Packing Is Such Sweet Sorrows...

Packing up your house to move is a really revealing exercise. How many times in this past week have I said to myself or to Kate, "I wondered where item X was," or "I didn't know we still had that," or "What is that for and why do we have one?" About six weeks ago we had a garage sale and I thought then that we got rid of a bunch of stuff, but as we crammed, stuffed, and pried our possessions into the three "Relocubes," I realized just how much stuff we still have. In the past couple of months, we've sold or given away several big items and still we can't get everything into our containers! Recently at church we did a study by Andy Stanley called "Be Rich," and man, was it eye opening about American wealth, the rest of the world, and of course what the Bible has to say in regard to riches. The theme scripture passage was 1 Timothy 6:17-19, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." Spend enough time meditating on this passage and the many others dealing with money in the scriptures and it will change your life and heart for the better. The reason I say packing is such sweet sorrow is because it is sweet to rid ourselves of a bunch of the stuff that weighs us down and sorrowful because I hate the hold that the stuff that we still have has on my heart. And yes of course we are sad to leave great friends and our church family, because as Paul says in Philippians 4, people are his joy and his crown. This post has taken me most of the day, between packing, cleaning, and final farewells with friends that I've lost my train of thought. It is now about an hour and a half before before our internet is shut off, the final boxes are packed, and someone else gets the keys to this house I love. If you're reading this and you have time to offer a short prayer for our family, here's what we need: Kate & Kevin - patience with our kids. Kids - peace of heart and mind as we leave what is familiar and head to the unknown. All of us - rest for our weary minds and bodies. Thanks for reading and may God give you the grace to Be Rich like the verse is talking about.

Team Overalls

Let me explain the name Team Overalls. We have some good friends where we live and they have three kids, lets call them Max, Allie, and Ryan. Our family name, Olivarez (Oh-Lee-Va-Dez), is of Hispanic origin and a lot of people look at it and wonder how to say it. I often get the question, how do you say your name...properly? Back to our friends, one day Allie asked her mom is they were going to the Overalls house to play and her mom didn't understand what she was asking until Allie asked if they were going to play with our kids specifically. That day the Overalls name came into being. Now as we go places as a family, we remind ourselves that we're Team Overalls, Team O for short, and that we need to take care of each other. Today begins a new chapter in our family's life, we're moving to Idaho to build church. Now people are asking us where are we going and what are we doing. This blog is an attempt to share some of our joys, struggles, prayer requests, and experiences with you. Verse of the morning: "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6