Last night Amy surprised me with a belated 30th birthday present by inviting over some of the guys I have invested in over the years. There were 9 guys ranging in age from 13-23. We shared a meal together, reminisced about past mission trips and camps, and then I was asked by one of the fellas to share a little bit about how God led us to New Orleans and what we will be doing. After I shared, I asked all of them to impart their wisdom/advice to me. I was a bit skeptical that they might dismiss my request but God has taught me a lot about mentoring this past year…. one of the main things is that God can speak through them and therefore I can learn from them. And let me tell you, God did indeed speak through them last night! Their advice blew me away….it wasn’t just their nuggets of wisdom, but it was the way in which they spoke….they spoke with love, maturity, a passion for Jesus, and a heart for my family. I am humbled and grateful for such friends!
Update: We have pushed back our departure date to August 16th for a variety of reasons. I will still be driving with down with Mark Foree and Amy will be flying down with Nolan.
Prayer request: Pray for peace in the midst of our transition…..and when I say transition, we are in TRANSITION! We are out of our house, and all our stuff is in storage. Crazy times….but a good crazy!
Today is the day we officially move out of our house!! We have been living with Amy’s parents since July 5th but we have had till the 9th to be out. In just a few minutes we will be heading over to our house to get our last things and we will be doing a thorough clean. It is very strange moving out of a home that you have lived in for 7 years. In one sense it’s just a house so it shouldn’t be a big deal but on the other hand we have had so many memories there which makes it hard to say goodbye. God has done so many good things for us these past few days. We sold our Tahoe!!! That is amazing! He also provided a friend for me to drive down to New Orleans with (Mark Foree). We are set to leave August 9th. The last of our support is starting to come in…..we are at 90% right now. Things are begining to happen fast….before you know it we will be eating crawfish in New Orleans.
Amy and I recently returned from a house hunting trip to New Orleans and we are thrilled to report that God has provided us with one!! This is a miracle considering that there were only 2 houses that were listed within a 3 block radius of our existing team. When we visited in December we looked at 7 houses, all of which would not work for us. So, having only two to choose from seemed like a dead end…yet God is bigger than these odds!! We kept sensing the Lord telling us to wait on Him and have patience to see what he had in store and we are simply amazed with what he has provided. The house is everything we have been praying and hoping for; we will be able to contribute to our team by housing interns and guests, it is in livable condition so we can focus on ministry, and we will be able to be hospitable to our neighborhood (and… no mold!). Please join me in thanking God for this miracle!
Nolan, my mom, and I (Matt) recently returned from a trip to Cali visiting my granparents. That could very well have been the last time I see my grandma. She has lung cancer and isn’t expected to live longer than 6 months. I love my grandparents dearly and it was very good to see them but I walked away feeling really discouraged because they have no visible affection for Jesus. My Grandpa has a heart that is hard as a rock…he wants nothing to do with Jesus….he even went as far as walking out of the room and slamming cupboards when I began talking about my desire to represent Jesus in New Orleans. My Grandma, on the other hand, claims to have accepted Jesus as her savior but wants no mention of Him at her funeral. Complicated!! Would you join me in praying for my grandma this week? Pray that if she truly knows Jesus that she would begin to show visible signs of love for him, and if she doesn’t know Him, pray that she would respond to His love by accepting what He has done for her.
Quick update: We leave for New Orleans tomorrow (Tuesday) in search for a place to live. Please keep us in your prayers! Pray that the Lord would reveal his plan regarding housing.
So, we just heard today that only 18 houses sold last month (from Kirkland to Snohomish) as opposed to the usual 200-250. And one of those houses was OURS! (Don’t get scared about the market though people… it was an unusual month for this area and already there have been more in June). I thought it was really encouraging how the Lord took care of us in that way though and wanted to pass it along. It’s been fun watching all these things come together.
Now you can pray for our house hunting journey to New Orleans. We are heading down June 24-27 to get some things done, including finding a place to rest our heads. We have been feeling the Lord tell us to wait on him, not only in this area but many others. So, we will be patient (at least that’s the plan) and wait for the one He tells us is home.
Preparing to move across the country you have your good days and then you have your bad days. Today was a good day thanks to one of my former students in the Junior High Group. This Junior High student handed me an envelope after the Sunday service that had a whole bunch of various donation from diffrent people. Appraently she had just had her Birthday and instead of asking for presents she asked for people to donate to CRM in our name. Wow!!! This ranks as on of the most encouraging gifts we have ever recieved. We feel humbled, honored, and amazed at how God has used this student to remind us to emulate this type of generosity. Praise God!
It was my last day in youth ministry today. A lot of people are asking me how I’m doing and all I can say is that it feels very wierd! I have been involved in youth ministry now for 11 years; 6 of which were full time. It was long enough to see some of my former students get married, have children, and get real jobs. Wow! I won’t remember the program I ran on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s but what I will remember and take with me to New Orleans is the friendships with staff and students. The difficult part of leaving will be leaving these relationships that were gained. So many unbelieveable staff that love Jesus and the youth culture, and so many All-Star students that dream big dreams for the Kingdom.
So my days of crazy Junior high skits, youth activities, summer camps, ministry trips, Wednesday night youth groups, & fall retreats are over and a new day is beginning. In the words of Lloyd Christmas “It was a good one!”
We are looking forward to getting started in New Orleans. We have about 2 months before we leave. We would love to spend time with you before we head off…..coffee, lunch, hanging at the park, wakeboarding, or whatever you want to do. We would love to hang with you.
I have left you with a few pictures of our days in youth ministy and a crazy skit to memorialize our time. Enjoy!
Of course Nolan is the cutest boy to grace this planet (sorry friends with little boys!), but a pretty sweet camera helps to capture his looks That’s all for today…just wanted to brag on him (and my new lens)!
The inspection on the house went beautifully! We have a list of things to fix, but nothing major and nothing expensive… PTL! Now on to Phase 2: packing. We are hoping to start looking for a house soon, but are waiting on the Lord to accomplish a few things first. Namely, having 80% of our funds raised by June 1st. I guess it wouldn’t be wise to buy a house in New Orleans until we are close to being able to move (Matt had to bring me to that reality when I was looking at houses months ago…I guess my nesting instincts run away with me).
Our money is only His funds that we borrow. Like the fish and the bread, He can multiply it to dispurse among thousands, so we are praying that His miracles continue! We are currently at 74%.
Please be praying that we make the most of all our “lasts” in Seattle. Last time at that restaurant, last time seeing that person, last time at Folklife festival. It’s all pretty surreal.
BTW, I wasn’t a fan of the pics that matt chose for the last post ;), so here are some better ones…
That’s all for today…just wanted to brag on him (and my new lens)!
