Wednesday, 24 September 2008
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After ten years in Virginia Beach, we are moving to Charlotte North Carolina
Greeting Family & Friends,
It has been many weeks since our last blog update. We have much to report and thank God for.
The last several weeks have been bitter sweet; what I would describe as Fire & Ice. Before I provide updates on events with us, please allow me to bring an important prayer request.
Friday the 19th was an especially sad day. Patrick’s niece Jennifer suddenly passed away early Friday morning after being airlifted to a hospital in Palm Springs California with very poor vital signs. Her passing is a mystery; she was found in bed barely breathing and non-responsive. It was very sudden. Jennifer was only twenty-four and is the youngest of my Brother Eric’s three children. Eric and his wife Linda are suffering with enormous grief as they try to cope with their loss. Patrick will travel to California to be with family members. Please pray that God use Patrick to help bring comfort and hope to Eric and our family. We pray God bring them his peace that passes our human understanding.
On our home front; we have received answers to many of our prayers. As you know we have been seeking God for our next assignment in ministry. During times of prayer and seeking direction we specifically have asked God to direct our next steps by slamming shut any door that He would not want us to go through; to open the door he would have us use for the next season in our lives. We needed to find a new professional employment opportunity for Patrick as Cox Auto Trader was moving from Norfolk VA to Atlanta and he was laid off. We also were seeking a new ministry opportunity for Desiree and a good buyer for our home. One answer came in July as I began a new job with Randall & Richards, selling services and developing new clients. Patrick is working from home and off to a good start.
God has shown His provision and grace and has taken care of all the other details. Monday September 8 we received a fair offer on our home. Three days later Desiree received a terrific offer to work with The Christian Research Institute (CRI) in Charlotte NC. By Saturday we had visited three neighborhoods with great schools on the south side of Charlotte and have secured a beautiful home to lease so we can move soon. Our home in Virginia Beach has passed all its inspections; we had a smooth process of coming to agreement with the buyers about a few items to repair. Everything seems to be proceeding nicely.
Scripture tells us that God will give us the desires of our heart. Some of the desires Desiree and I have include being in or close to the Blue Ridge Mountains. We love spending time in the Blue Ridge and have been volunteering with Shelter Rock (Shelter Rock) a ministry in the Boone area of NC that feeds and clothes to poorest of Appalachia and leads them to Christ. We also wish to find a good local church that is having a positive impact in the community including the Hispanic community. Our new home in Charlotte is only two hours from Boone in the Blue Ridge. We will no longer have to drive over six hours to get there and can visit and volunteer more frequently. We have identified some churches in Charlotte, one in particular that has a large outreach to the Hispanic community. Please pray with us that we will find a great local church for our family. The local church is ‘where it’s at’!
God has once again shown that He is faithful. Pastor Steve Kelly (our awesome leader at Wave Church Wave Church) recently said that God’s delay is not God’s denial. Such is the case here. After eight months of prayer, seeking God and being faithful we are seeing God move.
For any of you who may be going through a tough time right now. We hope you find our story encouraging. After eight months of struggle, hard work and prayer, God has shown he is faithful and loving. We never stopped believing and remained faithful. We spent six months where at least one of us was unemployed and two month of that period where we were both unemployed. We did not back away from believing in God’s promise. We have talked and heard stories about people and families going through tough times during 2008. Whatever you may be going through, trust in God. Cling to Him and His promises. Press into God and press through; do not back away. Tithe to your church, continue to support others, and continue to volunteer and serve in whatever way you can. Never quit and never back down. The Bible says, ‘come near to God and He will come near to you’. - James 4:8
We learned many things in the last eight months. Some of the lessons were tough and others were very sweet. While there were definitely days when the pressures got to us and we didn’t always deal with it in the best way; Desiree and I firmly believe we are coming through this stronger personally, spiritually and professionally. Our marriage will be stronger and our children will be stronger.
The next several weeks will have some additional challenges. We are prepping our home to pack and move 370 miles to a new city and new adventure. Our oldest son Jonathan will marry his lovely fiancée Lauren on Oct 5. We are very excited about the upcoming wedding. In the days immediately after the wedding we will move to Charlotte NC after ten wonderful years in our Virginia Beach home. We cherish our seven years with our Wave Church family and Desiree’s eight years serving with CBN.
Please follow the links in our blog. We would love to hear from you; to receive your comments and updates. Let us know how you are, what you are doing and how we can pray for you, your family and friends. We only started our blog in July of this year. We are hoping it can be a platform for many of you to share what is on your heart, spread the word about important events, and share a few laughs. There is power in community. We hope many of you will stay connected with us.
Until we blog again; my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Patrick & Desiree Miller
Keep those cards and letters coming!
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