The Finishing Line, The Starting Line: Part Two

So, we've landed in the White Mountains of AZ over the terrain of about 1,700 miles. After braving the crazy roads, U-Haul truck antics and the unique experience of traveling with our two eclectic house cats, arriving was a welcome event for all involved. I'm quite satisfied to not travel again for a while.

This season is so interesting. Coming from Atlanta to the mountains is like hitting a large body of water going 80 mph. It puts the air breaks on your life so sternly that it feels like that special effect in the Matrix films where the character jumps into mid-air during a fight scene, only to suspend in slow motion before striking. There is a sort of jumble of emotion: missing those left behind, grateful for new friends, and just staying on top of all the changes.

The house that Marissa and I moved into needed a refrigerator and washer and dryer, and over the course of a few days, God provided a fridge and a dryer (only a washer is left!). We are in the stage of unpacking where most things are unpacked...now it's just a matter of getting rid of clutter.

Thank you to all who have been praying for us! On Monday we are starting on the Rez. I'll be posting more re: the crazy latest this next week.

The Finishing Line, The Starting Line: Part One

So, Saturday night we had a going-away party. It was a lot of fun. For Marissa and I it was a celebrate-our-friends party. We had fun talking, catching up and letting everyone know how much we'll miss them and that we're thankful for them. Our friends from IHOP-Atlanta gave us a coffee-table-like-book full of pictures from our three years there. It's awesome, and we'll treasure it forever.

This transition is very interesting for us in that it is an overlapping transition. In many ways our time in Whiteriver started before we left (with us sort of being on staff with AYM and preparing for this move), and us moving to Whiteriver doesn't mean that we're not going to see our friends again, but just that we won't be close in proximity anymore. We know that some friends will come and visit, so that's cool, but there's a strong urgency to our move both of vision for our lives and passion (with confidence) that God has marked us and designed us for this ministry.

Sunday night we shared at IHOP's "Encounter Service", regarding Native America and what we'll be doing in this new season of life and ministry. After sharing we received prayer and we were incredibly touched. There's something about being sent by, not just the Body of Christ, but by people who are like family to you, who believe in you, and who want to see you walk in the life that God prepared for you.

The past couple of days we've been packing and today we got our U-Haul truck. Now, I'm not one to spiritualize everything, but everything in our lives as of late has been: Native America, Native America, Native America, studying, praying, thinking, etc. We're leaving behind family, friends and comfort zones to learn more, live with and give ourselves over to this culture unto sharing the love and light of Christ with them. So maybe I shouldn't have been surprised when the U-haul truck that was pulled around for us had a mural of Sacajawea on the side of it. :-)

More to come....

The things that we leave behind

One of my favorite albums is a tastefully deep, yet not well known, CD from Michael Card called "Poiema". Lately, a song from that collection has been going through my head. The song is called: "Things We Leave Behind", and it talks about abandon and reflects on the calling of the 12 Disciples by Christ. The line that keeps resonating in my mind is a line that melodiously says, "It's hard to imagine the freedom we find from the things that we leave behind."

The things that we leave behind don't need to be negative things to experience freedom when leaving them. When we agree with the Apostle Paul to want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings unto attaining the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11), the reality is that the things that are going to die in us(vs 10) are not just the bad things but the good things as well (vs' 7-8). The reality is that when we follow we are changed. That is, when Christ calls us, it is not about what we are leaving behind, but rather what He is forming in us. I say this because I really sense a slow swell building in the ocean of our season in Atlanta. I know that this swell will soon crest into a wave that will take us to somewhere different and life-changing. As I look around I see friends and a history that has shaped Marissa and I in this season of our lives, there is the inherent sense of the intense change that has been lying dormant, but is soon to come to life with all of its sadness, excitement and even joy. We are going to terribly miss our friends and our family in Atlanta, we've already begun missing them. It would be inhuman for us not to experience the ache of being separated from dear friends and loving family. We also know, though, that this loss will bring to fruition attributes and character in us that are a part of the act of Christ reigning and ruling in us. That this loss of proximity to those we love will actually help our hearts come alive. This is a joy set before us...the kind of joy that makes you endure a death in order to have it.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:2-3