Our life here this summer has been a blessing, not a burden. While our focus on people and making disciples has not changed whether we are here or in Robbinsville - our day to day (especially for Rance) life has still been different!
Just to give you a little taste (through pictures) of our life here:
Welcome to our humble abode (below) - our ONE bedroom, ONE bathroom apartment. I cannot count the number of times I have thanked the Lord for His provision over providing us this apartment to live in right across the street from the church. Not only is it convenient since we are at the church every single day - it opens the door to get to know people daily while living among them. Rance and I were so blessed to not have to move anything big - just our clothes, toiletry items, a few kitchen items, and of course our play items (bikes, cornhole boards, etc). The leaders in the church and their wives set up our apartment with furniture, shower curtains, towels, and kitchen items too. Another added blessing is the fact that I have thoroughly enjoyed not having to maintain a house and a yard this summer! IT IS AMAZING. Living in a SMALL PLACE has incredible benefits that allow much more time to be focused on ministry. I don't think I realized the amount of time outside of work that Rance and I spend cleaning, mowing, watering flowers, maintaining shrubbery, etc. It takes us about 20 minutes together to clean our entire apartment. That my friend is lovely! The pictures below I took back in June right when we moved in our apartment...
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| Welcome to Apartment 107 - the first time I have EVER lived on the FIRST floor! |
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| Hello Kitchen!! Immediately when you walk through the front door the kitchen is to the right. |
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| ...and the bathroom is immediately to the LEFT. |
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| Walk a few stops and the washer/dryer unit is on the left also! |
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| Straight ahead - Our living room and dining room and bike storage too! |
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| looking back at the front door and kitchen! |
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| Our bedroom! |
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| walk in closet that connects the bedroom and the bathroom |
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| at the church looking at our apartment building across the street! |
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| We have thoroughly enjoyed this coffee maker at the office of our apartment complex! |
While my job can be stressful and quite demanding, I AM VERY THANKFUL FOR THE FLEXIBILTY it provides! I set up my office in the church for the summer and it has worked amazingly well! We would not have been able to pick up and move to Indiana for the summer if my job did not allow me to work remotely from anywhere basically.
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| Welcome to my office for the summer! |
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| a whole set of bathroom stalls next door just for ME! |
In the evenings that we do not have any church meetings, discipleship, etc - Rance and I have been intentional about being OUTSIDE with the purpose of getting to know people, loving on others, and sharing JESUS! We have spent several evenings grilling out by the pool with the Thacker's! EVERY SINGLE person that I have met here asks me the SAME first question (everytime without fail):
Conversation begins and IMMEDIATELY...
Stranger: "Where are you from?"
Me: "(laughing) North Carolina!"
Stranger: "Oh what brought you here?"
Yep, they know I am not from around here! I am SO grateful for a southern accent because it has allowed an open door to share WHY I am here every single conversation. Poor people don't stand a chance at avoiding Jesus when He is the very reason Rance and I are here and they DID ask!!
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| love the outdoors with a HUGE pool and grill/picnic area! |
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| Meet the grill master! |
We have enjoyed LOTS of evenings outdoors playing cornhole! We usually grill hotdogs or have pizza so anyone and everyone that wants to join in can. The Lord has been so gracious in allowing so many conversations with people and incredible relationships to build. I just love people and so does my husband! Why? BECAUSE JESUS LOVED PEOPLE - He was all about them!
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| We have mastered setting up outside! |
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| Meet the back of James & Dylan! |
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| I love seeing these sweet faces everyday! |
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| I cannot wait to tell you all about our friend James (pictured above in his cornhole stride) |
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| Anna, Dana and Chloe! |
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| Diane, Carrie and Carrie's daughter Chloe! |
Rance and I have enjoyed eating out some which is a RARE thing in Robbinsville too. There are so many fun places to eat all around us so we do grab a quick bite out here and there. Cracker Barrel is less than a quarter of a mile from us and we have actually only eaten there ONE time.
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| DATE NIGHT! |
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| Carolina Grill in Stonegate Community |
A few weeks ago, we began a prayer walk around the property at the church every evening at 9pm. These evenings have been focused on praying for the 3 acres of property behind the church to sell if that would be God's will (which would relieve the financial burden of the church) and for a pastor to call on that shares the same vision of making disciples as well as being team oriented. While it has nothing to do with the walk or the timing in the evenings, the purpose is to faithfully seek the Lord over His Bride here in Zionsville and the future of this ministry. We know Jesus is pursuing His Bride here and He constantly reveals that by lavishing His grace in very fun ways. Father has given us the most beautiful sunsets every evening to watch right before we begin our prayer walk too. It's been super special every evening to come together and walk and pray and simply seek the Father's will. It is fun praying for a pastor that Father knows by name already. The beauty of walking by faith is not knowing what tomorrow holds but knowing Father has it planned out perfectly according to what will bring Him the most glory and that is what we want. We would love if you would pray with us anytime you think about it!
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| Where we meet for prayer walk! |
Have I mentioned how much we have fallin' in love with the people here? We love love love spending time with the leadership team at Cornerstone and we have so loved all of our evenings hanging out with Dylan. He is such a FUN and sweet 12 year old boy. He is full of life and a joy to be around. I am so thankful his parents, Jeana & Tom, allow him to hang out with us so much.
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| Sushi date with Eric, Ellen (WHOM WE LOVE DEARLY) and Dylan. THIS WAS THE BEST SUSHI I HAVE EVER EATEN. I use to thoroughly enjoy my sushi dates with friends in Raleigh and they ended when I moved to Robbinsville. |
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| About to ENJOY some YO YO which is AMAZING |
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| We could hang out with this incredible couple every day! Rance and I must say at least once I day "I love Eric & Ellen so much!" |
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| Yep, we love YOYO! |
Any free moments we have, we hop on our bikes and go for a ride! I am a much faster bike rider in the flatlands vs. the mountains of NC ;)
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| Stonegate - one of our favorite places to ride! |
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| Stonegate is full of houses that all look VERY different but it's fun looking at all the UNIQUENESS of each house. |
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| They even have their own general store (WITH ICE CREAM), grill, fitness training, and dentist! |
One of my FAVORITE parts about each day is the time we get to see The Thacker Pack! :) WE LOVE Melissa, Andrew, Luke, and Anna to pieces! They are such fun kids and we have loved bonding with them daily all summer.
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| ANNA & MELISSA! |
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| can you imagine being a kid and having a gym to play in?! I love that the neighborhood kids come to the church to play! |
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| Anna & Luke |
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| I LOVE when she gets tickled! |
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| This sweet face gives me a big hug every morning after she wakes up! She runs down to my office just for our morning love! |
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| Melissa - she LOVES horses SO much! |
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| The Thacker Pack! |
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| Dana is one incredibly mommy! |
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| There has been a LOT of this :) |
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| Luke has the sweetest personality and funnest facial expressions!!! |
STARBUCKS!!! Did I mention it is less than 1/4 of a mile away too? Yep, I have had it A LOT - no denying it and no regretting it. It has been LOVELY getting to grab it anytime I want! WHAT A SWEET SUMMER BLESSING!
I love the fact that no matter where we are or where we move, my mom will find a way to send us mail with sweet surprises included!!! When she heard we had a Cracker Barrel close by - you can bet she had us a Cracker Barrel gift card in the mail.
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| THANK YOU MAMA!!! |
I wish I could tell you specifically about each day, each conversation and each relationship that has formed since we have been here and walk you through all the praises too but there is simply NOT enough hours in the day! Father has been so gracious!
