The Rest of America Should Take Notes

You might remember my good friend, Chelsea, from my post back in January.  Yesterday, after a twelve month tour of duty in Afghanistan, her husband Joe returned home.  And what a return it was!

Small Town, Illinois, you did it again!  I brag on you a lot... noting how charming and easy-going the folks here can be.  Everyone's willingness to do anything for anyone never ceases to amaze me, and the rest of the country should take notes.  Here, if you need to borrow a lawn mower, someone will more than likely go the extra step and do it for you.  Or if your on bed rest, a parade of folks will be in and out of your home the whole time to cook and clean.  I would know... I've experienced both.  And when one of our own returns home from deployment, people line the streets in 95+ degree heat to give a hero's welcome.

Yesterday I was in awe (once again) of how a community can come together.  Chelsea had made a few phone calls to a few folks just a couple of days before to see what we could do to really give Joe a deserved welcome.  From there the whole thing snowballed and by the time they rolled into town, it was perched on top of a convertible behind a fire engine with its sirens blaring, about 50 motorcycles, and followed by several decorated vehicles that had jumped into their convoy on the way back from Clinton, Iowa.  It had been announced in the local paper that they would be cruising down Main Street around 3 PM and the residents here were encouraged to make signs and line the streets to honor the family.  Sure enough, the streets were lined with people, many waving flags, and when we heard those sirens and saw the family we all cheered, shouted words of thanks, and in my case (and many others) teared up at the sight.  It's easy to forget that we have thousands of men and women overseas everyday risking their lives to protect our country.  It's easy to forget that these men and women have spouses at home that do all that they can to make that void feel small for their children.  It's easy to forget that these men and women have children who change so much in a year and are totally different kids when they return.  And even though we can't make it up to them, I hope that yesterday helped show one family how appreciative we are of that sacrifice.  I cannot imagine being away from my husband for an entire year and being home by myself with the kids, but here in Small Town, Illinois, I know that I would be taken good care of, just as Chelsea was.  America should take notes.

I won't do a good enough job trying to describe the fanfare, so I won't try.  Chelsea wrote a great recap on Facebook, but I'm not sure that you could access it, so I'll leave that for her friends and family to enjoy... it's her story to tell anyway.  But if you'd like to see more pictures and read more about the festivities, you can check out these articles and photos here and here.

Today was the first time in a very long time that my heart really swelled with pride for America.  I grew up as an Army kid, so my patriotism runs deep, but we take it for granted all too often.  Even more than that, I'm truly proud that I can call this family my friends.  And most importantly, I'm really happy that this daddy is back where he belongs- at home with all five of his girls.  Welcome home, Joe!  You were truly missed!

Our Other BIG Announcement...

There has been so much going on within our family lately that I have steered clear of the blog just to make sure I kept some necessary things to myself until the time was right to share.  But since we made our announcement to church this morning and later on to the rest of the staff, I have been given the green light to share with all of our dear friends who peek in on us from time to time here.  But let me start at the beginning... this goes way back!

Before we were even married, Josh looked at me one night and told me that he felt like God had put it on his heart to plant a church.  I know I've shared bits of this story on here before, but I feel like it's truly the start of this journey.  At the time, I looked at him like he had three heads.  I didn't even know what that meant, had never heard the term "church plant," and could only relate it to some sort of cult.  Clearly I was not ready for that.  It was only a matter of months that he stumbled across the Crossroads campus pastor job, applied, and we came up to Small Town, Illinois to interview.  I can't say that I fell in love with Small Town, Illinois right away, but I did fall in love with the organization and the people.  When we met some of the folks that were trying to put a campus in their town (the town we would be moving to), I could see the pleading looks on their face.  They knew that they needed a life-giving church in their town, for themselves, their families, and for future generations.  There was a hunger and a burning for Jesus that I had never seen before, and I was moved.  I told Josh that we needed to do whatever it took to be a part of putting that campus in their town.

Over the past two years, we have ministered in Small Town, Illinois, seen hundreds (literally) of people commit their lives to Christ, marriages become restored, addictions overcome, and filled the seats with folks who had not stepped foot in a church for years, if not ever.  Between this Easter and last Easter, over 150 people publicly stepped into the waters of baptism to celebrate their commitment to Christ.  These past two years have been nothing short of amazing.

With that being said, similar conversations about the desires of my husband's heart and his visions of planting a church would sometimes come up over these past two years.  In true Kim fashion, they usually continued to be met with a panicked look that would fall across my face.  In my mind, this dream of his would definitely happen and be something that I would be supportive of, but it would probably happen five or ten years down the road.  That sounded comfortable enough.  That worked for me.  So imagine my surprise when I didn't balk at the idea when he brought it up to me this spring.  There was a tug in my spirit that I couldn't explain and for the first time, I actually had an inkling that the time was near.  Fast forward to just a week later when at the end of one of our messages, a pastor that we have looked up to for a long time was featured in a video because he had given his last message the week before at the church that he pastored.  He had been battling cancer and knew his time was incredibly near.  The message moved me to tears and struck a major chord with me.  He had definitely lived a life of significance, pastoring people and founding an organization that has seen and funded hundreds of new church plants across the country.  This man was making sure Jesus was being introduced to these hungry communities.  And he reminded us that when there is a call on your life, you really need to listen.  There will never be a good time, so what are we waiting for?  Obedience truly is a learned behavior.  Later that night I told Josh that the time was near... God was definitely calling him to do this, I knew he had the gifts and talents, and I was ready to go wherever He was leading us.  It was truly a turning point in this adventure.

Over the next month, we thought and prayed about what this would look like and where this might be.  We knew God had big plans and it was only a matter of time before He revealed them to us.  Josh started feeling like Kentucky was our next move, and although I had similar feelings of my own, I was hesitant to consider them too closely.  My sister and her family lives in Kentucky and I did not want to feel like maybe I was feeling like that was the right place because I would love to be closer to them.  I wanted to make sure I was listening to Him and not to my own selfish desires.  I think I mentioned every place around Kentucky without mentioning Kentucky itself.  Josh continued to feel strongly about it, however, so we decided to go visit and just get our eyes on the place.  We spent three days there, met some people from my sister's school, and drove around Lexington, Georgetown, and Paris.  We spent the majority of our time on the north fringes of the city and found that there was definitely a void.  Hundreds of new homes were everywhere, but very few churches.  Hundreds of families, but not many places to go.  When we met my sister's teachers friends and just mentioned that we were considering a church plant in that area, I saw that same desperate look- those same pleading eyes.  It brought me back to the moment when I knew our move to Illinois was what God was calling us to do.  I had the same tug on my spirit, like a hand gently pushing me in that direction.  Well, it was more like a shove, which is probably what a stubborn gal like me needs from time to time.  

As for my other doubts based around whether or not we were choosing this area for the right reasons, my sister cleared that up because of one sentence out of my sister's mouth.  When we told her about the potential of us moving there to start a church she said, "Oooh!  We're going to have a church!"  I had expected something to the effect of "You're going to live so close!" or "I get to see Jake all the time!" or something like that, but instead it was excitement that their search would be over.  Her family had given up on trying to find a church that worked for their family because they just couldn't find the right fit.  My heart broke.  The Bible tells us that our mission begins at home, but my sister and her husband had been unable to find the tools in their area to help their family grow spiritually and live that out.  By the time we packed up the car and headed back home, we knew this was the right place.  We had found our next ministry and our next home.

Over the couple of weeks Josh has been meeting with the leadership of our current church and helping them set up our current campus for success long after we're gone.  He and I both know that the pastors don't make people come to church, but having a good one sure does help.  We know that God is bigger than that and us leaving would not cause our church to stumble in the least as long as we leave it in a healthy state and a healthy way.  As an answer to our prayers, our current worship leader and youth pastor interviewed and fit the bill as our replacement.  He and his wife have become incredible friends of ours and they are two of the most kind-hearted, generous, loving, and prayerful individuals that I have ever met.  They truly taught me what it means to let yourself go and immerse yourself in the words of a song, and I will miss hearing his voice sing to the Lord every Sunday.  Our church family here is so blessed to have them, and although it doesn't make it easy to leave, it gives us an even greater sense of peace about it.  And today when we announced it to the congregation, there were a lot of tears built out of relationship, but also a lot of words of encouragement and excitement for the journey ahead for us.  We know that in this next year we will have more support, love, and prayer from people in Small Town, Illinois than we could have ever dreamed of.  God is really watching over us and I know His hand is all over this.

As for us, our last Sunday with Crossroads is on June 12th.  We will open the doors and have our very first services at TurningPoint Church in Lexington, Kentucky in February 2012.  We have a lot of work to do between now and then, as well as a lot of stuff to figure out personally, but we both could not be more excited.  I tell people that I am so confident that this is God's will for our lives because of the peace I have about all of the unknowns that lie ahead; the timing for our family could not be more inconvenient.  In the next nine months we will be trying to sell a house, find a new place in a new town, transporting all of our belongings, going down to one income, raising a one-year-old, and bringing a newborn into the mix.  My usual self would be so stressed out by now that my head would probably explode.  But I surprisingly have very little anxiety about it.  I know it won't be easy, and I know that there will be some difficult and very stressful times along the way, but I also know that we're being obedient and that our Father will provide for us.  I never understood the phrase "a peace that passes understanding" until now, and I am so very thankful.

For those of you here in Small Town, Illinois, please know that we leave here with such mixed emotions.  We are excited for what lies ahead, but will miss you all tremendously.  Our life as a married couple and as a family started here.  My first real role in ministry began here, and although I know I still need to grow by leaps and bounds to be the pastor's wife God made me to be, He definitely did some important work on me while we were here.  I truly have a love affair with the Midwest now... and it's not because the location itself is something spectacular but because of the hearts of the people who live here. I have never in my life met more warm, generous, friendly, and loving people anywhere else in the world and I have lived in a lot of places!  You just don't find folks better than this, and I know that our friends here have helped me grow into a better woman and a better friend.  I am forever grateful.  I also want you all to know that we're not just going to disappear from this place.  Over the summer we will be here from time to time as we take care of our personal business and will stay connected well beyond the move.  This place is so special to our family and I know that we can't leave without looking back.  So don't think you're getting rid of us so easily!

I know this has gotten long, and there is still so much that I probably could have shared, but our ask is that you please put our family on your prayer list.  Like I said, there are so many unknowns out there right now, but we know where the path is leading us.  And if any of you know folks in the Lexington area that have been without a church home for awhile, please try to connect them with us.  We'd love to share our vision and our passion for what God is calling us to do.

I look forward to the first weekend of February next year when I can look back at this post and remind myself of where this next part of our journey began.  What I do know for sure is that God is up to something big, and I am humbled to be a part of it.  We love you all so much... thank you for the love and support you show us every day.  I look forward to sharing this journey with you all over this next year.

It Definitely was a Blizzard!

Did you know that it can thunder and lightning during a snow storm?  Did you know that snow can fall so quickly from the sky that it actually looks like rain?  Did you know that if the wind blows hard enough an entire screened-in porch can have a couple of inches of accumulation?  Boy have we learned a lot in the past couple of days!

Tuesday afternoon the snow started coming down, fairly normal at first, but then the winds picked up and we could hardly see the houses across the street at times.  And it just didn't stop!  We stayed up fairly late and it was still howling outside when we turned in around midnight.  At that point it was almost up to the dogs' chests when I let them out and we were still in for a few more hours according to the radar.  This is what we woke up to:

Can you find the Route 40 Sign?

Snow snow everywhere!  We got 16-20 inches in most places, but with the wind, it made for some major drifts in our driveway and side yard... check it out!

I assure you that the above picture has not been doctored!  Walking through that just to get the picture was quite an adventure!

Late in the afternoon after all that super-fun snow-blowing and shoveling was behind us, we bundled up our favorite little man and ventured outside to check it out.  The weather was spectacular!  And yes, I say that even though it was a mere 8 degrees.  But the sun was shining, the snow was sparkling, and the air felt clean and crisp.  We weren't sure how Jake would react, but he loved every minute of it!

I have plenty of video to post that I took throughout the storm and the morning after, but this gives you a good idea of the fun we're having in Small Town, Illinois these days.  There's so much snow that the department of transportation is trying to find solutions as to where to put it all... especially the tons of it in parking lots!  Looks like we'll be seeing this white stuff for awhile!

And yes, those are still Christmas decorations on our porch railings.  In fact, our Christmas tree has only gotten as far as being out of our living room and onto our (now snow covered) screened-in porch.  It's freezing here- don't judge us!  

More snow fun to come... stay tuned!

6 More Things I'm Thankful For...

After a year and a half in the Midwest (after five years in South Florida) , today I am thankful for Small Town, USA.

The people are friendlier, the community is closer, and just about everyone reaches out a hand to help someone in need. In terms of places that I want my son (and future children) to grow up, we have found our paradise. From Main Street to the county fair, Paint the Town, the Christmas Walk, and all of the other fun year-round festivals, it is family-friendly fun all the time. I am so thankful that ministry brought us here where we have met some of the most wonderful people on earth (and I truly mean that to those of you from around here who read this) and have been able to put down some roots. Never in my life did I think that my first child would be born in Northwest Illinois, but I could not be happier about it! I will forever be a small town girl at heart.

As of late...

Here are a few snapshots of what has been happening in Mauneyland lately...

We've been hanging out in front of the fan (and upstairs in our rooms with window units) to beat the heat,

Hanging out with some of our best buddies,

Giving Miss Katie some practice (c'mon Baby Tuck, we want to meet you!),

Cruising around in Josh's new ride (this one is carseat friendly!),

Celebrating America's Birthday,


Making Shake'N Bake (and I helped!),

And just being downright cute.

We've also figured out how to roll front to back AND back to front... it provides hours of entertainment for the little one! Well, that and his feet, which he just loves these days! Hopefully I can take some video soon.

And since I mentioned America's birthday, I thought I would post a few photos from the 4th. As if I didn't love Small Town, Illinois enough as it is, they lined the streets all through town with American flags. I love it. The Midwest really is the heartland of America, and the folks here love our country. My photos don't do it justice, but here is what Main Street looked like last weekend:

We had a pretty low key day, but did manage to make it out to a street fair that was put on by a local church here. There was barbeque, tons of blow-ups to play on, sno cones and cotton candy, face painting, and a visit from the local fire department. We enjoyed strolling around, but I have a feeling that our little one will love this event in the future!





At least he looked festive, even if he was a little bored with it all!


So that's about it from here. We're off to Colorado for a few days... Josh will be preaching at the Crossroads campus out there and hopefully I'll have a little bit more time than usual to blog. We'll see. Regardless, have a great weekend and I will post the link to his sermon as soon as it is online!

Home Sweet Home

Last night I was sitting on the couch and Josh walked in with two champagne flutes. Clearly sensing my confusion he said, "One year ago today we didn't get married, but we..." expecting me to fill in the blank. Instead, he got a blank expression. "We closed on the house!" he exclaimed. Actually, that's not exactly what he said. He actually reminded me of how he drove 27 hours in a Uhaul to get our stuff up here, which I am truly thankful for. You see, we were getting married the following weekend and it was really important for him to have a home to bring me to afterwards. I stayed back in Florida to get all of the last minute wedding details taken care of and he moved all of our stuff in so that I could officially come home after the wedding. It was one of the most thoughtful, generous things he has ever done for me- and he has done many.

So last night we sat in the living room and reminisced a bit about the first year in our home. The changes we've made, the obstacles we faced (although we had surprisingly few), and the good times we've had here. I don't think either one of us would have ever guessed that our first home would be in Small Town, Illinois, but man it's been a good year! The funny part about it is that the first time we ever visited this town for Josh's job interview, I was 100% convinced that we would not be moving here. I was under the impression that we would be right outside of Chicago, but "right outside" meant about two hours west. Think Iowa. We had an interview with the elders at the main campus, which was pretty standard and not unlike any of the other interviews we had been to, and then we drove down to the town where our campus would be. On the drive I sat in the backseat with one of the other pastor's wives and while she chatted my ear off, I stared out the window at the rows and rows and rows and rows and rows of corn! Field after field, barn after bar, farmhouse after farmhouse, cow pasture after cow pasture, and corn as far as the eye could see. Well actually, the corn was between harvest and replanting so they were mostly empty fields with chopped down cornstalks, but you get the point. When we finally arrived into town, I was blown away by how small it was! I spent a few of my childhood years in a small town in Louisiana, but this one seemed tiny in comparison! Aside from Main Street, which I thought was adorable, there was nothing to see! There was not a mall, much less a department store, and hardly any place to eat aside from Dairy Queen (which I am a fan of, so that might have been a plus) and a Hardee's! On the drive back to the main campus, my mind was made up... there was no way we would be moving here.

That evening we attended the church service at the main campus and everything turned around. The music was outstanding, the energy was electric, and the message was literally written just for me. I think I've told this story before in a previous post but I will tell it again because it was one of the most powerful moments of my life and one of the few times that I knew without a doubt that I was listening to the voice of God. The question at the end of the message was, what have you ever sacrificed for the kingdom of God? And BAM! Just like that I felt so convicted and absolutely certain that this was where we needed to be. We walked out of service (after I managed to clean up my face after bawling through the last two songs!) and we were bombarded by a group of people who had driven an hour and half to come to church from the town in which we would be planting our campus. They were SO excited to meet us, so enthusiastic, and genuinely happy- er, ecstatic rather- that we were there. It was incredible to be surrounded by so much love from a group of people we had just met.

I flew home the next day (Sunday) and Josh would be staying until Wednesday. Before I left I told him that if the job was offered, he had better take it! He felt the same way (way sooner than I did actually, but he let me make up my own mind before pressing his opinions on me... see? Isn't he the best?). And so when he came back to Florida, it was with the news that we would be heading northwest in the near future.

A couple of weeks later we both traveled back to look for a house. We literally had one day to find one because I couldn't stay long. We had whittled down our list from the Internet to a manageable size and Josh drove by a few of them the day before my arrival to narrow our search further. When he passed by our house, he called the realtor and wanted to see it immediately! It was in the next town over, which is a little bit bigger (meaning it has a McDonald's and a Wal-Mart) and was basically on the list as a far-fetched wish. Upon touring it, Josh was in love. When I got into town, it was the first house he took me to look at. Because of this, compounded with the fact that he told me not to act too excited about any of them (for negotiating purposes... which we have since learned that I'm the much better negotiator than he is due to the fact that he can't hide his excitement the way I can) I walked through it stone faced. In all honesty, it was at the top of our price range, so I didn't want to get my hopes up. He was so disappointed that I "didn't like it as much as he did," but again, I was just trying to act cool and did not have anything to compare it to. For the rest of the day we visited jackpot after jackpot, not finding anything that would even come close to the one we both loved. After sleeping on it, we decided to put a (fairly lowball) offer on it the next morning and spent the morning doing paperwork with the realtor. That evening as I sat on a plane waiting to depart (again, Josh was staying an extra few days), a text message lit up my cell phone screen and it said, "THEY ACCEPTED OUR OFFER!!!". At which time I was told to turn off my cell phone and had to wait a whole three and a half hours to call him and scream with excitement. It all happened so fast, and very easily, and was just meant to be. And now we joke that we can never move because we both love this place way too much. I guess we'll be in Small Town, Illinois forever!

Just for fun and in honor of this anniversary, I searched through our photos and pulled out some of the improvements that we've made over the past year. Here they are, in no particular order:

For insurance purposes (and aesthetics) we were told that our porch needed a railing. Here is the front of the house before:

And after. Thanks to our brother-in-law, sister, nephews, and mom for helping us out!

Due to the dogs (well dog (singular) actually) running rampant in the neighborhood, a fence was one of my top priorities. Here's our yard before:

And after. Remember this post? I love our yard now! Granted, Teeny is still finding every tiny spot she can squeeze through to escape, but aside from that, it really has completed our backyard.
This purple bedroom had to go (note: this is a picture from when we looked at the house... it's not our furniture but I forgot to take a before picture with our actual furniture):

And here it is now. We think this will be Jake's room once he's out of the nursery, but for now it's one of our guest bedrooms. It still needs some decor, and I've already figured out what that entails, so it will get there eventually.


I did this post awhile back... our upstairs bathroom before:

And after. The colors did not come out in the picture, but you get the idea.

And the biggest project of all? Jake's room! Oh my gosh, it was such a mess and took us months! One project led to another from wallpaper removal, to patching and spackling holes in the walls, to putting up an entirely new ceiling and crown molding. Here's the disaster before... check out the awesome paint color combination:

And after... now my favorite room in the house by far!



So we've come a long way and there is still so much that we want to do. Eventually we'd like to build a deck out back, plant some raised gardens along the fence corners, plant flowers in the front flowerbeds, and redo the gutters just to name a few. I also have my own long-term wish list which includes updating the bathrooms (although Josh would choose to update the kitchen first) and turning an upstairs bedroom into a master bathroom, closet, and laundry room. I doubt we'll ever see that last one happen unless we live here for thirty years, but a girl can dream, can't she? Regardless of what gets done from here, we feel so blessed to have this place to call home. It's the place where Josh carried me over the threshold and it's the first home of our little Jake. But the part I like best is the two people and pups who live inside of it with me... now that is what I call home sweet home.

Feel free to come visit us anytime... if the door-knocker says "The Mauney's" on it (thanks, Mindy), you've come to the right place.

A Good Year

With each passing year, life just seems to get sweeter and sweeter. Honestly, I think that the sweetness factor is owed mostly in part to a deepening faith and relationship with Jesus Christ and a partnership with a man that I love, respect, and just like to hang out with. This past year has been the best so far in my life, and it sure has been one wild ride! In my lifetime, very few years will rival the action packed twists and turns of 2009... but that's what made it so very special! So here's to 2009... and to the many sweet moments:

We rang in the new year in sunny Florida surrounded by family and loved ones...

Then conquered a marathon, finishing side by side after 26.2 long miles.

We said our goodbyes to a beloved member of our family, but it gave us the opportunity to spend time with those loved ones we don't see often enough.


We had some fantastic weekends and times away in cities far from home...

And then spent the spring busy with wedding plans and festivities.

We said our "I Do's" and vowed to love each other for the rest of our lives on a most perfect summer day in June...

And (barely) squeezed in a romantic mini-honeymoon before...

Packing up our belongings and making the long trek to Illinois.


We successfully purchased our first home and fell in love with every nook and cranny...

And even loved the nooks and crannies that needed updating (which we've done a lot of).

We learned that life in Small Town, Illinois is a life that we absolutely love and met some of the most genuine, kind, and caring people in this world.

We celebrated as our campus of Crossroads Community Church opened its doors and continued to grow and blossom...

And celebrated God's glory as Josh baptized his wife. We continued (and still do) to deepen our individual faith as we thank God daily for His gift of marriage.

We experienced the excitement, shock, and bewilderment of some unexpected news and prepared ourselves to bring a new life into this world.

Several visitors made their way to Small Town, Illinois and gave us the opportunity to show off our new town and open our home to friends and family (feel free to continue that trend!)...

And FINALLY got the exciting news that our new arrival would be a baby boy, which was music to our ears as we both had a feeling all along.

We learned that home is where the heart is and hosted our first family holiday at Thanksgiving, serving dinner for 10 of our favorite people...

and survived our first (of many) snowfall.

And as icing on the cake, we spent Christmas in our new home with just the two (or three!) of us, truly being thankful that this is the life that we live.

What a year of many, many blessings. It is by far one that we will never forget as we have learned a lot, experienced so much, and adapted to whatever came our way. I know that throughout our marriage and life together, things will not always be so easy, but I know that we will always have more blessings than we know what to do with and for that I am thankful. So as we say goodbye to 2009, we celebrate the times that we had and look forward to the adventure to come in the new year. Happy New Year to you and your family, and may you have more laughter than tears, hope than doubt, and more blessings bestowed upon you than you even know what to do with. We love you all and look forward to all that is to come!