So as most of you know, Ashley and I have begun our new journey at Grace Family Church in Tampa FL! It has been an incredible time of renewing, awaking, and much needed fresh fire for our souls! So I wanted to take a few moments today to reflect on our first sermon series, "The Earthshaking Life" and to write about how God has been showing Himself to us since our move to Florida, four weeks in.
4 weeks in...
...How awesome it is to have an amazing pastor and people who believe in you and want the best for you. Pastor Craig is not just a pastor HE is MY pastor. I love listening and learning from Craig. He is genuine and truly cares about his staff, his vision for the church and my family. It is an honor to serve under him along with all the other pastors at GFC. They all are truly making me a better pastor and a better man.
4 weeks in...
... We had over 50 students give their hearts and lives to Christ over the past 4 weeks and THAT my friends is the most awesome thing EVER! I love seeing lives be transformed! May my heart for seeing peoples lives being renewed ALWAYS be at the forefront of my ministry, ALWAYS! If the ministry I lead is a holy huddle and not a life saving crew then there is a problem! Our leaders and students know that our services are for the sick AND the healthy. They can bring people in their lives who are in need of the great physician and also know that they are going to get a check up each week as well!
4 weeks in...
... God places us exactly where we need to be. Everyday He continues to confirm in my heart a spirit of settling. Not the type of settling where you stop doing great things for God and settle to just be. But the type of settling He told Jeremiah when he said, "Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce. Take a wife and have sons and daughters... seek the welfare of the city where I HAVE SENT YOU... pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:4-7). Never before have I felt such a call to stay and settle. I walk out and feel God is saying, "this is a place I designed for you and Ashley, plant yourself here, I'm through moving you, seek the welfare of the students and high schools. With the people you come in contact, build relationships, teach them and lead them to me". I was talking to my Sis-in-law Rachel the other day, and I compared this feeling to the feeling I had when I met Ashley. I told her how after Ashley and I had been dating for about ten months, I realized that was the longest I had ever dated anyone and I wasn't tired of her! Basically, every girl I had dated before her, after 6 months or so, I got tired of, but God had placed this desire for me to pursue ASHLEY! EVEN WHEN IT GOT HARD!! This is the same feeling and desire I can tell God is placing in my heart for Tampa and GFC and I can't wait to see what He does with this!
4 weeks in...
... I could go on and on, but one OF THE BIGGEST BLESSINGS has been that Ashley LOVES our church! In fact last week after an amazing worship service that Pastor Allen and the worship team at GFC poured their hearts into, she said after the first service, "I think I'm just going to stay for the second service instead of going home so I can hear the worship again!" I LOVE THIS! It floored me! When your wife is excited about where God has you, then watch out, GREAT things will happen!
Four weeks in, God is doing some amazing things and we are so thankful and humbled to be apart of this amazing journey! Everyday I say, "Who am I" and everyday He say's, "You are my child"!
Thank you God for saving me and making me your child. I am truly blessed to be able to live this journey out with YOU!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Jersey Sunday
Last Sunday was "Jersey Sunday" at church. Everybody was asked to wear their favorite jersey. Our pastor has been sharing his vision for 2011 with the church, and this Sunday he was talking about how being a Christian is like being a part of the team. We all have to do our part.
Since neither Josh nor I had a jersey, we ventured out to Dick's Sporting Goods on Saturday and found a great sale. We each got a Tampa Bay Bucs jersey and a Tampa Bay Devil Rays jersey, all 75% off. So what if those players aren't on the team anymore. Don't worry! We are still big PEYTON fans and will cheer for the Colts, and my heart will always belong to the Atlanta Braves, but we are embracing our new city!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
New School- Stetson University
While Josh is starting a new job, I am starting a new school. I was so blessed to be able to transfer to Stetson University and not have to forfeit a lot of credits nor have to sit out a semester. Stetson is gorgeous to say the least. While I am getting used to a new school and a new routine and trying to fit myself into the Stetson way of life, it is nice to be surrounded by such beauty.
The buildings that make up Stetson used to operate as a hotel in the early 20th century. There are a lot of original pieces still in Stetson's main building. I've included a link to the virtual tour. Check it out and enjoy the beauty.
Stetson Virtual Tour
My friend, Natalie, and I in one of the fountains in the courtyard.
The buildings that make up Stetson used to operate as a hotel in the early 20th century. There are a lot of original pieces still in Stetson's main building. I've included a link to the virtual tour. Check it out and enjoy the beauty.
Stetson Virtual Tour
My friend, Natalie, and I in one of the fountains in the courtyard.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
New Job- Grace Family Church
Josh accepted a position as the high school pastor at Grace Family Church in Tampa, FL. He is in charge of the high school service, named IO, which meets on Wednesday nights at 7:00. Currently, there are about 300 high schoolers (WOW)! Needless to say, we do not know all of their names yet. After the service on Wednesdays, the students meet in small groups around the church for about 30 minutes. Our desire is to see the small groups move into homes at some point. After small groups, the students can go hang out in the Youth Center, which is fully equipped with arcade games, skee ball, basketball, ping pong, and of course, snacks!
In addition to the Wednesday night service, Josh will also be planning mission trips and weekend events. This summer, we will be going to camp at an outdoor camp with both the children's and middle school ministries. Should be interesting having kids ranging from 1st to 12th grade there! There will not be a youth mission trip this year, but Josh is already brainstorming for next summer.
Josh's other responsibilities include being apart of the Family Ministry Team and the Creative Arts Team. He is also a Teaching Pastor and will be teaching a few times throughout the year in the main service. His first teaching time is the last weekend in February!
Check out the church online! www.gracefamilychurch.org
In addition to the Wednesday night service, Josh will also be planning mission trips and weekend events. This summer, we will be going to camp at an outdoor camp with both the children's and middle school ministries. Should be interesting having kids ranging from 1st to 12th grade there! There will not be a youth mission trip this year, but Josh is already brainstorming for next summer.
Josh's other responsibilities include being apart of the Family Ministry Team and the Creative Arts Team. He is also a Teaching Pastor and will be teaching a few times throughout the year in the main service. His first teaching time is the last weekend in February!
Check out the church online! www.gracefamilychurch.org
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
New Year = New Job, New School, New Home
Once again this new year brings with it many new beginnings. And just like in 2009, we are in a new place with a new job. While I am not the best at adjusting to change, like my husband, I have come to appreciate the opportunities that come with new beginnings. They provide a time for refreshing your life and evaluating what tweaks you want to make in this new environment. It makes it a little easier to make those small changes in your life you have been longing to make... I will cook more this year, I will exercise more, I will be a better friend, I will enjoy life more, I will let God write my story, and on and on. New beginnings make it easier to address your flaws, to fix what is broken and to develop new healthier routines. So instead of dwelling on the past and recounting all the 5 places we have lived before here, I choose to embrace the present and look forward to 2011, the year where new beginnings provide wonderful new opportunities.
I challenge each of you to do the same. You don't need to move or start a new job to renew your life, just a new year. May 2011 be the best year yet!
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23
Our New Address: 3804 Carrollwood Place Circle #203, Tampa, FL 33624
I challenge each of you to do the same. You don't need to move or start a new job to renew your life, just a new year. May 2011 be the best year yet!
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23
Our New Address: 3804 Carrollwood Place Circle #203, Tampa, FL 33624
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Hawks Are...
MOVING!! Ha! I know that some of you might have been wanting me to tell you something different like PREGNANT, but maybe I will write a note like that within the next two years!
After much prayer and counsel I have accepted the position of teaching pastor/HS student pastor at Grace Family Church in Tampa FL. Grace is a wonderful church with an amazing background of reaching people far from Christ. Some churches talk about reaching lost people, others do it! Grace is one of those churches. Starting 16 years ago in a jazzercise facility under the leadership of senior pastor Craig Altman, Grace has grown to over 4,500 and they are still growing, planting other campuses throughout the city of Tampa, with a desire to do more! Check them out at www.gracefamilychurch.org!
It has been amazing to see how this all came about. Obviously, we had no intention in only being at IBC for just 2 years. Our plans were to serve there for 4 or 5 years and then go and serve in a teaching pastor role at a church like Grace. But like scripture tells us, His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His plans are sometimes not our plans. His plans are however, the plans that bring about life, so we must follow his plans and his dreams for our lives no matter what! Because as I preached last week at the Underground, "a God given dream will bring about God given results" in our lives.
God gave me a dream to do ministry when I was 19 years old. Pastor Steven Furtick talks in his book Sun Stand Still (www.sunstandstill.org) of his "page 23 vision" and told his readers to think of their own page 23 vision, well mine is my EXIT 42 experience. My exit 42 experience was when I was driving home from an awesome week of working at a Christian camp in the mountains of VA, I was pulling off the interstate and God spoke to me and said, "Josh, you are mine". At that point my entire life changed, my values changed, my friends changed, everything I was chasing after and thought I wanted changed. I gave up my acting career and started chasing after the dream that He was placing in my heart to serve Him, love others, and point people to Him. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I believe He has given me some amazing opportunities to do this ever since! I have gotten the privilege of serving and working with some amazing people, teams and leaders from my time as a FUGE camp pastor, to Student Life, Philly, Calvary, and IBC all the time preparing me for I what I believe to be the dream that God placed in my heart as a college junior at a Passion conference in Knoxville, TN and to the ministry that I believe God has called Ashley and I to for life and that is the ministry at Grace Family Church in Tampa FL!
I know that is a pretty audacious claim, but it is one that I believe to be true! The only reason why we are leaving a wonderful, thriving student ministry at IBC is because we believe that Grace is the place that God has prepared for us to love God and love people for years to come! We are leaving knowing that we are not running from anything but we are running toward something great!
I hope that in 5 years I will look back and read this note, (if facebook still exists) and be able to look back and see the wonderful things that God has done through a faithful servant, trying to live for a creator that is so much more wonderful than I can ever imagine! I know that God has amazing plans not only for me but for us all! His word says so! This week I was speaking to a group of students at a chapel service about this very thing and I said, "Every time I think on how the bible tells me that, HE has PLANS for my life, it is hard for me to believe". That God in His infinite wisdom, sovereignty, love, grace and mercy has "plans" for my life, totally blows me away! We believe that! We believe that He has shown us and given to us a part of His plan by going to Grace.
He has opened so many doors to show us this! He has opened the door for Ashley to continue law school at Stetson Law (www.law.stetson.edu) and she will be able to begin next semester! Most law school's will not let people transfer mid year! This was definitely a "Sun Stand Still" prayer for us that God answered! He also opened the door for me through the Vanderblomen Search Group (www.vanderbloemensearch.com) a wonderful search company that you should check out if you are a minister thinking of a move.
There were many more along the way that I would love to have conversation's with you about. But, for now I just wanted to share this exciting news with you! Please pray for us in this move, please pray for IBC and our current students in this move and please pray for Grace Family Church! Pray with us that God would begin to prepare the way for incredible movements, moments and times when we can look back at Grace Family with a wonderful team of fellow believers surrounding us and as Furtick says, "Only blame God for the results"! I love you guys!
After much prayer and counsel I have accepted the position of teaching pastor/HS student pastor at Grace Family Church in Tampa FL. Grace is a wonderful church with an amazing background of reaching people far from Christ. Some churches talk about reaching lost people, others do it! Grace is one of those churches. Starting 16 years ago in a jazzercise facility under the leadership of senior pastor Craig Altman, Grace has grown to over 4,500 and they are still growing, planting other campuses throughout the city of Tampa, with a desire to do more! Check them out at www.gracefamilychurch.org!
It has been amazing to see how this all came about. Obviously, we had no intention in only being at IBC for just 2 years. Our plans were to serve there for 4 or 5 years and then go and serve in a teaching pastor role at a church like Grace. But like scripture tells us, His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His plans are sometimes not our plans. His plans are however, the plans that bring about life, so we must follow his plans and his dreams for our lives no matter what! Because as I preached last week at the Underground, "a God given dream will bring about God given results" in our lives.
God gave me a dream to do ministry when I was 19 years old. Pastor Steven Furtick talks in his book Sun Stand Still (www.sunstandstill.org) of his "page 23 vision" and told his readers to think of their own page 23 vision, well mine is my EXIT 42 experience. My exit 42 experience was when I was driving home from an awesome week of working at a Christian camp in the mountains of VA, I was pulling off the interstate and God spoke to me and said, "Josh, you are mine". At that point my entire life changed, my values changed, my friends changed, everything I was chasing after and thought I wanted changed. I gave up my acting career and started chasing after the dream that He was placing in my heart to serve Him, love others, and point people to Him. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I believe He has given me some amazing opportunities to do this ever since! I have gotten the privilege of serving and working with some amazing people, teams and leaders from my time as a FUGE camp pastor, to Student Life, Philly, Calvary, and IBC all the time preparing me for I what I believe to be the dream that God placed in my heart as a college junior at a Passion conference in Knoxville, TN and to the ministry that I believe God has called Ashley and I to for life and that is the ministry at Grace Family Church in Tampa FL!
I know that is a pretty audacious claim, but it is one that I believe to be true! The only reason why we are leaving a wonderful, thriving student ministry at IBC is because we believe that Grace is the place that God has prepared for us to love God and love people for years to come! We are leaving knowing that we are not running from anything but we are running toward something great!
I hope that in 5 years I will look back and read this note, (if facebook still exists) and be able to look back and see the wonderful things that God has done through a faithful servant, trying to live for a creator that is so much more wonderful than I can ever imagine! I know that God has amazing plans not only for me but for us all! His word says so! This week I was speaking to a group of students at a chapel service about this very thing and I said, "Every time I think on how the bible tells me that, HE has PLANS for my life, it is hard for me to believe". That God in His infinite wisdom, sovereignty, love, grace and mercy has "plans" for my life, totally blows me away! We believe that! We believe that He has shown us and given to us a part of His plan by going to Grace.
He has opened so many doors to show us this! He has opened the door for Ashley to continue law school at Stetson Law (www.law.stetson.edu) and she will be able to begin next semester! Most law school's will not let people transfer mid year! This was definitely a "Sun Stand Still" prayer for us that God answered! He also opened the door for me through the Vanderblomen Search Group (www.vanderbloemensearch.com) a wonderful search company that you should check out if you are a minister thinking of a move.
There were many more along the way that I would love to have conversation's with you about. But, for now I just wanted to share this exciting news with you! Please pray for us in this move, please pray for IBC and our current students in this move and please pray for Grace Family Church! Pray with us that God would begin to prepare the way for incredible movements, moments and times when we can look back at Grace Family with a wonderful team of fellow believers surrounding us and as Furtick says, "Only blame God for the results"! I love you guys!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
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