Month: April 2015

Signing our lives away to our very first home was one of the best moments of our lives. We were so excited we could hardly contain it! To say that this process has been easy or that the hard part is over is a HUGE understatement. You have NO idea how much we prayed and how many times we were told “no” before we finally found our future home.

For those that are beginning their search for a house, or those that hope to find a home in the near future, here are few things we learned.

•  Pray- Seems pretty easy right? Well try telling yourself that when you find a home, fall in love with it, start figuring out how you’re going to decorate it, and then you’re told NO. I was crushed and I’m not even going to lie it got to me. I was so sad. That was first of many let downs let me tell you. Michael and I first started looking for homes last year when our apartment lease was up. I thought to myself how ideal it would be to move from our apartment into our brand new home. Yeah it’s not that easy. You may have a house that you want in mind and then God comes in and says no I have something better, just be patient.

• Save- What we should’ve been doing was saving money like crazy. We weren’t prepping for a house. We thought we were, but we were far from it. Once our lease was up, we decided the best and fastest way to buy our very first home is to take a leap of faith and move back home. That has been the most challenging. Being married and living with your in-laws should be illegal ha! I love my in-laws dearly it’s not that, but a married couple needs their privacy! But we decided it was worth making a temporary move so we could later make our permanent move. When we tell friends and family what we’re doing, they always say “You guys are really brave,” and to that I say thank you (and you may be right lol), but honestly we’re just so driven to be in our house. With Michael going back to school to become a youth pastor we knew this was best. So don’t be too prideful to go back home or make a drastic move to get to where you want. Those people you’re afraid of pleasing won’t be buying you your first home! Moving in with my in-laws has taught me humility and patience like no other, but it’s well worth it because we’ll be moving into our brand new home in just a few months!

• Sacrifice- This whole process is all about sacrifices and we’re not done yet. I would love to be shopping more, getting my nails done, going on trips with my husband, but unfortunately right now every dollar counts. We’ll be in our brand new house before we know it and every dollar needs to go towards that. Our biggest sacrifice was when we decided to give up our privacy and move in with his parents. Not to say we don’t get husband and wife time, but it’s different. It’s been tough but in the end we know it will all be worth it. Make sure you go into this house buying experience with an open mind, determination, and willingness to sacrifice A LOT. It will be hard, but I promise you so worth it!

• Have faith- It seemed that the more homes we looked at, the more we were being told no, and I’ve heard with building a home it’s even more stressful. After so many let downs I was ready to throw in the towel. I told Michael I didn’t want to look at any more homes. He tried to encourage me, but I think he secretly was over it too. The Holy Spirit tugged at my heart and I couldn’t give up. I stumbled upon this neighborhood and it seemed like it would be a perfect fit. We went to go see the neighborhood and fell in love. I got scared again and thought here we go again. Just when it seemed as if this wasn’t going to happen again, God spoke and said, “Congratulations, the home is yours!” Ok so the contractor told us that, but it might as well have been God because that’s whom we gave all our glory to!

Once we got the green light, the fun part came. We got to pick our brick! We were like little kids in the candy store. It was so cute to see my husband equally as excited as I was. I love seeing his eyes light up, it made my heart so full. To think that we will raise our future children there just made me so happy. It felt right. God confirmed that this was the place for us before we even entered the neighborhood. There was a huge sign that said “New Beginnings start here,” and I looked at my husband and said look at what it says! We both smiled because the name of our church is “New Beginnings Fellowship.”

I’m beyond happy to start this new beginning with the love of my life.

Love,

Mrs Luster

I recently went to a women’s conference titled “Withholding Nothing,” and boy oh boy did it wreck my entire soul. I cried my little eyes out and let go of all my pain. I learned so many insightful things that I couldn’t go without sharing with someone. Here are a few things that I learned at the conference.

There are three things that God puts in our hands.

• Purpose– what is your purpose in life? What has God called you to do? This one hit home for me because for a while I thought I had life pretty much figured out and then God came in and set it to me straight. For the longest time I wanted to be a news reporter. Growing up as a child I always had our family camcorder in my hand making funny videos of myself talking. (It still haunts me to this day when my parents show me those home videos haha!) I went on to be a reporter and thought yep, that’s my calling. While out in Oklahoma, God began speaking to me. He wanted me to walk away from the very thing I wanted the most. I didn’t get it at the time and I thought maybe God really isn’t speaking to me; maybe it’s just the devil. Ha, nope it was God. He made things so uncomfortable until I heard him loud and clear. Now looking back it was the best decision I’ve made thus far. I’ve grown in my walk with Christ; I’ve grown as a wife, in my home, as a friend. I’ve grown in such a way that I would have never grown had I not listened to God. You see I was making my reporter life more important than God. Read the Bible you say? Yeah right! I had no time and if you want to make it in the business, news is life. I was so focused on my career that I didn’t even enjoy my first year as a new wife. I don’t mean that in a sense that I didn’t love being married to Michael, but without realizing it, I was putting him second. I worked Sundays and was never able to go to church. My husband would get all fine and dressed up to go to church and I had to go to work. After a while that didn’t feel right. I didn’t know it then, but that was God beginning to talk to my soul. When God tells you to do something, it’s SO important that we listen because His plans are far better than our plans! So whatever purpose He has for your life, be patient and be ready to obey him.

{“For I know the plans I have for you, “ Declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future.”} Jeremiah 29:11

 

• Miracle– Many of us are going through something hard and feel like we’re alone and there’s no one else out there feeling the same things they’re feeling. Well I’m here to tell you you’re NOT alone. Every single person right now is going through something; they’re dealing with something within. People wonder why I love God so much, it’s because he’s the one person that picks up the broken pieces in my life and puts them back together as if they were never broken to begin with. He’s the only one that sent his only Son to die for my sins. I can’t name anyone else who can do that for me. Sure there are people that can help ease the pain. When I’m down or upset, my husband helps cheer me up, but he can’t fully put me back together. Some of us are waiting on our miracles not realizing it’s right in the palm of our hands. All you have to do is believe that if He can do it for me, He can do it for you. One of the things God helped me with was Depression. Depression can be a scary thing that can have life long consequences if you’re not careful. The enemy uses that weapon and way too often it ends with tragedy. I’ve discussed this before, but there was a time where Michael and I broke up for about a year my senior year of High School. I was so lost, but that’s when I met Grace and Mercy. God pulled me out of that depression and if He did it for me, He can do it for YOU.

{Let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need} Hebrews 4:16

 

• Life– I don’t know about you, but without God in my life would be a total mess. Not to say that I’m not a total mess at times, but I need God to put order back into my life when things get out of line. Life has its ups and downs and I need God in my corner so that when Life tries to get me down, he can pick me back up. I don’t know how anyone can live their life without Christ. I have the fear of the Lord so deeply rooted in me, there’s no way I can live without him. There was a point where I was living without him. I always believed in the Lord, but I wasn’t really living for Him I was living for myself. I didn’t hang around other believers, God really wasn’t the topic of discussion, and it was more of a thing to do. Going to church on Sundays was a thing to do. Now I’m not trying to discourage anyone that goes to church. In fact I encourage it, because even if it’s not making sense to you now and you can’t seem to stay awake in church because you’re mind is clouded with things you don’t even need to be worried about… the word of God will eventually hit home for you. Who do you turn to when things go wrong in your life, people, God, or both? It’s okay to turn to both but NEVER okay to turn to man before your Lord and Savior. Don’t fill your mind and spirit with temporary things and expect your life to make sense, because it won’t.

{Those who oppose the Lord will be broken} 1 Samuel 2:10 

I pray for anyone that may be feeling lost, like they don’t know their purpose in life, and those who feel broken. God loves you and has a purpose for your life. He will not forsake you!

Love,

Mrs. Luster