Big News!

Jessica and I have made some pretty big decisions in the last few weeks. One of the biggest decisions concerns my job at our church and where we live. We have prayed so much about this and asked the Lord to reveal His will to us and He has. At the end of August I will be leaving Friendship Church and moving to the Birmingham area to be a part of another ministry. Jessica and I didn't see this coming, and when God opened the door and asked us to leave Athens we wondered "why now?" and "why us?" The interesting thing about our faith in Christ is that we don't always get the 'why' questions answered. When Mary, the mother of Jesus was asked to be the vessel that God used to bring His son to the earth, the 'why' was not offered, and she said yes. Also when Joseph was asked to marry a woman who carried a baby that was not his, and live with the shame of that - in the culture of his day - and then leave behind everything he knew to move to Egypt - all of his "whys" were not answered. He said yes to God - even when it didn't all make sense.

Now,  Jessica and I have not been tasked with something near as important as Mary & Joseph. But when God reveals His will to you, it is paramount that we say yes. We don't understand God's timing, and the good news is - we don't have to. We trust in the Lord and we don't lean on our own understanding. When we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He directs our path. 

So we are excited about the new season we are entering in our lives, but we are also sad to leave behind our home, family and friends. Our community has been so wonderful to Noah. Over the last 20 months we have received such an overwhelming display of love for him. It is difficult to leave that behind. Friendship Church is one of the greatest churches I have ever known. It is not perfect - no church is, but the people there have loved us without conditions. They have stood by us through our darkest moments, cried with us, laughed with us and financially held us afloat. We love our church. 

To clarify - and to put rumors to rest. (I have chuckled a little bit over what we have heard - why some people think we are leaving.) It isn't for more money, it isn't for bigger church, it isn't because we are mad at leadership, it isn't because things aren't happening the way I like or want them to happen. These reasons are not the truth and aren't even issues. None of those reasons are ever a reason to leave a church. When God puts you somewhere, you stay until He leads you to the next destination. My pastors have prayed with me and given me a blessing to move into this new season of ministry. What an excellent way to move from one family of faith to another. 

I love Friendship's leaders & staff like family, I love my church family like family. We love Athens and our community. 

We are moving on because God is leading us to minister in another location. He does that quite often. I will bet you can find several examples of this in scripture. 

Noah is doing very well. He is running all over the place staying busy, making noise and helping us have opportunities to practice self control. : )

We have a big prayer request. Please pray that God would lead someone to purchase our house in Athens. We are not anxious or worried, but we know the power of prayer.

Thanks for praying for and checking on our son.

Spread the word-
Pray for Noah. 

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