April 2008

Have you ever had a month where everything seemed to happen? For us, that was the month of April. We made plans with JAARS trucking in Jan./Feb. to move our belongings to North Carolina on April 11,2008 (give or take a few days). Andrew was going to join the U.S. Navy on April 12, before we returned to NC.

Just days before our flight on April 2 we received an offer to buy our house. After negotiating, we agreed to sell the house. Escrow started April 1, the day before we flew to California. We began our race against time. We had five days to go through all our belongings and decide what to keep, what to sell or donate, and what to throw away. We spent time at the beginning and the end getting things ready for the moving van from JAARS. We had a three-day garage sale to sell what we could, and donated the things that did not sell. We filled a whole dumpster with things we didn't want to keep.

We were able to spend some time with Andrew before he reported to the Navy in the early hours of April 14. And the moving van from JAARS arrived at 2:30 PM that afternoon. We didn't have anyone to help us in San Marcos, so we paid two guys from a local moving company to load the van for us, taking five hours. Fortunately, we had eight people from the VMS department at JAARS help us unload the truck on April 22, which took one and a half hours! What a blessing they were to us!

Later on April 22, we learned that a gang of junior high boys had vandalized the house in San Marcos the night before. They sprayed paint on the stove, windows, and the shed in the side yard. They also broke glass on the carpets in the living room. Fortunately, they were not bent on destroying things, and our realtor, from Emmanuel Faith Church, was able to clean up the mess in time for the buyer's final walk-through the next day.

We said that everything seemed to happen in April. We are grateful to God for His timing for each event, from the beginning of the month, to the final close of escrow on April 29. We are grateful for you, for your prayers for us, and especially prayers for the sale of our house. We are humbled by having the opportunity to serve God here in North Carolina.

Please pray for the following requests:

• Praise God that our house is sold.
• Pray for wisdom as we continue to seek God's direction for the future of the SPARK website.
• Pray with us that God will guide and protect our son, Andrew, as he goes through Navy bootcamp in Great Lakes, IL and then on to his schools.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer. Don't hesitate to share your prayer requests. We really appreciate hearing from you.

In Christ's love,

Wayne & Linda Steele
8626 Karibuni Dr.
Waxhaw, NC 28173
[email protected]
[email protected]