a gift from the Lord

On our new front porch in Pierce, KY!

Well, let me just tell you what's been going on in the Bratchers' lives the last several weeks!! First of all, we were FINALLY able to look at our new house about a month ago (the parsonage of our church)....it was a Friday afternoon before we were to leave on vacation (for a whole week) the next Sunday. And the house was in terrible condition. Lot's of garbage, broken things, nasty carpets and bathrooms....the list goes on. I wish I had pictures. Anyway, the day we had our first look at it I was SOOOOO upset I cried all the way home. What had God given us short of a dump? I think I was most upset because we were getting ready to go on vacation and couldn't begin to work on it until the week school started.

But God had a different idea. We left for vacation on Sunday and by the time we got home the next Sunday the house had had a COMPLETE transformation!! Over 30 members of our church had been working around the clock the entire week to restore the house. They cleaned up all of the garbage, painted every ceiling, every wall, every closet, every inch of the house, installed new hardwood floors and carpet, fixed/replaced lighting fixtures, cleaned windows, cabinets and appliances, replaced and restored showers and toilets, planted flowers........someone even picked up every single one of the thousands of cigarette butts outside the garage!! It looked like such a transformation that they parked the church van in front of the house that morning and we all came out and yelled "move that bus"!!

What a blessing my church family has been!! God turned a seemingly hopeless situation for us into a blessing AND allowed our church family to go on a mission trip right in their back yard!! I am so thankful for His perfect plan. How often I forget that (especially when I don't get it) He has something AMAZING in store!! Thank you church family!! We love our new house hope that God continues to use it for His kingdom!