A short little update for January.  I wrote a little piece about fear, which is something God has confronted me on recently.  Enjoy!

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Here’s our December update letter.  We sent this one out far and wide, so most people should have gotten a paper copy.  This one has some end-of-year summary of what is going on in our lives.  Enjoy!

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Here is our update letter for November, with some breaking news items that you might be interested it!

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As you might have guessed from our total lack of posts, September hit us like a ton of bricks.  On top of starting LDI and ramping up ministry, we had a major bug infestation and a few bouts of sickness.  But God is good and He got us through it all (see the October letter).

September was a HUGE month for us raising support!  It was our biggest yet.  Thank you all who helped us out!  For anyone else interesting in supporting us please contact us as soon as possible!

(click on the icon to open the Newsletter in PDF)

September Update Letter - Info on what we'll be doing this year

October 2009 Updates - Updates on Luke plus how God has gotten us through some difficulties

An amazing trip with my family!!  We just returned from a 3 week trip out west in Portland, OR.  What a fabulous 3 weeks of my life!  I had no idea what blessings were in store there!

For the majority of the time, we got to stay with Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Shell.

Grandma and Grandpa

Luke learned many new words while we were there, including, “Bubby” for Buddy the dog.

Luke, Daddy, Buddy, Grandpa Chuck, Grandma Shell

Luke also had a blast exploring his new home away from home.  He did quite a lot of standing and playing with all the new toys Grandma got for him.

Ball pit!

The first weekend we were there, we got to drive up to Seattle for our dear friends’ (Marc and Katherine Bathgate) wedding.   Grandma and Grandpa even drove up to help us out with Luke!  It was a very special weekend for us.

Luke's new favorite activity: walking

At the Rehearsal dinner:

Luke with the bride

My handsome husband and me

Baby Luke!

Luke at dinner

We got to see some old, great friends:

Colin, Luke, Paul

The Wedding day:

We got to go to Pike’s Market downtown Seattle near the water.  Seattle is beautiful!

We even got to hang out with Colin’s new fiance and visit the very first Starbucks.

Becca.... soon to be Marsh

Paul and I love weddings, especially the ceremony.  What a moving reminder of Christ’s love for us (and our love for each other… what a fun date!)

I

Vows

Gorgeous view at the Reception

Another sweet surprise, some more old, good friends:

Paul with the boys: Ryan, Danny, Jeff

The beautiful bride and me

The mens album cover

Sunset over Seattle

After a late night of dancing and wedding celebration….. I got to wake up that Sunday morning and go to one of my favorite expressions of God’s worshipers, Mars Hill!

We're really here... at Mars Hill!

And as if this wonderful week wasn’t enough.. The following Monday we packed up again to head to Astoria, OR, which is right on the Pacific Coast.  Paul’s grandfather is one of 12 children, and a few of them own property there.  We got to stay for 3 days!

I think I found my new favorite summer sport: Beach biking!!

Cannon Beach

Even a burley for Baby Luke.

When we got back from the beach, we discovered an all new revelation of God’s abundant harvest… BLACKBERRIES, like as many as you could possibly eat, save, and store in multiple freezers.  No kidding.  Every morning we set out in Grandma and Grandpa’s neighborhood with our 5 gallon bucket, Grandpa’s hockey stick, and some work gloves, only to return with hundreds of sweet, ripe berries!  And FREE!!!!  I would estimate that we captured at least a couple hundred dollars worth.   I was so excited about our treasure that I kept imagining this is what it must have been like in the Garden of Eden, where all you had to do is wake up and pick fruit!  And there would be no one to stop me!  I also told the Lord it is my desire to capture as many souls for Him as there were ripe blackberries

Blackberry picking

Still more blessings….

Hanging out with Grandpa David

And uncle Mike

Mike, Paul , Kaelin

And Baby Luke turned ONE!!  So we got to have an incredible first birthday party for him with the family!

I love cake.

And guess who got to join us???  Yep, THE MO!

The Mo!

Baby Luke got prayed over by TWO pastors!

I'm blessed! I'm blessed!

Oooo presents

It is always so good to see Auntie Mo and Uncle Dave.

Books! I love books!

But really my favorite is this singing card

And what would a Portland trip be if we didn’t visit Howard at Cal Skate?

Luke's first time on a skateboard... not sure what he thinks of it.

WOW, God you are so good.  Wow, wow.  We’re going to miss you guys!  Can’t wait to do it again.

ONE!!!  Happy Birthday to you, Baby Luke.  You are a true blessing and a joy.  Here is some highlights from your first year on earth:

1st day at the Hospital

Already working with Daddy at 2 weeksBarely sitting in the Bumbo

1st trip to the Zoo

Standing in my jumper

Going to Ladies events with Mommy

Sitting up with the help of the Boppy

Playing with friends at Mommy Mall Days!

Supporting the LDI 5k

My first step in the ocean

Making it work at a Conference

Getting into everything!

I love my Momma!

I love my Daddy, too

I am a happy guy

I love books!

Friends are important

I'm pretty good at drums for a baby

Grandma and Grandpa are very special people!

Almost ready to walk on my own

Hangin' with a bride here and there!

Love hanging out with Mom and Dad

And causing trouble...

Berry picking.. my new favorite hobby... or is it my Mom's?

A pretty blessed kid I am

All this cake for a baby??

Happy birthday to our sweet son, who has brought more joy than ever imaginable!  We love you so much.

to be so excited to visit any one particular church? Our trip to Portland is so much fun!  We finally made got to go to Mars Hill Church in Seattle while we were there for a fabulous wedding (Marc and Katherine Bathgate’s).  For the past year, I’ve been devouring sermon series from here, listening to them on my ipod while I do housework.

As we drove up to park outside the big,  gray,  humble-looking  building I told Paul, “I feel nervous, I’m so excited!”  I started to feel like I was 14 and going to see the New Kids on the Block (back in ‘89 of course!)

I even put Luke in his camo pants to fit right in with the edgy crowd!

We're here!

Grandma and Grandpa were able to make the trip with us, too!

After doing a quick heart-check, I determined that it was not idolatrous to like being at Mars Hill so much…. because I was completely enamored by God the whole time.  How AWESOME he is!  He let a bunch of punks start this massive and life-changing church from NOTHING but a young guy who swore too much and his high school sweetheart…. and some other very faithful partners, of course.  All sinners, nonetheless!

So, a little shout out to Mars Hill, and praise to our King for allowing us ordinary people to have positions in his grand productions!

Here’s our July update letter, with info from the church planting assessment.

Click to view the PDF

Us on the last day of the assessment

Last week we went to the Converge Church Planting Assessment (see FAQ).  We were “Conditionally Recommended“.  There are four results we could have gotten, ranging from Recommended to Not Recommended.  We got the 2nd to best result, which is really what we were hoping for.  It was great news to us and of much encouragement!  It means that a group of veteran church planters and ministry leaders believe that God has gifted us and called us to plant a church!  This drastically pushes us closer to planting and is a HUGE confirmation of what God has been leading us toward.

Thank you for all your prayers during that week! They were felt!  This was the first time that Luke was away from his parents with a babysitter for long periods of time.  He did really well!  Praise the Lord.  Kaelin was able to make all the important parts of the assessment.  God clearly orchestrated the week for us!

The assessment was fun but also intense. It was like being at an interview for four days straight.  There were 13 candidate couples and a few dozen assessors.  We preached, presented, went through interviews, and participated in group activities that were monitored by the assessors.  We also did some personality assessments (Golden, DISC, and StregthsFinder).  The whole process was to give the assessors insight into 16 major areas of our life and personality, including evangelism, leadership, devotional life, and marriage.

The week was a ton of fun and a great learning experience.  We were really blessed by all the wonderful, God-seeking couples at the assessment and pray that God will use all of them mightily for His Purposes.  We also were greatly encouraged by the assessors who were all loving, gracious people who Jesus has been using to build His church.

Us presenting 5 adjectives about each other. Kaelin said for Paul: Zeal, Forthright, Gentle, Observant, Knowledgable. Paul for Kaelin: Determined, Maximizing, Loving, Playful, Uplifting

You’re probably asking:  Now what?
As I said, this was a huge confirmation for the path we’ve been on for two years.  Paul will going going into this third and final year of LDI next year.  Through this next year of LDI we’ll work on our “conditions” – such as preaching experience and experience with other church plants.  So for that, we need to raise more support (or seek how else God wants to provide for us).  We also are going to be seeking God for more specific guidance on the details of what church planting will look like for us.

You may ask, Why Plant a Church?

Church planting is basically starting a new Christian Community – which is a church.  So why plant a church?  Simply enough: because there are lots of people who need Jesus (like over 70% of Americans, depending on whose stats you use).  Jesus is going to keep building His church until He returns, and since the time of the Apostle Paul, He has worked through planting new Christian communities (Church planting) or growing established communities.  Jesus brings lost people to Himself in new churches, especially here in America.  On average, for an American church over 10 years old, 1 person comes to Christ for every 89 people in the church.  In a church plant that is less than 3 years old, 1 person comes to Jesus for every 3 people in the church.  “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor 1:27).  In the humble circumstances of church plants that have less resources and less people, God often works mightily.

Ultimately, people come to know Jesus by seeing Jesus in Christ’s followers.  Church plants are exciting times where Christians are mobilized to engage, love, and serve the world around them.  Starting a church afresh also creates new ways for Christians to connect with the lost culture around them and to build relationships with the broken souls God puts in their path.  Thus, a church plant helps share Jesus with more people who need Him!

My two sweet guys looking extra handsome.