Our First Year

The above picture shows the 19 people (minus our sweet Susan) who were in attendance the very first Sunday that Commons Church met for worship. We met in our living room and sat on our couches. The kids sat on a blanket on the floor. Steve preached from a folding chair. Corey led us in worship for the first time with his guitar. We have picked up some friends along the way and God has done some really great things. The picture below shows the people who were in attendance on our July 17th one year anniversary. We are in no way about our numbers, but people who love as best they can like Jesus attract others. Fun to see God's work.

Hello, Summer!

Today was the last day of school for the boys.

They have had some really special teachers taking care of them this year and I wanted to tell them thank you.

Mrs. Bogle,

Thank you for your many trips to Half Price Books and Barnes & Noble. We wouldn't have made it through the week sometimes without them. Thank you for making lessons fun and interesting for Ben, and thank you for your writing advice and your encouragement for us this year. You helped (me!) make it through the day many times. We won't forget the fun of Student Council, Safety Patrol (did he take that orange thing off?), and a crazy amount of AR points.

Mrs. Long,

Thank you for taking care of my "party in a child!" He loved school this year. Thank you for encouraging his love of science and reading and for letting him be himself without getting into trouble. Invention Convention and the Cereal-Maker, the Buckaroo Party, and the AR tests were definitely tops!

You were both prayed for way before we knew who you were. Thank you for being just perfect for our boys.

Prayer

The boys and I have several people on our prayer list these days with serious health concerns. It's so fun to pray with them and see God answer and provide.

Please join us in praying for Beth. She helped us counsel and lead both of our boys to Christ.

We are excited to see God work!

Things are moving here, people!

We are suppose to close on our house here in Kaufman tomorrow. Loading up the PODs on Friday. Bored? Come on over!

The Lord has helped us find a house in FW. Thanks to Michael for his hard work and to all of you who are praying with us. It is more than we could have hoped for. It is just perfect for what we need. Closing in FW doesn't happen until later in July. Thank you to the Doroughs for housing us for a few weeks.

I have also been given a job at a school in FW teaching sped. My new principal seems great.

In the month of June, our core team is visiting church plants on Sundays and continuing to have Bible study on Wednesday nights. Steve and I will be continuing some of our church plant training, so we are busy!!! Thank you to family and friends who are helping make this a really fun summer for our kids. They have not missed a beat and they have loved getting to visit with everyone.

Please continue to pray for God's protection and provision for us and our core team and for wisdom as Steve gives leadership to our group.

I"ll try to do a fun kid update soon, but we haven't been able to be near internet consistently. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Quick Update

I can't quite write the blog about how great Kaufman is and how we love the people here. I tried to start it, but I just can't do it today. So, here's just a quick update for those of you who are praying.

1. We have a house contract! Whoop! Please keep praying that all goes smoothly and for God to provide the perfect spot for us in FW.

2. I'm in my last week of school and the boys are out and hanging with Mimi and Paw Paw this week. Pray for the boys as we transition. Pray for their sweet little friends here in Kaufman. Everyone has been saying all along...."not until summer"... and the little ones are realizing that it is now summer.

3. Steve is officially full time for the Commons Church! Pray for God to be preparing the hearts and minds of people that we will be living around in FW to be open to the Holy Spirit. Pray for Steve as he meets with pastors and community members for doors to be opened.

4. I have a job offer with FW ISD. Steve is looking for a supplemental job. We have no doubt that God will provide for us. Pray with us for provision and great stories to share.

A Prayer

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

God is doing more than we can ask and imagine around our house.

No, we haven't sold our house. But God is taking care of details left and right that we don't even know to ask for and some that we do.

Thank you, God, for interviews and healing - groceries and babysitting - money and friends that pray. They all show up in such unexpected places and times. Your love is amazing.

Good God Story

One of my friends had a really good God story this week so I got her permission to share it.

I have a wonderful PRAISE story!! A couple of weeks ago M. found out that she was going to have to take a summer class because it was not making for the Fall. Well it was going to cost $700 to take it because you have to buy a lab and kit and so many other things for the class, which she did not have. When she called me we were discussing several options that she could do and one was get a loan. We really didn't want to take that route but didn't really have any other options. I asked her to hold off on applying for the loan and lets just pray about it and see what the Lord will bring to us. Two weeks later, she goes to work and her manager calls her in his office and hands her an envelope. She opens it up and begins to read the two page letter. It basically said she had a guardian angle looking over her and whoever seeks the Lord they will be blessed. On the back of the letter a receipt was taped to it from the college of the amount of her class. She was just so filled with joy and crying at the same time when she called me. Her manager told her that a very fragile older lady came in that morning and asked for the manager. When he got to her, she asked him to deliver the envelope to M. She doesn't have a clue till this day who the lady was!! Still gives me tears and chill bumps as I tell the story! God is truly an awesome God and no other person has the power to do what He does!!


Thanks, J.A. for sharing your story.

Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Colossians 4:2 (MSG)

First Bible Study!

The Bezner house has been busy! We've had a great spring break and a wonderful Easter- and I pretty much stink at updating due to lack of computer time. But I have been aware of what I listed before as prayer requests and those are definitely still the things that we would ask for prayer about.

We have an exciting evening tomorrow as we have our first official Commons Bible study. We will be meeting at the home of Kimberly and Thomas in Fort Worth. Please join us in praying that we listen and follow closely as God leads us.

I'll do my best to update soon and let you know how it went!

From my point of view:

There is one question that everyone asks me these days.

"How's that Fort Worth thing going?"


That Fort Worth thing is our life and it's all-consuming. It's a prayer with every breath. So it's funny to me when someone asks. Of course they don't know and are curious about what may seem like a crazy decision. (Quit your wonderful jobs and leave your amazing friends and church family and move to where you know one family. Get new jobs. Meet new friends. And start telling people about Jesus.) That does sound crazy. But when you know in the middle of your soul that God has called you. REALLY called you, it's the only thing that you can do.

So, our lives are rocking along here in Kaufman and the time is going by quickly. Things are moving along on the new church plant. God is real and the way we know we are doing what we are suppose to do is that Satan is really enjoying getting into our business in our weak spots. I thought it might just be us. But it's not. He's getting to our core team too. I find myself praying and asking everyone that I run into to pray for us. So that's where this blog comes in. I'm not a big "look at me" person and I don't really have access all that often to Steve's computer with time that I can blog. But I thought just perhaps that a few of you who stopped to read might be interested in some specifics to pray for. And so I thought I would share a few requests and maybe pick up a few prayer warriors along the way. We need them.

Prayer Requests:
1.Protection from Satan and his attacks on our family and the families that will be helping us in Fort Worth. House selling and buying, busyness, relationships, health of children, and death are all things being dealt with with our few families right now.

2.We are specifically praying for our house to sell. We have not shown our house since it went back on the market. We have faith that God will take care of this, but we are asking for patience as we wait on his timetable and not ours. We are praying for the people that move into our house to be good friends to our neighbors and that they come to know Jesus if they do not already. We pray for the house that God has picked out for us in Fort Worth that it be by people that we can learn to love and share Jesus with and be friends with.

3. Jobs: I have a wonderful praise in that I have a job with Fort Worth ISD. I don't have any details yet about the job, and for me being the planner I am learning to put that in God's hands. I'm praying for Him to place me in the school that He wants me in. Steve is also looking for a job so that it will not be a stress for us to pay bills. This may not be in God's plans as so far he has not gotten good leads so far. We are considering the possibility that God may need him to be full-time pastor from the beginning and that is going to require much prayer and faith on our part. But we've made it for months on one income before. I have no doubt God will provide. Pray with us!

4. We are praying for our children. They are doing amazing so far. They pray with us for Fort Worth and for the things we need to happen in order to get there. Our prayer is that this is a growing time for them. That they see how we handle these situations and that they see God at work. We are praying for the schools they will go to, for the teachers they will have, and for each of them to make a new and special friend when we move.

5. We are praying for the people of southwest Fort Worth. That they be open and receptive to us when we get there. That their hearts even now are being prepared to hear about Jesus.

6. We are praying for the people of Kaufman and for FBC Kaufman. They have been our backbone and our life. We pray that God continues to bless them and grow them.

I am not completely selfish in my prayers. I have more thanks and praises than anyone would care to read, but I tell Jesus about them. I also have many many friends that I am praying for; too many to list. Many of them I am praying for because I read their blog. Thus spurring me on to give this a try. I would be honored if you would let me pray for you in return. You can send me an e-mail at jbezner@kaufmanisd.net.

Thank you for reading this far. And thank you for your prayers.

Hmmm....

We've got so much going on these days, it's hard to know where to pick up. We've had birthdays and Christmas and Texas SNOW since I've last written on the blog. We've also packed up our entire house in a POD and unpacked it the next day. We've had a broken stove, broken washing machine, broken car, broken treadmill, and our refrigerator sounds like the space shuttle about to take off, so I've no doubt it's next.

But in the middle of all that, daily, all I can think is of how thankful I am.

I'm thankful for my boys. For Drew who is always wanting to laugh and for Ben who's always up for a good story. And for Steve, who is my best friend.

I'm thankful that we are all healthy and that we have a house to live in and that we have food in our space shuttle refrigerator.

I'm thankful for friends who are supportive no matter what, for hand-me-down jeans, and for notes left in my box at work.

I'm thankful for parents who take time to drive to basketball games and for in-laws who drop everything to come and help with any task.

I'm thankful for in-town grandparents and teenagers who are willing to babysit without much notice.

I'm thankful for a church family here in Kaufman that loves us and is praying with us through major life-change.

I"m thankful for brothers and sisters and their families that are lifting us up in prayer.

I'm thankful for the families who are praying and thinking of being a part of The Commons in Fort Worth.

I'm thankful for the Denny's kids-eat-free on Tuesday nights.

Thank you, Jesus. I am so very thankful.

God and the Envelopes

I don't know how you do finances in your family, but Steve and I work off of the envelope system. Every two weeks we go to the bank with Steve's check and get out a certain amount of cash in SMALL bills (small is important later) and we divide them up among envelopes that say Grocery, Haircuts, Clothing, etc. and we use that cash to live on. The other money goes into the bank for tithing, savings, bills etc.

So...there are times when certain expenses come up that are unexpected and it is in those times that I say," Ok, God, we've got this expense...where is that money going to come from?" It is amazing to watch God work this out.

I had one of those experiences this week.

Ben outgrew all of his jeans (except one pair) overnight. So...usually what I do is pray, God, we need (blank) item of clothing and I don't know where it is going to come from, so I'm gonna give you a week to provide before I use the envelope money. Usually when I pray this prayer someone walks into Steve's office with a bag of hand-me-downs but that didn't happen this time. This time we went to a youth worker meeting at a friend's house and as we were walking out the door, my friend said, "Oh, wait...I've got a pair of jeans that Ben left here a few weeks ago when he spent the night." They just so happened to still fit as well. Yea, God. Thanks!!!! So now I have 2 pair that fit. I waited and prayed a week this same prayer in hopes that another pair or two would show up. Meanwhile Ben wore dirty jeans (please don't judge) and I did a lot of laundry to keep the jeans that fit washed up. So...this weekend, I told Steve I've got to go to the store and buy Ben some new jeans. (My mom says that we only had two pair of jeans when we were little, but she must have been SUPERMOM. I just can't keep two pair clean and boys are messy. ) So...I survived a week on 2 pair of jeans for him and then I was at my wits end and had to go shop for some new.

Steve had just gotten paid, so before I left for the store I had to divide up the money to go into the envelopes so that I didn't spend the grocery money on jeans etc. So, I went to get my purse and get the envelopes and I remembered that I had been working out of two different purses. So, I found both purses and started gathering envelopes to sort money.

When I reached into the second purse to pull out the envelopes, there was a crisp $100.00 bill stuck in between them.

I have no idea when the last time was that I have even held a $100.00 bill (remember we get small bills at the bank.) So, I ran into the house to tell Steve that God had provided once again and happily went to the store to buy my growing boy some jeans.

Father's Day 2009

We had a big day on Sunday. Not only was it Father's Day, but it also happened to be the day that Steve got to baptize Ben.

Ben has been asking questions about becoming a Christian for many months, so Steve enrolled him in our church's Now That I'm a Christian class. We had workbook work to do every night for about a month. A week or two into the class he assured us that he knew what he was doing and he was ready to become a Christian. So, on May 1, 2009, a freshly showered Ben sat in his PJs in between Steve and I on the couch and asked Jesus to come into his life. It was an answer to a prayer we have been praying for 8 years. We had several weeks where we were super busy and it wasn't "convenient" for Ben to go down front (petting zoos, meetings, etc) but finally the big Sunday came and Ben went down to talk to Pastor Brent and tell him that he was ready to be baptized. It turned out that Father's Day was the next available Sunday that baptisms were happening and all the grandparents could attend. It was a perfect day. Ben smiled from ear to ear all day. We had ham and all the fixings for a big Sunday lunch and lots of family came to share this special day.

Thank you all for making the trip to Kaufman. It is a day that we will always remember!

Update on Baby Callie

Prayer Requests for my cousin's baby, Callie:
1. for Callie to gain weight and quit throwing up
2. for Wyatt to be entertained easily while the family is at home
3. for baby Callie not to get sick this winter
4. for strength/rest for Kelli and Jason and their families

You can read their updates at www.meddersfamily.googlepages.com

God is SO GOOD

Thank you to those of you who prayed for Drew this week.
It made a difference.
He has a concussion but no bleeds in his brain.
Thank, you Jesus! God is SO GOOD!