THE SIGN CAME in 7 YEARS - My Dream House part 4

20 YEARS RECOUNTED - MY DREAM HOUSE - PART 4

You may want to read parts 1-3 of this multi-post story before returning here.

 Part one:    My Dream House on Fire.
Part two:    A River Runs Through It.
Part three: And this shall be a sign to you!

So one late night in September, I needed a break from all the heavy construction work and so I walked out into the night air and I aired my complaint, to God. 

"God why did you give me a house that needs so much work? 

I came here to do your kingdom work and I feel like I am spending all my resources on this house!"  'He answered me clearly, "David, this house will be a sign to you, it is the state of the church." 

Exactly seven years later to the day, our church went through the same process in 2000 that our house went through in 1993.   

-------

After seven years the story was stored as a memory of a word, put up on the shelf while we waited for the sign to come to pass...

On the exact day, seven years the pattern repeated itself point for point in the local church. 

7-31-1993 - My Wife and I left our brand new, split entry home, in Rosemount, MN to move to Mankato and remodel a 42 year old house in Mankato that needed a new foundation.  In biblical numbers 42 means arrival, and we were arriving in answer to a calling.  

7-31-2000 - We laid down Jubilee for the sake of this local house. I met with Steve Youngblood and he asked me if I would be willing to lay down the work we were doing, in order to save this local church, at that time the name was Christian Life Center.  It wasn't a difficult choice to make, in fact I made my decision almost immediately, I consulted with partner, Phil Hernandez. Later that evening, we both made the decision in a matter of minutes; We would lay down the work of Jubilee, the mid-week meetings we had been holding for five years, for the sake of the local house. 
We conveyed our decision to Doug K. and Steve Y. that same night July 31, 2000 at Perkins in North Mankato. I think they were both shocked at the immediate response to their inquiry, some parties (still unknown to me) had suggested that I was in rebellion so they probably expected some push back. 
                                     -------
7-31 to  9-14-1993 - My family had to live out of boxes, in temporary housing for six weeks.
7-31 to 9-14-2000  - The CLC lease expired and the church had to rent a meeting room in a local hotel (Best Western) on Sundays for six weeks.
                                     -------
8-1-1993 We woke up in our temporary dwelling, in limbo between two houses for 42 days faced with all the mess, cost, and work of having our foundation dug out removed and replaced. Now we were onsite to see the work progress with out traveling back and forth.  
                                     -------
8-1-2000  CLCs lease was up although we had permission to leave some stuff there for a few days was between two houses and so we met at 101 East Main with the elders of CLC. We wanted to hear how they were going to respond, but when they delayed responding. I finally said, well I am not going to wait for your response, we have already decided as of last night, July 31, we are going to lay Jubilee down.  And I think they were shocked. We remained in limbo for 42 days as a congregation. 
                                     -------
8-2-2000 Our last meeting for Jubilee held at the Holiday Inn. Exactly eight years to the day of my first trip to Good Thunder when I received a vision of a branch blowing in the wind which started this whole process of coming to Mankato for the work God said He was going to do. 
                                     -------
8-2-1993 to 8-26-1993 Our house was up in the air while the old foundation was dug around, removed and the forms for a new foundation were laid. The house was set back down just before September 1, 1993.

8-2-2000 to 8-26-2000 We are all up in the air a meeting was set for three weeks, and three days later, when all of us were to go to Kirksville for four days. Aug 23-26 was what they referred to as the 'blood letting'. It was 6.5 hours, almost a day of travel each way. While we were there a prophet (Dale Cash) described the situation with the church by telling a picture of the entire process of a house that needed a new foundation. It was lifted up, the old foundation was removed, a new foundation was poured and then the house was set back down on the new foundation. He went on for several minutes describing the process my wife and walked through with our home seven years earlier. He even described the cement crumbling through the builder's fingers and the recognition that the foundation needed to be removed and replaced. That it was not repairable.
                                     -------
8-28-1993 to 11-26-1993 We worked on our house, construction of the essentials, plumbing, electrical , drains, furnace and heating.  
8-28-1993 to 11-26-2000 We worked on construction on the church's new building, constructing the essentials for a meeting place. It was decided to invoke a 90 day sabbatical on Jim Dye and me and for us to work together on construction salvaging materials from the old building. And then installing them in the "Love it" building. 
                                     -------
9-15-1993 we moved into our house and began the re-connection of utility services
9-15-2000 the council signs the lease on the Love It building and 

9-17-1993 we connect the first utility service
9-17-2000 we hold our first Sunday service. 
                                     -------
11-26-1993 - We almost lost our son Micah he presented with Diabetes at 20 months. 
11-26-2000 - I came back from a family trip to New England and Jim Dye was gone. 
                                     -------
12-5-1993 Our son Micah came home from the Hospital
12-5-2000 I am invited to join the Council





Various writings from the past
The Road Not Taken
At Home In MN