BWC & Life Update: Mold, Vineyards, Sickness, and Fellowship

Isaiah has arrived back at the Boardwalk Chapel after a brief trip to our home in North Carolina, and I am so happy to have him back. He went down on Tuesday and returned Sunday night (7/7). Though he had hoped to return for the weekend (since that's the time the evangelism interns are most needed), he used every spare second to finish the work he had to do in NC and could not drive home until Sunday. I believe that in the flesh, it was sheer willpower and a desire to see his beloved that allowed him to drive here on what little sleep he had. In the spirit of course, the Lord got him here, and I am so thankful and grateful. 

It has been quite stressful trying to sell our first house whilst away in body. Emails and texts can only go so far; sometimes the man himself must come down to accomplish the task. I am amazed and not surprised at how often life proves truths from scripture. I am reminded of the parable Jesus told of "The Vineyard," which was a picture of Israel, Jesus, and what Jesus would accomplish for his Father. In the parable the owner (God) sends messenger after messenger; message after message which are not heeded, until finally sending his own son (Jesus), whom the workers kill rather than hear. It is the main parable that makes me weep when I read it just as the verse in John 1: 11 does--"He came unto his own and yet his own received him not." But the surprise that defeated satan is that when Jesus did come and was killed by those who should have received him (the workers; Israel), he accomplished the very task he had come for--to bring a people to Himself, a mix of Jews and Greeks; to bring back the vineyard's flourishing and to bring back workers into the field to do his work and not their own. 

And so, despite email after email and text after text, and a kind realtor, we had to send the man: Isaiah. I am being cheeky, and yet I see the earthly parallel. For some things, you need flesh. You need a man who cares and is connected the most to get the job done. In this case, rather than saving the entire world like Jesus, Isaiah's task was to head down south and figure out all of the confusing reports and issues we'd been getting, It turns out many home inspectors are simply lazy, not caring to do their jobs with integrity (a sad current reality in many fields I am finding; the nation really "ain't what it used to be" as the grandpas on the Cracker Barrel porch say). Some of the reports were clear fabrications to make a big buck, and some were pointing to real issues, but the real issues were quite different than the reports supposed. Two of the main issues included electrical work and a mold finding. Isaiah and his brother Elijah made quick work of the electrical issues, saving us lots of money since the quotes for fixing those were astronomical for such small trifles. The more difficult finding was the mold; it had been noted in the report that mold was found in the laundry room and that a further inspection would be needed to determine the extent and quoted cost. 

When Isaiah arrived at "our little vineyard" which we have called home these past 4 years, he determined that the mold problem was far worse that we had initially thought. He would need to not only kill the mold that was visible in the laundry room but would need to rip up the laundry room and kitchen floors to deal with the root of the issue: an older layer of flooring which was rotting and had mold and had never been removed or dealt with previous to our buying the home. He also did the same for two other areas in the house. Thank God for family who built their own log-home years ago and thus formed a generation of intelligent, capable men; many of whom went into various forms on construction (I am over-simplifying, but man, do I see the hand of God there!). Some such men including Isaiah's brothers Matt and Elijah as well as his dad Paul came and helped. We are especially thankful to Elijah who is a flooring expert and frankly "saved our butts" as my mama would put it. He worked his other job until a certain time, then would come over and help Isaiah until late into the night whilst his amazing wife Ashley covered the other job. Man, what a blessing those two have been to us. 

After having new inspections, calling insurance companies, ripping up, demolding, and reflooring, my beloved returned to me. I'll tell you what, Isaiah and I have spent days apart before, but this time felt longer than ever and wasn't as punctuated by contact since we were both busy in our separate tasks. The oneness of marriage truly isn't meant to be divided even in the flesh, and we felt that these past few days; for those of you who don't know, we're a little obsessed with each other, nine years in more than ever. 

Another hold-up (aka: the honest money not coming in from the buyer) was overcome when the check came in yesterday. It had apparently been sent via priority shipping and our address is accurate at the post, and yet it was a whole month late. What a classic move of satan to discourage and of God to build faith (satan is and always will be God's tool). Isaiah said the check coming in when it did reminded him of story after story his parents had lived and told him. It really is always the small things...in the small things we see the moves of satan and the faithfulness of God at work. 

I couldn't be prouder of my man on a mission who accomplished so much in such little time, and I'm not even sharing all of the difficult intricacies like his staying with his dad and hence driving an hour to and from the house as he worked, or the mold work warranting little to no A/C in blistering heat, or the fact that his man I married has been going since forever, and somehow he still hasn't dropped. I honestly am in awe of him quite often. I truly married a great man. I am finding that men are highly underrated in our current "the future is female" culture. Men are truly incredible creatures which such high levels of capacity in endurance, stamina, faithfulness, strength. I am growing in these traits, but my level will never be that of the man I married and many of the men who surround me in this ministry called The Boardwalk Chapel. I am truly blessed to be a woman so hemmed in, protected, provided for, cared for, by the men in my life (especially the one that is mine). And I say all of these things as a highly intelligent, capable worker bee who helped my husband get through seminary both via working and editing his papers. Men truly are special and needed just like women are in a different way. This Summer I am especially aware of what blessings my brothers in Christ are. 

Whilst Isaiah has been gone, some of the men here have sat next to me during the Boardwalk program so that I am no bothered by sketchy visitors, have walked me home at night for safety, have made me food whilst I was sick, have texted me encouragement, and have picked up the slack left by Isaiah and other leaders when they were away or unwell (we've had a flu going through the staff that's almost passed)...Brothers are phenomenal when following the Lord. In case you men don't hear it enough, there are those of us who see you. Who value you. Who truly appreciate what you do and give. 

Life here at the Boardwalk Chapel has been beautiful as of late. Our first youth group came during the staff's 3rd week of training. Since then, we have had 2 more groups--the most recent a very sweet church group from Journey Church in New York. I really enjoyed their hearts and humility, and I hate that I didn't get to spend more time with them (since I got sick mid-week), but we'll always have Facebook! This week, we don't have a group, but rather concerts at night to fill the program slots. We'll be back to regular programs next week, but in the meantime, the staff is recovering from remaining sickness (do pray for us!) and bonding through fellowship. We've gotten quite a few Junior staffers over the past few weeks and getting to know them has become a mini-goal for me, since all who walk through the doors here are so wonderful and worthy of being known.

The past two days have really been my favorite since our arrival here. On Tuesday, I had the privilege of going out with the Evangelism team to the Ocean City Boardwalk and having spiritual conversations with passersby who stopped for the Free "Are you Going to Heaven" Test, a great conversation starter. I had such a good time with the small group that went out, and it was great to remember that I still have the skills to do this type of evangelism (plus I got to see Josiah's ice-cream eating skills...or lack thereof, which was amusing and a great end to the beautiful and breezy evening). Yesterday was the staff day off and Iley, Isaiah, Heather, and I joined the Junior staff for their field trip to the Batsto Mansion in Southern Jersey. It was the perfect day for the trip--sunny, humid, and with a little breeze, and the trip was educational and interesting. It also provided some good indoor and outdoor walking, which was good for the body. We arrived home to celebrate Hannah F.'s birthday and take a nap; then Isaiah and I had a date and joined the staff again afterwards for a sunset at the Bay and super fun bonding games both on the green (pyramid-making, freeze-tag, and piggyback races) and at Mudhen Eatery (arm-wrestling, corn hole, and a hook game they have there). At the night's end, I visited some of the girls in their dorm for a while before returning and playing some round of "Heads Up" before hitting the sheets for some R&R after the intense and beautiful fellowship. 

-C. 

*Of Note: Small update since this post. Our buyer backed out of the home purchase. On the one hand, this is quite discouraging given how much work and effort we were putting in. On the other hand, a buyer not using an FHA Loan and one who is not impacted by a faulty inspection report would be preferable. The faulty inspection has now been proven false. Our plan going ahead should the Lord bless it will be to take the house off-market for a bit whilst we improve it even more before putting it back up for sale at the initial price. Isaiah mentioned to me today that he believes the Lord has been using all of this for faith-building. I venture to say he is correct. Praise the Lord for His best plan! Let us go forward.