Address Correction

I originally wrote the wrong city for our new address!  SO SORRY.  Please note the address correction.  Thank you!

Jonathan and Carla James
38187 Monticello Dr.
Prairieville, LA 70769

Moving

Happy Thanksgiving!!

By now many of you know that we are moving to Baton Rouge.

However, your response may be similar to mine... "WHATTTT?"

As many of you know, we have been seeking God for direction for a long time. Well, a couple of months ago we got some direction, quick and bold! I had a dream I was sitting with Pastor Dino Rizzo (Pastor of Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge), and I was telling him that God told me we were to plant a church in three years and we were supposed to come and learn everything we could from him in preparation. I instantly woke up and was freaked out, to say the least: surprised at the timing but not surprised that God knows all of the passions of my heart. The Lord began to speak to me very clearly that this is His heart for us, and we should act on in NOW.

As most of you remember quite well, I was still in a wheelchair 95% of the time when I had this dream. I went back and forth with the Lord after this dream, as if I was in disbelief. I said "Lord, I'm just trying to figure out how to walk! What do you mean you want me to plant a church?". It was like the Lord said "I'm going to take care of that, but I've got something foryou to do!"

Carla and the kids were out of town visiting her ill grandmother during this time and I wasn't sure I wanted to share this with anyone - especially before I talked with her about it. However, I ended up talking to Pastor Dave Degarmo to hear his thoughts on it (thinking he was going to say I was nuts), but he was excited! He encouraged me in it, and said He thought it sounded like God! It was amazing, but honestly frustrated me in some ways, because NOW I was accountable for it AND I had to move forward.

That weekend, my sister invited me to see her re-baptized at Healing Place in Baton Rouge. I was reluctant to go, but thought that I would take the opportunity to support her and feel it out. While sitting in service, I couldn't hear a word Pastor Dino was saying. All I could hear was, "you have to tell him!" over and over in my head. I thought to myself, "There is no way! I'm in a wheelchair, He will be gone by the time I could get to him anyway, etc". My sister, not knowing anything, sent a note down the aisle to me that said, "You need to get to Dino!" then looks at me and shrugs her shoulders!

At this point I'm feeling the pressure.

After service was over, I stayed in the worship center just because I couldn't leave. Before I knew it there was only a handful of people left in the sanctuary and Dino looked at me and said "Hey man, how are you!". I wanted to say, "I feel like throwing up, thank you! How are you?". But, before I knew it I was sputtering out some words that sounded vaguely like the dream I had and what I felt God was showing me.... in a wheelchair. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said he remembered being in bible college and feeling the weight and burden of people. He said that if you would have looked at his life then, it just didn't add up, but if you look at it now, it makes all the sense in the world. Everyone understands now, because he WAS and IS made to carry the burden for people.

It gets better....

That was Saturday night! I went to church the next day in Mandeville, and cried my eyes out like a little girl. It was an encouraging service, but lets just say, I was the only one "bauling like a baby"! When service was over, a group of wonderful people surrounded me and started praying. Most of them were praying for healing, however they had NO idea of the weight of what the healing they were praying for could mean. I thanked them all and left church. I went home and prayed some more, then realized that a lot had happened and I had not even told Carla yet! Keep in mind, we talk about EVERYTHING, immediately whenever possible! We hardly have a day we don't talk about what all has happened or what the Lord is saying to us by the end of that day. But in the craziness of it all, I had forgotten to tell her about all of this!

I wasn't sure what her reaction would be. I was sure she was desperately wanted rest in our home. We have been under intense pressure with surgeries, the new baby and now a very ill grandmother! After I told her, she simply said, "Let's Go!", I said "Well....... lets see how this next year goes and we will start to move in that direction. By that time I will be healing more and hopefully walking again." Her response... "Well, we could do that..... but that wouldn't be obedience!"

My wife... WOW!

One of the lessons God has really been teaching us over the past 5 years or so is that "Delayed obedience, is disobedience!" Unfortunately (pun intended), my wife MUST follow every rule to the T! She began to encourage me that if this was the Lord speaking, that we needed to act now and not delay, EVEN if it is hard! She was willing to put her money where her mouth was too, because this meant a WHOLE LOT of work and stress for her. But, she was SO committed to following the leading of the Lord, that as confirmation came she was more than willing to pay ANY price to follow!

What about what I think?

I still hadn't bought into this whole idea of us moving now! I mean, after all, I'm not making any money, we can't get housing if I'm not making any money, I can't walk..... There were a lot of concerns to overcome! We continued seeking counsel. I talked to Pastor Dave again, and he was still in agreement. Then I talked with Pastor Steve, who I thought for sure wouldn't be supportive because of our natural circumstances. I was WRONG! He was excited! Excited? This is supposed to be the part where he brought up all of the objections I'd been thinking in my head. He said he was excited and that he wasn't sure how it would work out either, but encouraged me to keep pressing into it and let God work out the details. Then he dropped the bomb... "I think you should go NOW! Don't wait, Get over there and start building!"

Almost Done...

I then reconnected with Pastor Dino and he wanted us to connect with some of the other pastors at Healing Place to talk through some logistics. I met with them and we discussed all the different logistics and dreams within what God was speaking to us. They received us like true family! It was a true testament to what the Family of God is like! I was sure I would be rejected or at least encouraged to consider delaying until I got out of the wheelchair! Not these Guys! They said, "lets keep believing and see what God will do! He is the ultimate creative being. Lets see how we can let God be creative in this!"

Surgery...

In the middle of it all, We got word that I had to have surgery by the end of the year. My right elbow has gone too far in its deterioration process and if I want to have a chance at keeping my right arm, I have to have surgery now.

House hunting/renting/selling... Bad Timing...

If you haven't noticed we are in the worst housing market in a VERY long time. We own our house in Mandeville and didn't think we could possibly sell or rent. But, in faith, we started looking in Baton Rouge anyway! I decided that we would try to move before surgery on December 11th. Lofty goal, but if God was going to pull it all together, we might as well go for the gold! We still didn't have anyone to rent our house, but we decided to start packing anyway. No house to go to, no one to rent our house - until last Thursday. We got a call from someone who was looking to rent in our area. They loved the house, but wanted to move by the 1st of December....

God Is So Good, AND NEVER late!!!

We found a house 5 minutes from Healing place on Saturday and one week later we had a lease agreement on our house! We signed the contract and by a COMPLETE miracle and kindness of dear friends, we were packed up and ready to go the very next weekend.

The story will go on...

We still don't know how we are going to make it! We still aren't sure where our income is going to come from. We still don't know how we will handle all of the challenges ahead. But we do know that God is with us! We do know that He will provide! We do know that this is an adventure that we won't have a chance to live again, and we don't want to miss out!

This is only part of a God story, so hang on and stay with us. There's more to come!

Our new address:

38187 Monticello Dr.

Prairieville, LA 70769

Jonathan James

Walking and the Next Step

Wow, Jonathan is walking!!!  What a crazy road it's been.  So, many of you are probably wondering if he went to rehab?  Well.......     its a long story, but if you know Jonathan its a simple one - he did it on his own.  That's right, folks, the Powerhouse Himself rehabbed himself.  BIG SMILE.  He's amazing, not that you all need ME to tell you that.  He is still using the wheelchair and a cane periodically, but he forces himself to walk as much as he can.  Thank you, Jesus!

Next fews steps.  It's a lot to swallow, especially after just a couple of weeks of watching Jonathan walk, but it is time to face the next step: his elbow.  Many of you know we have been praying SO hard that our doctor in New Orleans would have a change of heart and be willing to take on Jonathan's arm right away.  Up to this point, he has not been willing to, instead wanting to perform an additional heel surgery on J's other heel.  HOWEVER, Jonathan met with this same doctor this week, deciding he would lay it all out on the table and insist on having his elbow surgery first.  Well, he didn't have to.  After the xrays were complete and discussion began, Jonathan's doctor said, "Well, we are going to have to replace your elbow immediately."  The only two options are amputation or complete elbow replacement - to be done in 5 weeks.  There is not enough bone left in Jonathan's arm to fuse it again.  For us, this is amazing and such an answer to so many of you praying.  It means that he will be able to use his arm again!  It is also very sobering and has already brought with it many tears.  Even after the incisions heal and bleeding stops, he won't be able to use his arm for a whole year. While he still feels pain from this past surgery, it is decreasing.  Another surgery so soon means he will begin the process all over again.  With four children under the age of six, including a now four month old baby, it's a lot to think about, both for Jonathan and for me.

The questions come:  How can we do this?  How will I (Carla) be able to bear the weight of it?  How will I (Jonathan) go through all of this so soon again, make a living, be a daddy and everything else?  We have no answers.....   We have no idea how it will all work, how it will all happen.....  We know God is good.  We know WHO we belong to.  And we know that no matter how much weight and pressure presses against us, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us and daily gives us all we need.  Right now, that's all we need to know.  Jonathan and I recently went on a trip to a Hemophilia Convention.  I can't tell you how many times people asked us if we were on our honeymoon, saying, "You seem so in love....."  After hearing our story and that we have been married 8 years and have four children under age 6, all jaws in the room dropped.  We found it quite funny.  We said, "When we got married we decided that when things got hard we would have two choices:  we could either blame each other and run from each other, or we could grab arms, love each other and run through the struggles together.  We made a pact that we would stand by one another and it's made all the difference in the world."  That pact continues to stay true even on the hardest of days when the world seems to be spinning around us.  That same unconditional love, God goes out of His way to show us, will keep us.......

Surgery is tenatively scheduled for the first or second week of December.  We will keep you posted.  Thank you for your love, prayers and support.  You are all amazing.