If you've been here long you know my family doesn't have TV.

We're not avoiding this form of entertainment we just chose not make it a large part of our budget as well as limit and guard what comes across our television. We rent red boxes after checking wired in for reviews and of course looking in our emails or online for new coupon codes. lol

The kids get to watch a movie {from our kids' DVD collection} and Saturdays are "MOVIE DAY" at our house. Yep, we let them choose a constant flow of movies if they'd like on Saturdays. We use this as a good way to rest and make this our Sabbath of sorts.

Since we use our DVD players almost daily, they kinda get tired...I guess. The awesome portable DVD players our parents got the kids a couple years ago have worn out the power source. The little piece that goes into the cigarette lighter has become twisted and pulled loose. After a couple trips in the car without it, they don't even ask anymore.

But when the DVD player in our house went out a few days ago, its a entirely different story. They ask EVERY AFTERNOON if the DVD player is still dead? Thanks to my genius husband, we can now hook up his laptop {when he doesn't need it for work} to the TV with a nifty little cord. It works for us.

We do plan on replacing the DVD player and could try this out {sponsored link} but more than likely we'll end up getting a similar cheap Wally World special.

What about you? Do you do media and if so, what do you have? Cable, Hule, Redbox, DVD collection, Satellite, something else? How do you monitor?

Travel. Meeting. Travel. Service. Travel. Clean. I have been so tired once we got home that I didn't want to cook anything...not to mention we were missing pieces to make any of our "regular" go-to meals. I saw THIS post today that inspired the following recipe. It was addapted because of 3 reasons:

1. I thought about it too late and didn't have 4-6 hours to cook dinner in a cockpot.
2. I had no idea what potatoes were au gratin potatoes were...googled it. lol
3. I only had these items in stock 😉

So, after chunking all this into the oven, going for a quick "field trip" to watch the neighbor's cows, I returned to a yummy smell in my house! Score!!! Here's the oober complicated creation:

Ranchy Chicken and Potatoes

3 frozen skinless boneless chicken breast
1 small bottle of ranch {I used low fast}
3 large potatoes {cubed}

Oven- 350'
Put Chicken on the bottom of a casserole dish, add potatoes, cover in ranch. I also filled the bottle 1/2 full of water to get the remaining ranch out and poured that in as well.
Baked for about an hour. You may stir & put it back in based on how soft you want the potatoes.

It was soooo yummy!

Over the past few month, where I've not been updating...like ever, God's done some crazy cool stuff! I should have been writing it all in a journal but its all happened so fast that I just needed to revel in His awesomeness. And by AWEsomeness, I do mean things that you can only respond to in awe.

I would love to spend some time trying to share just a some of those things.

He has provided the practical 'needs' of our part of The Church: a building to set up as a meeting space for weekly gatherings, chairs, lights, speakers, screen, projector, couch, comfy chairs, toys, paper goods, cleaning supplies, and all for FREE! Yep, you heard that right! All these things were provided via several other churches we have some kind of contact with: 2 different young church plants, 1 established church, and a couple WELL established church. Individuals have also donate or donate toward all of these things along side the simple state funding we've received for monthly costs.

After the physical needs began to roll in, God made sure we knew "man cannot live on bread alone" and provided the relational needs. He starting building new relationships and deepening others on the road to creating a core/launch team. "Parachuting into a new community" was bound to leave us searching for new friends as well as struggling to find those who God was calling to come to the valley. Supernaturally, He did it. Our team all have incredible, individual stories of how they came to be a part of the valley.

I mentioned above that we had always planned to "parachute" into the community in which we were to plant this church...yeah. That means, we live(d) about an hour and a half from the town where we are planting. When making "plans" {bahahahahaha} to go about this logically, the first thing on our to-do list was MOVE. Apparently God's ways {which are always much better}, are not ours, this time. We have been taught so much through this struggle.

1. God doesn't want this church to be based on Matt and I. That may sound like a no-brainer but many churches here in the US are founded on a personality. A pastor who is an incredible teacher, hilarious story teller, and/or a really good organize/administer. With us not living in this town, we have pushed deep into the fact that the foundation of The Church is Christ. We must be centered around HIM and no one else.
2. Another way He's shown us, its-not-about-us through not living in the community, is that He desires to use those who have been rooted her for years and have a long term love for this community. Don't get me wrong, we have fallen in love with this community in an illogical way but God is allowing us to teach those in the valley the big principles He's taught our family over the past few years, to change how they are loving on, interacting with, and chasing after their community for Christ and therefor add to The Church that already exist in the community.
3. Another BIG way He is growing us through this aspect of the plant {not living in the community} is through the act of a more than generous acquaintance(s) turned friend(s).

"And they will know you by your love"

Anyone can be a generous. That is a nice person.
Only Christ can bring someone to incomprehensible generosity.
That is love.

• During the months leading up to launch, we had a women {whom we'd never met before we told our last church we were leaving to plant} come tell us that God ask her to support us in this by giving us a third of her income...For Real! She was faithful to this for more than 10 months.

• Currently , we are living in a home that's not our own. We still haven't sold our gorgeous home but have moved into an amazing house we are staying in Rent and Utility FREE. This family found out we were still commuting 2-4 times a week for different meetings and offered to lend us a home.

We are learning humility often breeds abundant blessing.