I guess we are actually moving...the packers come tomorrow!

We have been talking about it, praying about it and preparing for it but it still seems a bit unreal that the moving company is coming tomorrow to pack us up. We are really moving to Kentucky, the bluegrass state. The past week has been good and filled to the brim. We have been preparing, cleaning out, spending time with friends, and packing for the big move. The Lord has been speaking to my heart as my heart has been needing to let go of some more control and trust the Lord fully... completely. I have been hanging onto this verse 2 Corinthians 9:18 "And God is able to make all grace abound you, so that in ALL things, at ALL times, having ALL that you need, you will abound in every good work." I have needed His grace this last week in all the things that have been going on...constantly...at all times He is showing me His strength and perfect timing....and He is faithful to provide for us all we need. Now needing and wanting are two different things. I am finding I want things to be easy...I want to know how all the details look beforehand...I want many things that the Lord keeps so patiently reminding me if I lean into Him, He will just take care of it all and supply all of our needs. Of course my needs are not necessarily my wants, but I am learning that that is okay and He is enough. His grace is enough. He is faithful and worthy of my trust. It has been hard to leave Cushing. Our hearts long for this community to hunger and thirst after God. We long to still see the day that the body of Christ in Cushing will be vibrant and alive and growing disciples for Christ. We long to see the body of Christ truly living out being the hands and feet of Christ in their homes, their families, and their community. It is hard to leave. It is hard to say goodbye. Our hearts are still so connected here but the Lord is giving us much joy for the people of Morehead, Ky. We are excited to see what He has in store for us there and where He wants to use us for His glory. He has been teaching us alot about His desires for the His church, gospel growth and absolute obedience in following Him. I am so thankful for great men that seek after God's own heart to encourage us in His word and help us to grow in our walk with Him. I am thankful for Brent Prentice, pastor at Eagle Heights Baptist Church in Stillwater and Ted Kersh, pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church. The Lord has used these men to truly challenge us and equip us for the days ahead. His grace has given us ALL we need for every good work ahead. I wish I had more time tonight to write but I should go and organize my things to be prepared for tomorrow. I had a wonderful breakfast this morning with some dear friends from Tulsa and they encouraged me to continue to blog. I wanted to thank you all for sharing in our journey and for caring enough to keep up with us and pray for us. You are so dear to us and we thank the Lord for you. I wanted to ask if I could leave some prayer requests for you to pray over as I sign off till the first of the year when we are back settled into our new home in Kentucky. Thank you for partnering with us in prayer!

1- Pray for this time of transitioning for our children. They are doing really, really well and excited about the new adventure but I know that days of sadness and uncertainty in change will come. Pray for peace for them, may the joy of the Lord be their strength and that we would be able to speak truth to them and reinforce God's word and promises to them during this time.

2- Pray for God's favor to be upon us as we begin to build relationships with those in Morehead/Owingsville area. Pray that the Lord would align us with the teachers, schools, neighbors, friends, coworkers, medical students, residency physicians, ect. that need to know Him or need to know Him more. Pray for guidance for us and where He wants us to specifically serve and how He wants us to open our home and our lives to those in our paths to share life with them and share Christ with them.

3- Pray for our home in Cushing to have the right buyer and a contract closing by March. We are believing the Lord can do great and mighty things!

4- Pray for Dustin as He joins the Hands and Feet Founders for a trip to the orphanages in Haiti Jan 7-10. Pray for wisdom and discernment for the group going. They have been approached to take over care in 2 more orphanages in North Haiti that would raise the current number of orphans they provide for from 100 to 250. Pray the Lord would confirm to them boldly in unity what He would desire for them to do. Pray that Dustin would have a great bonding time and be able to express to our children there (Luca, Naidine, Wadley and Darbens) how much we love them and care for them.

5- Pray for the Owingsville Clinic where Dustin will be working. Pray the Lord will begin to work in the staff's hearts to draw them closer to Him. Pray that they will seek to serve as one body to do medicine and ministry hand in hand. Pray that there would be no division within them but that the Lord would use the clinic in a mighty way to minister to the people of Owingsville, Ky both physically and spiritually. Pray for my husband to have favor as He transitions into this clinic with an established staff.

6- Pray for safety traveling to Kentucky Thursday, December 27. We have heard a snowstorm is a brewing so please pray for the safety of our family and the drivers that will be driving the truck to meet us in Kentucky.

7- Pray for our families that we leave behind in Oklahoma. Pray they will have much joy to see us obeying the Lord and serving Him wherever He may lead us. Pray the Lord will grant us time to come back and be with them again often. Pray that they would not be anxious about us leaving but that they would be excited to share in our journey with us.

8- Pray for our friends that we leave behind in Cushing. Pray they will continue to walk faithfully with the Lord. Pray that they will grow in wisdom and stature with men and with God. Pray that they will be beacons for their families and their community in Cushing for Jesus!

 

Much, Much Love to you all and Merry Christmas!!

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

James 4:8  

Love, The Cupp Crew

A New Home

I am having difficulty gathering my thoughts today. It has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks and a search for a home in Kentucky. The week before we went the Lord had been teaching me a lot about joy. I am doing a study by Elizabeth George on the fruits of the spirit. The gift of joy was a good reminder for me during this anticipation of our time of transition. Joy is not happiness. Happiness is a state of good fortune and prosperity related to and dependent on circumstances. Joy is dependent on the spiritual realities of God's goodness, His unconditional love for us, and His ultimate victory over sin and darkness. Joy is based on the truth about our relationship with the Father through Jesus the son. Joy is choosing to look beyond what appears to be true in our life to what is true about our life in Christ. I knew that I had been a bit emotional lately...basing my happiness day by day on what tasks I could get completed and where we were on the process of moving. My joy should not be dependent on things that are going on or circumstances of my day. Moving is stressful. So many unknowns. A big one for us what where are we going to live? Mind you the Lord has not yet brought the buyers for our home in Cushing and we are to start in Kentucky soon. Satan was trying to steal my joy by placing doubt. The Lord is continuing to teach me and show me that His hand is over us and is capable alone to make all of the plans and details come to completion for His glory. So off we went house hunting. We would just simply trust the Lord. He is the anchor of our souls. "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us." Hebrews 6:19-20. I am so thankful He is sure and steadfast and that He continues to show himself faithful time and time again. I cannot go much further without telling you how the Lord has blessed us with the most wonderful friend and realtor in Morehead, Mrs. Margie. Abby with St.Claire Hospital recommended her and all I can say is I absolutely love how God loves to weave his followers together. Mrs. Margie has been a blessing from above. "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." James 1:17. I am thankful for this gift of guidance from the Lord for our family as we sought out housing in Morehead. We trust her, admire her and love her dearly. When it finally came down to two homes and we were so unsure as the best choice she was up alot of the night interceding on our behalf. May the Lord bless her and honor her for her love and prayers over us. She wanted God's best for us and prayed the Lord would open our eyes to that, however that looked and He did. So we were off to Morehead. Andrew told us, "Mom, I know why they call it Morehead?....Because people just kept coming and coming and they had "more" "heads"!" Such a funny guy. After one long and one short day of driving we finally arrived. The kids were super excited and ready to find a house. Andrew also asked if we were going to have people with cameras with us recording our search because he really didn't want to do that because he was shy. After we reassured him that no cameras were involved we were off. We looked at a couple of rental homes and a handful of homes for sale. One home stood out. One home the kids liked overall. I'm really not sure why they liked it...it was vacant. One house we looked at had toys in every room....like more toys than I have ever seen in my entire life and yet they were drawn to the house on Hickory Drive. It was a good home. Far larger than I ever dreamed of having to clean. It needed lots of restoration. Lots of renovation. We continued to pray. That morning in my quiet time the Lord gave me two words....have faith..I was studying in Hebrews Chapter 6. I wrote this verse in my journal, "Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:38 says "The just shall live by faith." But what is faith? Hebrews 11:11 says "It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wanted to approach God must believe both that He exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek Him" Faith is to believe, trust, or have confidence in what God has promised, resulting in a life of faithfulness and perseverance. I wrote in my journal what I felt like the Lord was telling my heart: "Two words today. Have. Faith. Believe what I have revealed to you and the works I have prepared beforehand that you should walk in them." So we prayed and decided to have faith and trust that the Lord would take care of our home in Cushing so we could serve Him in Morehead. We made an offer on the home on Hickory Drive. Things did not go as smoothly as we had wished. It needs lots of work and it had been on the market, vacant for two years. The seller was not coming off of the price like we had hoped. We waited and continued to pray. The other home that was available was brand new but so compact, a bunch of small rooms. I could not see us hosting there. I could not see us opening our home as often and easily to share our lives and share Christ with the people He was going to bring into our circle. We decided to stop negotiating and go back and look at the new home. No updates. Great geothermal heating and cooling unit. New. We prayed that night that the Lord would open our eyes to His desires for us. Our struggle was in thinking it through and trying to be good stewards. We were not really wanting to spend a whole lot on a big loan and then have to do renovations as well. This world is not our home. Everything we have, everything we "own" does not last. What was God's best for us? Where would our ministry be best served? Tough questions. The Lord led us back again to 561 Hickory Drive. Restoration. We are to restore the home. We are to shine the light of Jesus in Morehead, Ky using this home He has so lavishly bestowed to us so that people may seek restoration with the Lord. We drove home from Kentucky not sure how the Lord was going to work this deal out. We finally came to an agreement with the seller and he agreed to not close until March 4, 2013 but let us move in December 27 and pay him two months rent until the Lord provides a buyer for our home in Cushing. We have a new home! We have faith that God will show himself strong and bring a buyer in His perfect timing. We are thankful for His provision for our family and truly have joy as we look at the realities of God's goodness, His unconditional love for us and His victory over sin and darkness. We are thankful He truly is Jesus Emmanuel: the One who always stands with us. We are excited for what the Lord has in store. Another new home with a Kentucky address. A temporary place for us to live for Christ until He calls us to our eternal home with Him! Oh Happy Day!