New Monday!

Wow.  I can’t believe it!  This is the first week of my new work schedule.

Due to my need for more time to invest in getting this church planting thing underway, my office has agreed to allow me to change up my work schedule.

From now on, I will be working 9-10 hour days, Tuesday-Friday, and will check emails and take phone calls on Mondays to fill in my 40 hours, but will not be “officially” working for the office.

I don’t want to waste this opportunity.  It’s now noon and I’ve met with the guys at Journey, written several emails, am working on some local research in Towson, and am going to spend some time this afternoon working on an architecture job search in Maryland.

I have a few other contact issues to follow-up on . . . so having this new schedule is going to make a HUGE difference.

If you want to hang out with me in Auburn on some Monday, let me know!

20-hit update

We’ve been back from Baltimore since Tuesday, and I haven’t even had time to write an update.

That’s the nature of vacation, isn’t it?  You have a great time relaxing, being rejuvenated, reconnecting with your wife, etc. etc. etc. . . . and then you get back to the piles on your desk at work . . .

Well, here’s the update:

1. Emily and I are convinced that we will be locating to Towson, Maryland . . . Probably around January.
2. We fell in love with the community, had a great time talking with some locals while attending some local 4th of July events.
3. I made some connections in architecture.  One in particular was extremely positive and I’m looking forward to how it all works out.  Having a job in the area would give Emily and I a ton of peace to know that God is at work.
4. Enjoyed the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra set to fireworks a whole lot more than dealing with the crouds and rain for a merely good fireworks display at the Inner Harbor. 
5. Inner Harbor fireworks had two launch-points — most from Ft McHenry, and some from a barge in the harbor.  Either one would have been bettern than Auburn’s usually are.
6. Spent a lot of time driving around in a silly little KIA . . . but we got to know the area well and have zeroed in on a couple of specific communities within Towson to watch for a house/townhome to meet our needs.
7. It’s more expensive in Baltimore, but not quite as much as we had originally expected.  I’m hoping I can find a job that will fill in the difference. Would be nice to get full-price on our house here as a help . . . and One more outside job, like an average-sized house plan would pay off one more debt before we go . . . anyway . . .
8. We took a lot of things slow for our vacation.  Emily is getting bigger.  I am excited to be a daddy!  Less than 10 weeks left!  It’s funny how walking around with the cutest pregnant lady ever becomes an automatic conversation-starter.
9. Drove through Towson one night . . . passed 4 Starbucks stores with no more than 3 customers.  Obviously not a good place to meet people during the evenings on a holiday weekend in Towson.
10. Went to church at another fairly new church in the area.  Am glad to see them doing what they are doing . . . but was also glad to see that they are a different flavor than our vision, so we’ll be able to reach different folks and impact Towson together. One of the pastors said he would hook me up with a local ministerial association that really wants to get things done.  I would love an opportunity to network with other local pastors to Transform a city and region!
11. Towson University is in Towson . . . They are the Tigers and have an Auburn Drive on campus.  That MUST be a sign from God!
12. Several possible meeting locations came to mind . . . but actually getting into them may be a challenge.  This will be a God thing!  So many possibilities, I’m confident we will be able to grow at least one relationship to opportunity.
13. Already have a location in mind for a church office.  Awesome location, and it’s pretty cheap, too!  Long-term issue, but couldn’t believe the possibility fell in my lap!
14. Spent tons of time just praying as we saw  people in neighborhoods, walking down streets, navigating through the mall, filling a ski-slope to watch fireworks, etc.  The area won’t be an easy area, but it already feels a bit like home.  People need a life-changing encounter with Jesus.  I want to be the delivery man to take it to them.
15. Was glad to see Roxie healthy when we got home (was sick when we left).
16. Roxie was definitely glad to see us.
17. Roxie is being very dilligent to protect Emily’s growing belly.  Definitely not a typical Chihuahua.  Curious to see how she does with Katie when she is born.
18. Was extremely glad to have absolutely no contact with my office while I was gone.  First time since we started the company 3 years ago that I was 100% unplugged from the office.
19. Since our vacation, God has just been working on my as I read the Bible like He hasn’t done literally in years.  I’m getting really fired up for everything that is happening over the next several months.
20. I’ll be glad to get back to Journey Church tomorrow and see what’s up with our new series, “WAKE UP!”

Well, I hit 20, so I need to stop. More later.

Overdue Update

I’ve gotten really bad about blogging this summer . . .

Another quick-hits list:

• I am meeting a great friend and mentor, Al Jackson, from Lakeview Baptist in Auburn today for lunch.  I’m REALLY looking forward to spending some time with him.  I consider him to be one of the greatest leaders to personally invest in my life.  As Emily and I prepare to relocate and finally get our lives moving in ministry, I know he will be excited and will be a great help on the journey.
• I’m REALLY getting pumped about our Scouting Trip/Vacation this week.  Emily and I are leaving for Baltimore on Wednesday to scout around, meet some people, look for community impact opportunities, get a feel for the real estate market . . .
• When we get home, we hope to be able to start naming a specific community for us to focus on.  We’re 98% sure now.  The next 10 days will hopefully reveal the last 2%.
• Having 100% certainty on a community will set us free to run full-force into support-raising.
• I sent out a couple resumes to architecture firms in the area so I can have gainful employment from day one.
• I really need everyone out there to help us pray through some stuff related to associations and assessment processes.  I’ve been struggling a lot with it lately.
• We’re going to take a few days to experience July 4th Baltimore-style . . . We’re thinking about going to see the Baltimore Sympohony Orchestra’s celebration on either July 3 or 5 . . . and we’re probably going to brave the crowds at the Inner Harbor on July 4.  I’m sure this will make Auburn’s stuff at Samford Park look pretty lame.  I’m looking forward to it.
• I’m looking forward to this week as a focussed time to reconnect with my beautiful bride, Emily, before baby Katie arrives in September.
• I finished reading Pop Goes The Church this week.  It was definitely helpful for me to think through WHY, HOW, and WHAT related to using Pop Culture in the church.  I’ve grown accustomed to the idea in the past several years . . . but just introducing Pop Culture elements and actually leveraging the culture for the Gospel are two totally different things.  Help me think it through BIG TIME.
• I’m really stuggling with “renewing my mind” lately.  My brain is overwhelmed with the visual power of my work in architecture.  Every time I try to focus on something else, it seems to get overrun with drafting images or code issues.  I HATE IT.  I can’t focus in prayer time.  I can’t focus on reading my Bible.  Please just pray that this Scouting Trip/Vacation gives me an opportunity to “HIT THE RESET BUTTON.”  I need it.
• From the previous note . . . If you don’t think the visual and musical arts have power over the way people think, you’re an idiot.
• I have a blog post related to that thought coming soon.  I have to finish thinking it through and writing it.

Enough hits for now.

Quick Hits

I’ve been really busy lately, but I want to keep everyone up-to-date . . . here are some quick-hits:

• I’ve been spending a lot of time praying lately.  A LOT of time.  I’ve been praying and meditating in my car.  I’ve been extending my prayer time in the morning.  I’ve been praying during pockets of my day.  I’ve been carving out time to pray most evenings.
• The biggest prayer I have right now is for God’s eyes to meet people where they are.  This prayer has been ovewhelming me both for Auburn and for Baltimore.
• I’m praying for God to do BIG things during our scouting trip in July.  I want to see him do such BIG things that I don’t even know what to pray for!
• I’m praying to be a godly husband and father.  WOW.  Father.  Craziness.  Baby Katie is due to arrive in less than 100 days!
• I’ve been spending a good bit of time putting together parts and pieces for moving to Baltimore and starting a church.
• Technology stuff is expensive.
• Praying for our house to sell at just the right time.
• Starting looking for options in architecture for a job between relocating and launching the church.  Found a couple really good prospects.
• Started compiling my resume for architecture for the first time since 1997.  Slightly out of date.
• Emily’s mom is coming in to town this weekend for a baby shower.  Should be fun.  Seriously. That’s not meant to be sarcastic.
• Seeing some big stuff happening at work.  Finally seeing some fruit for some things I’ve been working on for almost 3 years.
• Started praying with my bosses about how to make some transitions and adjustments to prepare for Katie’s arrival and for me to relocate to Baltimore. 
• I’m absolutely loving ONE PRAYER at Journey.  Why didn’t somebody think of this sooner?  1,400+ churches joining together.  Over 800,000 Christ-followers seeking the same thing.  How awesome is that?

Time Flies!

I just realized that it has been over a week since my last post.  Can I just say I’ve been really busy lately?

Some good news coming out of the office (architecture stuff.)  Some things came up that may help with some transitions in the coming months.  Definitely exciting.

Glad the Jamaica team got back safe and had a great time.  I hear God did some really cool stuff.  Can’t wait for a report.

I stayed up praying a long time last night.  God is really working me over on a couple of things for Baltimore.  With a scouting trip planned, I’m getting pumped up.

Katie’s nursery is coming together.  Really cute.  Really girlie.  But, Emily and I both decided to keep the baby pastels to a minimum.  It’s like “sophisticated baby.”  I like it.  Can’t wait for the glider to arrive.  Emily and I are going to fight over it as a place to read until Katie arrives.

Emily is just so darn cute to look at.  The growing belly (which moves every now and then, how cool is that?) is making me realize how close I am to being responsible for raising another human being!  Craziness.

Fathers day is coming up.  Never thought much about that holiday before.

Well, I’m still busy, but thought I would give a quick update . . . back to work.

Crazy Busy

This week has been crazy busy!

• After missing a day and a half of work last week, I got to the office to find out that we’ve scored several new projects.  A couple are pretty substantial.
• A couple existing jobs are finally moving forward.
• My one big project is requiring me to do some research and learn some new stuff, and doing some tweaking of the design with what I learn.
• I met with Eric this morning to plan out some stuff for Easter.
• We experienced an awesome “God’s favor” moment while we were running around town.
• We are PUMPED about how many folks we’re baptizing this Sunday.
• After this Sunday, well over 20% of our average attendence to-date will have been baptized in the year and a half since Journey Church launched!
• We’re praying to double our attendance on Easter.
• Who have you invited?
• Eric and I also talked some about Baltimore.
• Our trip has led us to make some minor adjustments to our overall schedule.  The vision is still the same, but Emily’s pregnancy, some coaching issues, and the slow real estate market are pretty much leading us to wait a few extra months to relocate . . . but if all of those things fall into place on our new time schedule, and are moving the way we hope they will . . . our overall time schedule may not change.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, off to work

Well, actually, I HAVE been working from home for Monday and Tuesday . . . but I’m headed back to the office tomorrow.

It’s kinda sad.  I’m gonna miss the last luncheon of the North American Missions Festival at Lakeview, but will hopefully make it back in time for the final dinner and session Wednesday Evening.  Wer also missed part of tonight’s presentation so we could come home to lead our Growth Group.

Lakeview gave me the opportunity to cast a little of the Transform Baltimore vision during lunch today.  I spent a good bit of time last night putting together a totally fresh PowerPoint presentation.  This is the first presentation I have done with the Tree logo and the 4-seasons process wheel.  I also tailored the presentation to put out some infomation from unChristian that I felt strongly communicated why we are called to plant the type of church God is calling us to plant.

I’ve been able to network with a few couples and individuals that I am challenging to pray seriously about relocating with us to establish the church.  God’s been getting on me about being a little more confident about doing that . . . but I might have gone a little far with one of my old friends.  I walked right up to him, after not seeing him for several months, and said, “So, when are you moving to Baltimore?”  After his surprised look and a brief explanation by me, I said, “Your name is one of the first names that came to mind when Emily and I began to pray about who to ask.  I’m seriously not kidding. I want you to pray about it.”

I don’t know if he will go or not.  I am convinced it would be an awesome move for this guy.

There’s some others we asked to pray about it, but not quite so pointedly.  And then there’s some that we don’t even know that might pop out of the woodwork somewhere.  At any rate, I’m praying for a team.  People I’m praying for:  an admistrator, an evangelist, a worship leader, a male children’s director, an experienced barista, and general passionate Christ-followers. I’d take any of these in combination in a single person if they fit the mold.  But more than positions, I’m praying for folks who buy 100% into the vision.

I’m also praying for some fruit from all our recent efforts to reach out to those around us here in Auburn.  We keep running into folks who grew up in church, made some sort of decision to “accept Jesus,” but are disconnected from church now.  I want to see at least one of these folks make a REAL decision to become a CHRIST FOLLOWER.  Pray for Emily and I as we raise the bar on our spiritual witness.

AND, continue to pray for our house to sell.

Laughter on Monday

It’s already lunch time on Monday!

Our office just got finished with our prayer time.  If you came to work bummed this morning, you would be going to lunch with a smile on your face.  We laugh so much at our office.  We get down to the business of praying for each other and those close to us, but we have fun even with the serious stuff.

As I look forward to my responsibilities as a leader, planting a new church, I am thankful for the opportunity to learn first-hand the value of creating a fun environment to work.  It is so much easier to get done what you need to get done when you can laugh a little (or a lot) along the way.

Have a FUN Monday!

Baltimore . . . Steps to reality

February is going to be huge in taking steps toward making a move to Baltimore to plant a church a reality.

• Our house is now for sale.  The Auburn housing market is the slowest it has been in probably 15-20 years.  Not cool for selling a house.  There are 5-6 houses for sale on our street, and 2 for rent. We need a miracle.  After praying through it, we decided to try selling by owner. If you know someone shopping for a home in Auburn, send them to our InfoTube.net page.  I should be adding pictures within a few days
• We’re working hard on finishing up the assessment process with BDM/D.  If we get all paperwork done in time, we will be able to go to Maryland for interviews before the end of the month.
• ChurchPlanters.com has their conference this month.  We’re going. Are you?
• We are working to put together our written strategy and calendar.
• We are starting to compile a list of people for Prayer Warriors and potential financial support network.  If you want to be a part, let me know.
• The Embrace Baltimore folks have asked us to start doing monthly reports.
• I’m working on an exit strategy from Journey Church
• I’m working on a transition strategy for Godwin-Jones.
• I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch of stuff.

Busy, Crazy day!

It’s after midnight and I”m just winding down.

I worked a good full day at the office . . .

Came home and had a great brainstorming Staff Meeting at Journey . . .

And have been working on some outside work since then. 

I’m whooped, but I’m glad to have the outside work so Emily and I can get another chunk of debt paid off.  This will make move to plant a church a whole lot easier.

God is good!