A New Beginning

So my family just moved from the Bible belt South to the big city life in Chicagoland. Several people suggested that I start journaling, so here goes!

What in the world are we doing here, you may ask. When we told people where we were moving to, most people looked at us like we were crazy. And maybe we are. But if we're crazy for following Jesus then that's okay with me! God has called us here to serve because there is a huge need for new church plants in this extremely populous area. There are over 9 million people in the Chicago metro area, and the majority of them don't have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

We'll start by forming a Bible study in our home. God has brought us to what my mother-in-law called a "Leave it to Beaver" neighborhood. But don't let the quiet street and plentious sidewalks fool you -- we're smack dab in the middle of a community with over half a million people within a radius of just a few miles!

So what I mainly want to use this blog for is to journal about some of our experiences and share any spiritual insights that the Lord may graciously choose to teach me. I'll start off by sharing how God immediately led us to a "person of peace" . . . Before we even got here, we decided that maybe a home would be a better avenue for us to start a church in, as opposed to an apartment. So we started searching online to see what was available to rent. I saw a townhome online that looked appealing, so I shot a quick email to the realtor who was listing it. We talked on the phone soon afterward, and only a mere 2 minutes into our conversation we discovered that we were both Believers. She was SO excited when I told her why we were moving here. And she turned out to be a gigantic blessing. Once we got here, she was with us every step of the way until we found the house we're now renting. She even prayed with us stopped in the car on the side of the road after we looked at it for the first time.

Now you can't tell me that experience was anything other than awesome! We really felt like it was even further confirmation that we are doing the right thing by coming here to serve. We've been praying that the Lord's favor would rest upon us (Ps. 90:17). Our realtor had no way of knowing our specific prayers, but every time we were around her, the Lord's favor was all she could talk about!

Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your blessings, see what God has done