This morning my Grandmother went home to be with the Lord. What a glorious day for her!
Her health has been failing for quite a while and we thought that she was not going to make it back in March. She pulled through, then 7 weeks ago she fell and broke her hip. Not a good thing for someone who is 92 years old. She had surgery to pin her hip in place so that she was not in so much pain then went to rehab for a few weeks. She came home July 9 from rehab and was well....being Grandma. :) She started failing quickly in the past week and a half slipped into a coma and we waited and watched all week, praying the Lord would take her home. Everyone was able to say good-bye to her. The kids would go in and visit with her laughing and giggling in her room which she loved to hear. It was also very hard for a few of them to watch her, but a good thing to watch and see how peacefully she died.
We are heading to CT next week for her funeral. Please pray for the family and others that will be there who will be hearing about the Lord, please pray that their hearts will be open to hear what is being shared. Most of my family are believers and it will be a wonderful celebration of her life.
Good-bye Grandma you will be missed! I love you...
Bernice "Becky" Knudsen February 11, 1916 - July 31, 2008
Moving along...
I wish that I had some pictures to show you what we have been doing! Phil is at the "new" house right now working on painting it. (it is 10:00 Tuesday night as I am writing this) Greg and Tyler are with him!! (thanks guys!) Things are coming along nicely right now. To say that there is a lot of work to be done on the house is an understatement! It is amazing what a little paint and cleaning can do to a place! We are slowly making it ours though!
We are in the midst of packing up the "old" house too...not a fun job! Trying to figure out what needs to go to Raymond with us. What I need to store away and what we need to get rid of (those are the much bigger piles)!! It has been very emotional for all of us during this process!
Someone asked me yesterday if I will miss this house and do I really love living here. The answers are YES!! I will miss this place I mean who wouldn't? Mom and Dad are right next door. Everything we know is here and close by! So many memories have been made here! Do I really love living here YES!! BUT, I really want to be in Guatemala more than I want to live here!! So many people in Guatemala need to be taught about Lord and Savior. That is so much more important than a house!
A resounding question that is asked of us is "do your kids really want to go to Guatemala?" and the answer to that is YES! this was (and still is) a family decision. Any and all who are of the age to have an opinion shared their thoughts and concerns. They all want to be there. Every night when they pray it is for us to get to Guatemala quickly so that we can help the children learn about God. Very humbling to hear the heart of a 5 year old!
What can you be praying for?
God to burden people for His work in Guatemala.
Ministry partners both prayer and financial.
Smooth transition of selling our house and settling into the new one.
Our upcoming meeting in Nottingham on July 27.
Our witness here in Chester and also in Raymond to our new neighbors.
Thank you for keeping up with what we are doing, and helping us along our way!
God's way not our way!
Just a quick update here about our house. As you read last month we had an offer made on our house, and everything was moving along just fine...until our house appraisal came in. It was a bit lower than what we were asking for um, about 110,000 less than what we were asking for! Are you all as shocked as we were? Well, we were working with that number and trying to see what we could do. When Phil saw a friend who spoke with him about the house, and told Phil that they loved the place and were very interested in it. (this was on Sat. 2 days after the appraisal came in) He shared with Phil that they had been looking for a house in this area with land...He told Phil that they were praying that everything would fall through. We were beginning to be more and more unsettled as time went on with the first buyers. But, having to remember that it is not our house but God's and He will see fit to do with it as He pleases. Well, Tuesday Phil received a call from buyer 2 and said that they were really interested. And to let them know as soon as we know anything from buyer 1. Phil got off the phone with him and called buyer 1 (as was planned to a prior arrangement they made the previous day) He called him and talked with him, and the buyer said, that it was not going to happen! Relief filled our hearts and settled us a bit! But still not sure if buyer 2 was as serious as he was appearing Phil called him to let him know. And as they say...the rest is history! They came over that Friday night and the next Tuesday they were here talking about details and such with us. Mom and Dad will have GREAT neighbors! I am so happy and so at peace with this contract that we have with the new buyers. And what is so amazing is that, not only were we in shock about the contract possibly falling through. We had no idea that God had already lined someone up for this before we could even think what we would do next! How's that for a nut shell? :)
Anna's verse at school that week during all of this was very fitting. Jer 29:11 "For I know that plans I have for you" declares the Lord; "Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".
Thank you for praying for our house sale, we can see how God has answered so many already! keep it up!
