Phhhttttt.....

Um... yeah.  That's what my brain feels like these days... total and complete mush.  What does church planting entail you may wonder?  Well I can tell you from these past few weeks that it's a whole lot of little things that will eventually culminate into one big thing, for one big cause.  And it will make these little things worthwhile.  The reason that my brain feels like mush is that all these little things?  Yeah, they all happen at the same time.  Multitasking has taken on a whole new meaning as I feel like I'm constantly doing about eight different things at a time.  So here's the latest updates about our journey:

• Our first informational meeting is on Monday night in the Paris, KY community.  To say we're excited, anxious, and full of anticipation would be an understatement.  A few weeks ago we created and mailed out about 225 six-page newsletters introducing ourselves, outlining the vision a bit, and inviting folks to join us.  Yesterday we hit them up again with reminder post-cards.  Mind you, the first mailer entailed the creation, proof reading, printing, and hand-writing the addresses on them.  The second one was much easier to create and we printed them at home, but we wrote personalized messages as well as hand-written addresses on each and every one.  I felt like we were doing wedding invitations or thank-you cards all over again.  We both feel like a personal invite will go a long way in getting people to join us, and we wanted folks to understand that we care about each and every one of them.  We prayed over ever family as we worked and I truly hope that we get to put a lot of faces to names next week.
• Getting organized has been a challenge thus far.  We're living at my sister and brother-in-law's house, which has been a huge blessing by the way and we're so very grateful, but with no dedicated office space, it's a bit tough to keep up with everything.  My sister did upgrade her filing cabinet recently, so I took her old one and have set up shop in the guest room where we're staying.  Slowly but surely we're getting there and my next big task is to learn how to use the budget software and reconcile what has been given with what has been sent.  I'm a geek and love that sort of thing, so I'm actually looking forward to that project.
• We're still trying to get our website off the ground, and unfortunately, the process has been slowed down mostly by the company that is designing it.  It's been a bit frustrating, but we're updating the pages that we can as we can get to them and the "fancy parts" will hopefully be up soon.  Ideally we would love to have it looking great before our Monday night gathering.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but add that in to working full-time, raising a son, finding a place to live, and making connections with people we meet here (which Josh is doing a far better job than I am!) and it adds up to quite a bit.  Not to mention that there is never a dull or quiet moment in a house where nine (yes nine... my parents have been in town for a couple of weeks, too) people are staying and you can't even really hear yourself think.  

The only real hang-up we've had so far is that we really haven't had a whole lot of quiet time for devotions, reading, or prayer.  These are probably the things that we should be most focused on, as we're taking a huge leap of faith to even start this journey, but finding five minutes of peace and quiet is not something that happens a whole lot.  And when I do find it, I just want to close my eyes and bask in the silence... it's such a beautiful thing.  I still talk to God quite a bit, but I know that He would probably have a whole lot more to say back if I just made the time to listen and let Him.  The void gets bigger everyday and so it's something that even just tonight we talked about changing.  We're both better people, spouses, parents, friends, and pastors when we carve out that time.

Just like the title, I feel like this has been a very blah post, and so for that I apologize.  I've also somewhat neglected my little blog for no better reason than a lack of time and energy.... well, that and not really knowing what to post about or where to begin.  People ask all the time how it's going or what we've been up to and it's difficult to even put into words, which is crazy since I rarely run out of things to say.  Maybe one day I'll be able to sort through it all and put it into a recap of the entire adventure, but sometimes when you're in the thick of it, it's hard to see the forest through the trees.  There are just so many things that you just don't learn from reading books on church planting- truly living it out is a completely different and unique experience.  What I can say, however, is that we're still enjoying everyday, still learning a lot, and still feel like we're exactly where God has called us to be.  I know my husband feels like he's not doing enough, but I have never been more proud of him.  He's been a great leader thus far, he's working his tail off, and he is so very encouraging.  There is not even a glimmer of doubt as to whether this was the right move for us, and we have not even seen any fruit yet!  But everyday I remind myself that Jesus taught that He is the vine and we are the branches.  With this in mind, I also remind myself that branches don't have fruit on them all year round... there are seasons of growth and preparation for the harvest and that is where we sit.  Even though the grapes have not shown up on those branches yet, a farmer must do all that he can to prepare, grow, and foster that plant for a harvest.  Grape season is coming and we're praying for a harvest that is bigger than we could have imagined... and when that time comes, we will be ready.  One baby step at a time.

Somebody Stop Me...

My name is Kim... and I am in full-blown, OCD, crazed nesting mode.

I do remember this happening to some extent when I was pregnant with Jake, but this time around it has taken on a whole new level of crazy!  Take today for example... let's see... today (aside from working from home and taking care of Jake) I cleaned all of the kitchen appliances and then wiped down the washer and drier which reside in our creepy basement.  Our front porch also got a nice little sweeping and clearing of some cobwebs and then I added "deck paint" to my shopping list so that I can do a fresh coat on the railings tomorrow.  Speaking of paint, there has been a patched portion of a wall upstairs that has been driving me nuts for some time, so today I finally sanded it down and put a coat of paint over it.  Hmmm... what else?  Oh yeah, I started cleaning all of the downstairs windows, but that is still a work in progress.  I can thank my friend Chelsea for that since she mentioned that she likes nothing more than sparkling windows.  Until that comment I had probably never noticed dirty windows.  Thanks, friend... now that's all I can see!  Then I decided to Murphy Oil our kitchen cabinets.  But why stop there?  If you have ever been to this old house or have seen pictures, you would know that it is covered in wood.  IN. EVERY. ROOM.  We're talking window frames, baseboards, cabinetry, and intricate woodwork in every doorway.  So yeah, what did I do?  I oiled all of it!  My back may not forgive me for that one.  But now that I had shiny wood, shouldn't I have floors to match?  Which brings me to ten o'clock at night when I started sweeping and mopping the floors.  Can we say psycho?  Someone just needs to tell me to go to bed already!

I guess the good news is that if our house shows again any time soon, it should sparkle like the Emerald City.  Part of me wondered if this behavior was due to the helpless feeling that comes when your house is on the market, but then I look back at the past three weeks when I haven't been at my own home and really do blame it on the nesting.  My sister, Angie, is a bit overwhelmed at the level of psycho-organization that has been going on with me as her houseguest.  Our big project was cleaning out the playroom, painting it, and organizing the closet, but the rest of her house is getting small changes as well.  I even dusted the other day!  When is the last time I dusted?  And it wasn't even my own house?I   just hope that this is not a reflection of my sweet baby Lilly's personality.  I am a mom who appreciates tidiness, but I don't think I need to give birth to Monica Gellar.  One in our household is enough.

Other than that, I guess I haven't given a bump update in awhile, so while I'm thinking about it, here are my confessions from 26 weeks:

• Nesting is my middle name.  I guess you've gathered that by now.
• I am not proud to say that I have gained almost as much weight as I did in my total pregnancy with Jake.  There have been three occasions now when someone finds out I'm due in September (and I fail to tell them that it's actually late September... or October 2nd if you want to get all technical) and they gasp in shock.  Two of them actually told me that they thought I was due in the next few weeks.
• Based on the above, I am trying to walk more and eat less crap.  When you're moving though and temporarily living in a household with two growing boys, it's impossible to get away from it.
• Speaking of food, I do crave fruit a lot and am loving Mexican food this time around, which is funny since I despised it with Jake!  I'm also liking popsicles and thankfully Minute Maid makes them without sticks.  Random fact #264 about Kim: she hates food on wooden sticks.  Just the thought of it makes my teeth hurt.  But my biggest (and worst) craving?  Coke.  Oh yes, there is nothing like a Coke, especially one from a fountain and a bonus if it's of the cherry variety.  I try to stay away but it calls to me.  Ready or not, Lilly might just be a ten-pounder!
• Overall I feel really good.  Lifting and carrying Jake around is getting a bit tiring, but it's probably because our little beefcake is a whopping 27 pounds and 11 ounces!  He had an appointment the other day and I was quite impressed with that stat!  He's in such a lovey phase though, so I take advantage of the cuddles.  He doesn't seem to mind the belly much but has recently discovered and taken an interest in my belly button.  He will lift my shirt, poke it, and then cover it up again.  It's pretty funny.
• My biggest surprise has been that Lilly is quite a mover!  I didn't feel Jake until about 22 weeks and I felt her little bumps at around 18.  And then even crazier, I could see her move starting at about 21 weeks!  Josh saw it, too, and now several other people have seen her roll across my belly!  If you want to feel her kick you're guaranteed a show around 3:00 each afternoon and lots of movement before bedtime.  I love it, but wonder how bruised I'm going to be when she's more than just two pounds!  Ouch!

I have no belly photo to post today, but perhaps tomorrow I'll take one and add it to this post.  Nobody needs to see the mess that I am after all the cleaning I've been doing!  But for now, I'm going to take my own advice and get my booty to bed... after I fold the laundry and clean the bathroom of course.  Kidding!  Yeah, I'm not convinced either.  So belly pictures to come... goodnight for now!

Where in the world is the Mauney family?

My sincere apologies if you now have the "Carmen SanDiego" song in your head.  Oh, you didn't?  Well, now you do.  You're welcome.  I guess you probably have to be around my age to even know what that is so some of you should consider yourselves lucky that it's not going to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  But anyhoo...

These past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind!  My poor blog has been neglected because we have not been in the same place for more than a week at a time.  Instead of doing an in-depth recap, here's a quick update in photos of the past few weeks:

At the beginning of the month, our friends from Crossroads blessed us with a going-away shower.  It was so nice for everyone to come together to bid us farewell... or to say "see you later" as I keep telling them!  Jake spent the entire evening "playing" carpet ball with "Grampa Larry" while Josh and I spent some time with the friends that we're going to miss so dearly (and already do).

To cap off our time in Small Town, Illinois, we celebrated Josh's ordination the night before we left.  It was an awesome night and such a moving ceremony.  Because we were sitting in the front row, and because I was on stage with him during the actual ordination, I unfortunately have no pictures.  So if any of you have photos from that evening I would love to have them!  The only photo that I do have is of our family that night... and it's blurry.  In fact, until about three days ago, every picture I took came out blurry.  I think someone might have had their grubby little paws on the lens... hmmm... wonder who that could have been.  So blurry or not, here it is anyway:

So on our anniversary, June 13th, we loaded the car and drove all night to get to Kentucky.  I had to work the next day so we wanted to make sure we got there by morning.  On a sidenote, two years before we had packed the car and drove to Illinois, so it was an appropriate way to celebrate I guess.  Until we sign a lease, which will probably be for a place starting in August, we are staying at my sister's house here.  I think my nesting is earning our keep as she is probably growing tired of going room by room with me as I clean out closets.  We (or should I say mostly Josh... I helped when I could between work and watching Jake) got a lot of ground-work stuff done such as setting up new phone numbers, securing a location for our first informational meeting, and finishing up our very first mailer.  We would have loved to start some other projects but midway through the week we got the news that my Nana had passed away.  It was somewhat expected and I know when the time came she was ready to go, but it was news that we were all sad to hear.  So after being in Kentucky for less than a week, we loaded up the car again and headed north to New York.  It was a low-key weekend with the viewing and funeral on Saturday, and the rest of the weekend spent up at aunts' houses cooking out and playing corn-hole.  The best part was getting Jake back together with his cousin, Adam, and watching them run around together.

Gramma, Aunt Angie, and the boys after the funeral

Hanging at Aunt Carol's house... SO relaxing!

Family game time

The boys and Aunt Carol... their traditional photo!

Even with the nature of the trip, however, we did manage to have some fun and got away for a day to visit West Point.  It's such a special place for our family as it's where my dad went to school, where my parents met and got married, and where I was born years later.  Josh and Michael had never been and it had been years since I last visited, so it was such a neat (not to mention gorgeous!) day.  It was also father's day, which was quite appropriate as my dad got to spend it in one of his favorite places with all three of his daughters... I don't think that has happened on father's day since we were in high school!  We went to church at the West Point Cathedral, which is where my parents got married, and then walked around the campus seeing the parade fields, monuments, and breathtaking views of the Hudson.  What an incredible place!  I have tons of pictures and could do a whole post on it, but I'll just pick a few:

The West Point Cathedral

Happy Father's Day!

The place is all began... almost 40 years later

Mr. Stud Muffin

Fort Putnam.  If you look closely you'll see helicopters flying overhead. 

Like I said, it was a great day!  Both of the little ones were tuckered out and took monster naps when we got home, which was quite nice as we had a cook-out with the family and got to relax.  We had originally planned on heading out that night, but decided to take it easy and wait.  It's an 11 hour drive and Aunt Angie joined us since her family had gone back a few days before.  With all of the activity from the past few days, Jake was a total angel and slept the majority of the way home.  I'm also a big advocate of our new DVD player, which was our anniversary gift to each other!  Ha!  With all of the traveling we've been doing, we decided it would be a good investment.

So currently we're back in Lexington... for now.  Josh has been contacting friends of my sisters, working on setting up lunches and dinners so that he can do some vision-casting, which is one of the things he does best.  Jake and I are headed back to the Midwest on Friday night for a few days to work on some things at the house and visit our respective doctors.  I am in the process of trying to find a doctor here, but as you can see, it's not like I've had a lot of free time to get everything settled.  Luckily it works out that he had to be back for one anyway, so I made mine for the next day.  We will be back for about a week and then will drive back here in time to help my sister, Mindy, and her family move into their new home on the 2nd.  They have been in Florida for the past ten years and recently got a job up in Cincinnati, which is about an hour and a half north of here.  My sisters and I will all live within driving distance of each other... talk about exciting!  Our next big thing, however, is our first informational meeting on July 8th.  Tomorrow we are going to pray over and mail out about 250 newsletter invites with faith that God will give us a good turnout.  If you want to pray for us in any way, that is probably the best way you can help.  Well that, and getting our house sold.  It's only been on the market for a few weeks and we've already had three families look at it, so it has been encouraging.  I know that either way we'll be just fine, but if it would we would be in such great shape financially moving forward.  We have prepared for it just in case we have it for awhile, but I do not look forward to having a mortgage and paying rent, so we're hoping someone comes along and falls in love with it the way we did.  

But anyway, that just about wraps up the current dose of crazy around here.  But don't worry, we're doing great, getting to know the area, and are really enjoying being house-guests to a wonderful family.  It already feels like home.  So even though my posts may be sparse over these next few weeks, I will try to check-in every now and again to keep you all updated.  It's all in the life of a church planter I guess!

One Man's Junk...

With an impending move, we decided that it was time to purge some of the junk stuff from our house.  Plus, I am definitely nesting (as was evident to me after I found myself cleaning the inside of our outside garbage cans today) so the timing could not be better.  Never have I been so excited to clean out closets, dressers, and other nooks and crannies and just get rid of stuff!  Thankfully, my friend Katie is a garage sale veteran (shopping at them, not having one) so I pretty much leaned on her for tips, pricing, and expertise.  She brought her stuff over the day before and together we set up the tables and racks and priced everything in the garage.  The next morning we just pulled everything out and voila- we had a sale!  We thought it looked pretty good!

Oh, and we did have some extra help that day, too.  

Like I said, she was the expert and definitely made keeping track of who-sold-what very easy.  Whenever someone purchased something, we would take the tape off of the item and stick it to a piece of paper with our names on top of it.  At the end of the sale we tallied up the totals and gave ourselves the pay-out.  Pretty simple, yet ingenious.

Neither one of us came away all that rich, but a few wonderful things did come out of it.  For one, everything that did not sell went straight into the car and over to Goodwill.  I believe it amounted to about seven bags of clothes, dishes, etc.  But most importantly, Josh allowed me to sell his Chuck Norris poster.  We priced it for a whopping four dollars (which is pretty pricey at a garage sale) and you know what?  It was one of the first items we sold!  Like they say, one man's junk truly is the bain of another wife's existence!

A Boy and His Dog

Okay, so you may have noticed (or not) that our dear, sweet pups have not had any blog-love lately.  In fact, it seems as if they might have even gone MIA.  About a month ago, Josh and I made the tough decision to give both of our beloved pups away to good families.  Minnie Pearl was lucky enough to stay in the family and is living the good life in Georgia as a companion to Josh's dad.  Teeny, on the other hand, is now a permanent resident of the great state of Illinois and is with a family here that has a lot of land, other dogs, and room for her to RUN.  I'm not sure if you've read past posts on these animals of ours, but needless to say, Teeny had a bit of a running-away obsession problem.  Many times she would be out wandering the neighborhood only to return hours later- many times in the middle of the night.  When I was on bed-rest last year she managed to escape and I hobbled down the stairs (against doctor's orders) to let her back in when she returned later that day.  We tried an underground fence, remote-controlled shock collar, a very expensive (and labor intensive) fence, and even resorted to chaining her up and nothing seemed to work.  She really should've been named Teeny Houdini.  We've shelled out a pretty penny getting her out of the pound twice now and it the animal control officer now knows our family members by name after numerous house calls.  I love that silly animal, but unfortunately she had become quite a liability and a major source of stress that we knew we could not sustain forever.  We knew that we would have to find a place for her before we moved since we will more than likely live in a place without a fence (not that a fence makes much difference!).  I knew we had made the right decision when she disappeared for a few hours on the morning that we had planned to take her to her new home.  So thank you, Teeny, for confirming my decision that day.  I do still have a little bit of guilt (and a lot of sadness) surrounding our decision, but I know she'll be happy where she is at.  And honestly, from the moment she was out of this house, a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  I had no idea how much stress she was causing me as I constantly worried about whether she would get out, who (or what animal) she would encounter when she was out, and when (not if) she would be picked up and taken to the pound again.  Between that and the amazing lack of of dog hair that is now in the house, I know it was the best- if not difficult- decision for our family.  Wow, we are responsible!

Or are we???

Fast forward to only a couple of days later...

A few weeks ago, friends of ours had a dog that gave birth to a litter of labradoodle puppies.  Josh has been spending much time with this family because they want to plant a Crossroads campus in their community and he has been working with them to help make that happen.  They would always tell us that we needed to take Jake over to see the puppies before they were all gone, and we agreed that it would be fun time.  They also joked (or so we thought) that we needed to come pick our puppy out.  Considering that these pups were selling for over a thousand dollars a pop, we never took it seriously.  We finally did get out there, however, so Jake could play with the little ones, and it was so fun to watch him giggle and squeal as they clamored over to him.  There were five left (although one had been claimed) and they rolled over each other and wrestled and it was pretty darn cute to watch.  After awhile we went inside and spent some time with these friends and filled them in on our future plans as well as what would lie ahead for the future of their potential church campus.  As we were wrapping things up, she handed me a folder and said, "Here is the paperwork for your puppy."  I shot Josh a "do you think she's serious?" look and he kind of shrugged back at me.  Upon opening the folder, however, it was evident that she really meant it when she said we should take one home.  All of the puppy's papers were there along with medical records and pictures of mom and dad.  As we walked back outside, we still were not sure where this was going.

Well, it was over the moment we passed back by the pen.  After giving them a few more pats, one strayed away from the bunch and sweetly looked up at me.  Oh boy.  And then I made the mistake of picking him up.  And it was all downhill from there.  On the way home we reasoned that (A) it is one of the nicest (and most expensive) gifts we've ever been given, (B) it was okay because this breed doesn't shed, and (C) every little boy needs a dog, right?  Um yeah, it's Jake's dog.  Totally.

It has now been two weeks since we added a member to our family (after freeing ourselves of two very naughty members) and thankfully he has been an incredibly mellow pup.  Seriously... I have never met a puppy that is this calm.  He is very playful in the mornings and occasionally gets a little too wound up when Jake is running around outside, but other than that he is pretty content just laying around the house.  We even took him on an 8-hour road trip this past weekend and we hardly even knew he was in the car. I know it wasn't the smartest decision in the world, but so far so good.  So without further ado... we introduce to you our newest member of the family... Wrigley!

Seriously... who could resist that face???

Best Buddies... not sure who picked who

It's a bird, it's a plane... it's Super Pup!

As for the name, we decided that we should pick something Illinois-related since this is a little piece of this place that we're taking with us when we leave here.  And even though Josh is a Braves fan, he loved the name Wrigley as soon as it was suggested.  I'm not a Cubs fan per se, but I don't dislike them either, so it works out.  Besides, it definitely suits him.  Hopefully his antics will not be as stressful or blog-worthy in the years to come.

Lately...

Even with all of the craziness of our life going on right now (i.e. putting our house on the market, searching online for rentals in Kentucky, and- oh yeah- starting the process of planting a church!) we have still managed to get out in the spring weather and enjoy ourselves a bit.  The weather is either rainy and cold or absolutely gorgeous, but lately the gorgeous weather has been showing up more than the showers.  I don't mind it so much if it keeps it from being uber-hot here in Illinois.  That is something that this mama is not looking forward to!  But here's what we've been up to lately.  We have been...

Sitting around looking handsome (and far too old!)

Going for lots of bike rides and walks.  True story: Jake climbed into his own stroller today and tried to buckle himself in.  Between that move and bringing us his shoes all the time it looks like we'll be spending lots of time outside this summer!

Picking out a puppy.  Yes, you read that correctly... more on that to come

Practicing with the spoon.  Although, we find that we're much better using a fork at this point!

Spending LOTS of time in our swing in the backyard.  He pretty much makes a beeline to it as soon as he gets out the back door (which we are this close to being able to open by ourself!) 

Playing in the dirt.  I am still amazed at how boys just naturally gravitate to it.

Enjoying the scent of the blooms in our backyard.

I think that spring and summer are going to become my favorite seasons now that we have a kiddo.  I can't tell you the last time that I went for a bike ride just for fun or swung on a swing-set.  I never realized that by having a child you really do get to experience parts of your youth all over again.  There is a certain nostalgia, certain memories, that you forget you have until reliving something unlocks them all over again.  In the past month Josh and I have shared more stories about our childhoods- favorite vacations and things to do- than I think we ever have before and I know it's because we're out and about doing some of the same things that we did when we were kids.  Plus, seeing the joy on our child's face as he slides down a slide, runs through the hose, chases bubbles, or sticks his hands into a sandbox makes my heart swell.  It is these sweet moments that I will always treasure about my fourteen-month old boy.  The world really is an incredibly amazing place through the eyes of a child.

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.