Our New McCaffrey Home-Take 2

On March 3rd, Blake got a phone call from Brent McCaffrey. Apparently, he read my blog, Our New McCaffrey Home, that I posted on February 1st, and wanted me to update my blog. You see, he did come out to smooth everything over.

The funny thing is, he didn't ask about our previous experience with McCaffrey. When he came out on February 18th to look at all that was still not right with our home, he didn't ask what our experience had been like.

If he had, he would have learned that their sales representative lost her cool and yelled at us when we called her on a mistake she had made, one that benefited us. He also would have learned more in depth how the arm doesn't know what the leg is doing in the McCaffrey organization. He would have learned that it took us calling the designer numerous times to get ahold of her, and sometimes she never called us back, we just had to keep calling.

And, he mocked us. When he asked if this was our first home, and we said yes, with a smirk he said "God Bless you". And it didn't feel sincere.

He wanted us to start over, wipe the slate clean, on February 18th. Really? Without anything being done?

I appreciate what he is trying to do. He said they would fix the problems, and I believe him. The problem that I have with the phone call to ask me to change my blog goes in this order:

1. He called Blake and asked him to ask me to update my blog. I'm sorry, but Blake isn't the boss of me. I love him. I respect him. But Blake thought it was funny that Brent McCaffrey just didn't call me himself. As do I.

2. I think it is funny that he had the audacity to ask me to change my blog. A blog, by definition, is considered an online personal journal (definition here). This is the place where I get to share my thoughts and what is going on in my life.

3. He asked me to change my blog 4 days before they even came out to start working on all of the things that were wrong with our house.

We love our home. McCaffrey's subcontractors have been out most weekends since March 7th to fix all of the problems, and we greatly appreciate it.

In fact, 2 weekends ago the tile contractor was out to take out all of the grout in the kitchen on the tile since they messed up the first time, and when they tried to fix it, it made it worse. And we appreciate them making that right for us. The only problem is they made a dent in our wall, so now another contractor has to come out to fix that, which will be a couple weeks after we get back from our honeymoon.

So when this is all, and they have fixed everything that they are suppose to, I'll write a blog update...letting you know if everything was indeed smoothed over.

Last Pre-marriage Counseling

Josh Hawley, the Pastor of Student Ministries and Young Adults at The Bridge, is marrying Blake and I. He and his wife played significant roles in our lives when we were in college.

However, you have to go through pre-marital counseling with them. I think we met 4 times, plus one other time with another person on finances and what not.

Tonight was our last one.

I think we passed.

Which means in 10 days I will be Mrs. Stephanie German.

And that makes me happy :)

Haiti....

It was one year ago this day that I got back from Haiti. I struggled a lot when I got back from Haiti. After seeing that kind of poverty, I don't know how anybody is the same ever again.

I have so many thoughts and feelings about my trip last year that I am not even sure where to begin...

Those who have not heard....

I receive the Missions Catalyst eMagazine each week. Its purpose is to "inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry" Each week, different stories are shared about the work going on all around the world.

This week, from the Joshua Project, this was shared:

"Joshua Project, a collaborative missions effort that focuses on unreached people groups, reports that an average of 160,000 a day hear the message of redemption in Christ for the first time. Every hour, 3,000 more people decide to follow Jesus Christ.

In 1800, those who had never heard the gospel were almost 75 percent of the globe's population. Today the percentage of those who have not heard is 28 percent. That means, however, that about 1.5 billion people have not heard the gospel message even one time! "

3,000 decisions for Christ every hour.....1.5 BILLION people...that is a lot of people...

Those are some fascinating numbers.

Daily Email Devotionals

I have signed up to receive 2 daily email devotions. One of them is going through Romans. And it seems to be just what I need everyday.

Today, it is on Romans 12:1-2-being a holy and living sacrifice to God.

And it made me thing...is that what my life exhibits? That is the desire, but do I really do it?

And this is a quote that really hit hard....

"Thus the Christian life is not a heavy burden, but the light yoke of Jesus, lived in joyful acceptance of God’s daily mercies. "

Slowing Down

Blake and I are trying something new...we are trying to learn to slow down. This is extremely hard for both of us, as we like to do stuff and be with people. However, with planning a wedding and settling him into our house, we have just had to cut certain things out.

Last week, we canceled our plans for Wednesday night and Thursday night. Then plans seemed to go away for one reason or another on Friday and Saturday night. And it was so good.

With that said, we are trying to continue on this path of not overplanning, but it is hard when there are still so many things to do and so many people we want to hang out with.

We are going through 1 Corintians right now (we started it on Monday), and both chapters 1 and 2 talk about God's wisdom. And I was reminded how God's foolishness is wiser than my wisdom. And this made me begin to pray more fervently for wisdom, something I know I definitely need.

Extreme Home Makeover, The Bridge, and DeYoung Properties

On Sunday night, The Bridge was the host site for DeYoung Properties community party for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The Riojas family was present, as well as Jerry and Paula DeYoung (who were extremely nice, down to earth people), many from DeYoung Properties, Dr. Welty from Fresno State, and those that contributed significantly to the building of their home.

I had a really hard job on Sunday....I got to hang out with the "celebrities" and be friendly....it was a daunting task but somebody had to do it :)

It was a great night, filled with food, fun, and much laughter. We watched the behind the scenes show at 7 pm and then the show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition at 8 pm. It was a lot of fun to watch the show with those that put in a lot of their time, effort, and resources to help the Riojas family.

It kind of makes me wonder if Blake and I would have bought a DeYoung Home if all of this had taken place in the fall....