January Again

For whatever reason, January is a month that has been standing out in recent years as we take stock of what God is doing in our lives.  It's hard to believe how much God has been doing in our journey with him to bring us to this point, so maybe the following recap will be as encouraging to you as it has been to me.

January 2005

January 2005 marked the mid-point of  a singularly rough year in ministry at NPC.  We had welcomed Parker into our family the previous summer.  I then jumped into the first year of ministry at NPC without a sr. pastor.  NPC was finishing a 3 year stewardship campaign so I was doing added teaching and curriculum, and picking up some of the preaching load from Mike having left.  I was really struggling as a first time parent, and spending 14 hour Tuesdays to do night school Hebrew up at Trinity in anticipation of taking my ordination exams.  In January we celebrated Parker's first birthday and then over the next few months both of my folks would be diagnosed with cancer.  

January 2006

After a grueling year and half without a sr. pastor at NPC, I was now also taking my licensure exams as part of the ordination process.  The previous few months had seen daily study and then marathon work sessions in December to finish my written exams over Christmas and take (and pass) my oral exams in January.  After finishing my exams, I jumped into a preaching series from Malachi, and Chris Hodge came to interview for the sr. pastor job at NPC.  Chris was hired and arrived around Easter that year.  (yea!)

January 2007

Having done our best for NPC while they were searching for a new pastor, with Chris hired, we felt free to begin the process of moving on to our next ministry.  So 2007 started with me still being in the middle of the job hunt.  And while we did have some good conversations with a few churches that fall, nothing had really clicked yet.  Coming to a place where a decision (and salary) would be needed soon, January 07 marked the final round of conversations with World Harvest in which we became convinced that this is where God was leading us.  The following months would have us support raising, selling and buying a house, saying good bye to dear friends, moving to Philly and starting over, and a lot of tears.

January 2008

January of last year held two dramatic events.  The first was Jennifer and I attending the WHM team leaders retreat in Austria.  It was one of those rare moments in life and ministry where things seem to really align.  Being with the WHM field team leaders, praying with them and ministering to them, and staying up late into the night laughing and telling stories was the exclamation point to my sense of calling to WHM.  And a few short weeks later, my mom ended her struggle with cancer by going home to be with the Lord.  Again our lives in Philly and Chicago overlapped and collided as we were well loved by our friends in Naperville and returned to Philly feeling finally able to start our new lives there.

January 2009

Having made some some new friends in snowy Princeton, I am now sitting in sunny Orlando (82 and not a cloud in the sky!) at the Global Church Planting Conference.  While here I've gotten to hang out with some of our Ireland team who is also attending, been introduced to lots of really great folks who are experienced church planters and trainers, and spent some time investing in new friendships.  GCA is a bit like a crossroads in the church planting world, and as bizarre as this seems to me, I seem to be a person that other folks want to meet.  I have also been gaining a much greater sense of how my passions and desires and calling fit into the larger work of the kingdom.

I can't tell you how little I would have ever guessed that this is what God would have in store for us.  My heart is so full of compassion and concern for our teams on the field and the men and women sitting in the training sessions who are getting read to launch out and start new churches.  I keep marveling over the fact that we have celebrated Parkers 5th birthday party (thats 25% of his life of "pre-college" life gone already!!) and that the little guy keeps growing up to be my friend.  And I am tremendously grateful for the way that all of you have walked with us, prayed for us, supported us, and keep cheering us on.  Who knows what January of 2010 will bring?