The Waiting Game........

Hello Again, Dear Friends and Family!!

We are officially 3 months into our wait for 501c3 status approval.....And anyone who knows me knows that among my many faults is a tremendous lack of patience.....so they've been 3 looooooong months!  Very soon after I sent in our application, I received word back from the feds that we had made it through the initial screening round, and that I should expect to hear word within 90 days...........Tick.....Tick......Tick........We now have about 18 days left before that 90 days is up (but who's counting?!), so everytime I see our mail lady walking up the little path to my mailbox, I get a little tingle....only to rush to the mailbox and find the standard bills, bills, and credit card offers....and some more bills......

But, I will admit that this waiting hasn't been all bad.  I've actually been able to make a lot of progress on the Maple Tree over these months of stillness.  Our website is nearly complete, and will hopefully launch within the next couple of weeks.  I've begun a local speaking tour at area community centers and churches, and am in the process of compiling a list of doctors offices and hospitals to approach to help spread the word about our little center.  I've also enlisted a group of wonderful, godly friends who have been freverently praying for God to provide a building for the Maple Tree.  There is one building in particular that He has really laid on my heart (I think I have mentioned it before in a previous post).  I recently had the opportunity to take a tour through it, and although it needs a little TLC (which is okay, because I'm married to the handiest handy man I know!), it would be the PERFECT home for the Maple Tree.  It has been on the market for about three years now.  I still remember the week this building went on the market, I walked by it with my family one night (on our way to Graeters, of course!) and commented on how it would be the perfect place for a cancer rehab center....if I ever decided to open one!  Well, fast forward 3 years, and it is still available and I just so happen to be opening a cancer rehab center!  Isn't God good?!  Of course, the down side of this perfect building is the cost....it is perfectly expensive!  However, everytime I let my mind worry about the cost, God always finds a way to calm my fears.  I believe that one thing He is trying to teach me through this whole experience is trust.  Trust that He knows what is best for me, and that He will provide.  And I firmly believe that He WILL provide a building for us.  It may not be in the way I think it will or should happen, but I just know that He will come through, and I know that it will be AWESOME when He does!
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!!
(Eph 3:20-21, one of my favorites!)