Sunny San DIego!!!

Greetings from our new home, San Diego! Our trip down was really fun. The kids were in the best moods and we got to spend quality time as a family. Thanks everyone who prayed for that road trip. We appreciate it deeply. Our last Sunday at Mosaic was teary, but we were overwhelmed at the goodness of God during our time there. It was so exciting looking at all of the faces in that church and remembering their beautiful stories we were able to be a part of. God is really, really good.

The past week and a half we have been setting up house, getting things settled and applying lots of sunscreen! All People's Church has really welcomed us with open arms and we are loving it here. Jady's official title is Catalyst Pastor. What does that mean? He is pretty much involved in seeing all spheres of the church develop and move forward. College, worship, communication, development...he is helping to take them to the next level. Its a lot of work, and a lot of fun for him.

Hmm...pictures would be nice. Sad to report that we haven't really taken any since we've been here! I'll get on that and post some soon. Honest.

Also, our email addresses have changed. Here our the new ways to contact us:

jady@allpeopleschurch.org
elizabeth@allpeopleschurch.org

Thats it for now. More soon , I promise!

3 More Days...

Wow! What a ride it has been. In three days we will leave this amazing city that has stolen our hearts. What an honor to live whole-heartedly for a group of people. Genuinely an honor. The past month has flown by. We found a house in California just hours before we boarded a plane to come back to Seattle. Thanks to all who prayed for the perfect place! It is a great 4 bedroom that will work well for our expanding family.

The reality that we are leaving has come in waves. Some days are emotional and others feel like we are packing for a vacation or a short term trip. Many of you have asked how Sophie is handling it. For the most part she is doing great. The thought of frequent trips to the beach sound fun and she looks forward to some sunshine. Other times she cries and doesn't want to leave her friends at her school and church. It's up and down, but the majority of the time she thinks the idea is a fun one. Of course, we would appreciate your prayers that she adjusts well and loves her life down there.

The past few weeks have brought plenty of time for reflection. Memories of our move up here and the God-sized dreams we had for this place. Our first sunday services gathered a handful if any. Half-nights of prayer asking Jesus to move and stir the hearts of people here. Then God began to build. A few college students who joined in with us. A salvation. Mike Allen (the first salvation at Mosaic) is now completely transformed & attends our discipleship training school.

Growth continued. More people were challenged by the vision and made Mosaic their home church. Worship bands started, training schools started, children were born and leaders arose. Last week we sang a worship song written by one of our band members...the chorus is " He will raise Seattle". Beautiful the story He is writing. There were also 176 people at our service.

It's mind-blowing to imagine all that God has done. I could go on for hours and hours recounting the things He has done. During all this reflection, two things kept coming to mind.
1. God is faithful. He keeps ALL of His promises. And He will continue to be faithful to Mosaic long after we are gone.
2. This is YOUR story. None of this would have been possible if you guys hadn't carried our family, church and Seattle in your prayers. Believing with us for His promises to come about. You invested your finances to see the Kingdom advanced here. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for every second spent praying and dollar spent supporting what God is doing here. You own this story as much as we do. THANK YOU!

Amid all the tears about leaving , we are FULL of expectation regarding what God is going to do with us in San Diego. And you will each own that story too! A few things you can pray for as we move:

1. Emotional grace as we say goodbye.
2. Moving expenses. As you know, it is pricy to move and set up house.
3. Travel mercies!!! It will be a four day road-trip. Jady will be driving a 24 ft. moving truck and I will be in the mini-van with two kids and an 80 lbs dog. Yea...we could use some prayer! I am believing that this will be a fun and refreshing time together.

Okay, we love you guys and will keep you posted!

Off To A Good Start!

The year 2011 is off to a good start! There were quite a few highlights from this past month that we would like to share with you

*Jady turned 30! We had a Mustache Bash to celebrate. Everyone came wearing mustaches & it was loads of fun*

* We found out that we have been approved by the U.S. Government to adopt two kids. This is such a huge step in our adoption. The move to California will require some updated paperwork, but it shouldn't add too much time onto our adoption process. God has provided so much in this process...and we still need about $18,000...but, we know that God will provide!*

*We will go to San Diego this week to try and find a house. Please pray with us that God will give us the ideal place*

* Mosaic is thriving. Our training school is in North Africa right now on a mission trip. In the past four days our team has seen nine people choose to follow Jesus. This is HUGE for a Muslim nation. Pray that God would continue to move*

Thanks so much for reading our blog! Please subscribe so you can receive notification when we update it. We are so thankful to walk with each of you!

God Said 'Go'

We have been on a wild ride for the past year and would love to bring you in on some of the things that God has been doing in us and through us in 2010. First most of you know that we are leaving our home of Seattle, WA and heading to San Diego, CA. I know it sounds crazy but the story is awesome.

I went for a jog 2 summers ago and as I was running the Holy Spirit began to speak to me about the past few years of ministry that we had been involved in at Mosaic. The church that my wife and I planted 5 years ago. I was so overwhelmed and encourage as I was remembering all that God has done and brought us through. And right in the middle of that I began to feel like the Holy Spirit was stirring in me that are time in Seattle was done, we did what He asked us to do and that He had something new for us.

I personally didn’t know what to do with that. We were loving what we were doing, having a blast living in Seattle and honestly thought that we would die here. I began to process with Elizabeth about what God was stirring in me and she began to cry. She went and got her journal and showed me were she had written almost the same thing down 7 days before.

All of the sudden this word that felt so random began to carry a lot more weight. That started the journey for us of asking God what was next for us as a family, and he lead us clearly in to San Diego. We will be working with All Peoples Church, another Antioch Church Plant, were I will be serving as the Catalyst Pastor.

I will be serving in a lot different capacities the greatest being seeing the dreams of God’s heart for San Diego have traction in every aspect of are church there.

More to come…bless you