voiced support, how Jesse Kropf and Rodney Troyer started running with the idea, and how surprised I was. Only one week later we had a detailed plan with this shape:
To be honest, I had trouble sleeping a few nights as I sensed the weight of all the trust that friends and strangers were offering us. Within only 2-1/2 weeks people were sending funds our way!
Then everything slowed w-a-a-a-y down. There were six difficult months of house hunting and waiting... until on March 15, 2016, we finally stepped together into the house that would become ours. (Imagine photos of a house badly in need of repair.)
Now imagine lots of photos of volunteers working on our house and cleaning up the yard, until finally:
Now imagine more photos of continued repairs, including:
And finally, more facts and figures about those churchfunding loans, including—for the first time—a list of all the lenders and donors who participated in our adventure (not including volunteer workers):
It was moving to share this story one more time. One guest said she cried three times during the presentation. When it was over another guest asked if he could use my friend list to help him buy a red Corvette.
Then three people prayed prayers of thanksgiving, we sang five songs, and the celebrations and conversation continued inside and out (yay for the trampoline!) until after dark.
One of the neatest parts of the day for us as a family was seeing new friendships start between friends of ours who had never met each other. We felt really loved by all who came and are so grateful about how everyone joined in raising praise to our good God. God's grace in Christ truly does draw diverse people together to bless each other and bring him praise!
Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Cor. 9:15)
So, once more... we as a family say Thank You to everyone who joined in this adventure and who helped produce such an overflow of thanksgivings to God!
